Famine Feed Shopping in Marigot

(Written Sunday April 29, 08:05 Kenya time – regarding Wednesday afternoon, April 25)

Along the way to Pokot we stopped at the last village with electricity and enjoyed the last cold soda we'd get for a while. This was also the town where we were to buy the needs for our famine feed. After sorting out the budget in a small, dark, hot cafe with cold Fanta's at our side, we headed to the market. First was corn meal. We purchased 8 large sacks of cornmeal for Sh1700 each (USD$27). These were loaded into a truck for delivery to our distribution point. I photographed the transaction along with the receipts to show the actual cost.

Next up, potatoes. We purchased several large sacks of potatoes, and I watched as they filled up these sacks from the back of a small truck filled to the brim with fresh potatoes. Potatoes cost Sh250 (USD$4) for a large sack. There was also bananas, papayas, cabbage, and more available at the market, but that's what we were here to buy. Another item I saw that I was tempted to buy to bring home but wasn't sure if it'd get through California agricultural customs was honey. They sell it by the bottle, loads and loads of roadside stands along the way. However these aren't hermetically sealed with a big fat FDA approved label on them, so I figured I'd rather not take the chance with customs. Besides, the thought of one of these cracking open in my luggage was enough to put a stop to that idea right away.

While in Marigot, I couldn't help but observe a pair of very unhappy looking elderly Japanese tourists sitting in a safari pick-up truck, probably waiting for their driver to return with supplies. They looked positively petrified.