After the gear check we decided to go for a hike to the nearby Weru Weru River. Immediately upon exiting the lodge compound we were surrounded by a group of children who were intent on showing us around. In spite of language difficulties they understood we wanted to go to the river and offered to show us their favorite spot (0:38 in the video). As we hiked along they showed us the banana, coffee and avocado plants grown by the local farmers. They showed us how the things they found around them became toys: vines were skip-ropes, leaves made gliders and kazoos, and flat stones were for skipping across the river. One boy was quite expert at skipping stones and easily got 3 times as many skips as our best efforts. We finally arrived at a “swimming hole” where Arthur joined one of the boys in the river. We were close to the mountain so the river was quite cold.

On the way back to Kaliwa Lodge the children insisted on showing us their school. It was several buildings with simple classrooms. They were very proud of recent improvements to the facility.