Luo Laughter "I speak of Africa and golden joys"



Thursday, 9 September 2010

I've finally managed to locate Pandipieri !

(Remember this.. http://luolaughter.blogspot.com/2010/08/pandipieri-shanty-town.html ?  When I said shanty towns are never named or even shown on maps ?)

Continuing my internet and map searches, I think I've now found where Pandipieri actually is.  This very interesting web-site is about a Dutch project by design engineers to improve the ubiquitous bicycle that is the major form of transport used in Kenyan cities, and indeed most of the country.  Bicycles are used to transport EVERYTHING ... from chickens, children and wives; to simple goods for sale on the streets, such as sweets, peanuts and fruit; to small furniture ... everything, in fact !  It is a very common sight to see a second person riding on the back carrier of a bicycle, and a third perched on the cross-bar, so bicycles have to be rugged.  But they do have the advantage over cars in that they can be repaired by almost anyone, and that they are comparitively cheap, and can be ridden through bush tracks to homes.   ANYWAY, the Dutch team were working in Pandipieri ... and their site has photos of it.

Do have a look at this site.

http://africanbicycledesign.wordpress.com/

So ... Pandipieri ... it appears to be where I suspected it might be; south of the main part of the city, on the flat plain edging the lake.   I remember that area as being used by small boys to graze their goats; the Kisumu Yacht Club is there, and also Dunga fishing village, also the sewage works, and Hippo Point ... where tourists can often see hippos in the shallow water of the lake.  It is clear of papyrus, so hippos come/came out at night to wander on the plain and indeed, in peoples maize shambas, to graze on the grass ... and maize !   If there is now a shanty town there, it must have grown up rapidly, possibly in the last 15 to 20 years.

I'll see if I can find a better, bigger scale map than the one in the right hand column ...



Luo fishermen on Lake Victoria

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