photo by @randyolson | words by @neilshea13 — In those days we ate many more animals, including hippos and crocodiles and most of all perch, biggest and best of the lake fish. We hunted by mood and season and men often went below water with their spears, walking the mud-bottom, stirring up creatures for the cook-fires. Hunters learned to hold their breath and open their eyes, to join the water-world and forget for a while the world of air. Sinking and staying under took skill. Stalking was real labor. At some point nets arrived, making fishing easier and men no longer went down so much. A net-caster hauls five times what his grandfather did, though it’s true that every day more nets are cast and fewer and smaller fish come in. As for hippos, none has been seen for a generation. Even crocodiles are now protected by law. But—God! The big ones. Perch the size of men, so large even crocodiles didn’t know how to eat them. Spears were made for such monsters! At night, under the star called Kooy, they’d swim into the shallows and a man could walk among them, using the full moon for a guide. He’d see them gliding in, see the trembling wakes, the great tails sweeping. Everything silent but the waves. He’d wait. Let the fish come near. Then stab! He’d aim for gills or head, a sure shot, for a badly-stricken fish might race off and die beyond reach in the deep. A few men still hunt this way, though no one can say it is very practical. Most spears are now laid up with rust and or have been sold to tourists and those fish, those legends, we have already forgotten their names. These Instagram pieces are part of our ongoing project, #NGwatershedstories, and they’re linked to our feature article on Kenya’s Lake Turkana in the August issue of @natgeo magazine. For the last six years, we’ve been documenting culture, change, and conflict in the ecosystem that connects southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya, and we hope you’ll join us @randyolson and @neilshea13 as we follow water down the desert. #2014 #africa #kenya #laketurkana #jadesea #elmolo #fish #fishing #huntergatherer #tradition #documentary #everydayafrica #everydayeverywhere @thephotosociety @geneticislands by natgeo http://ift.tt/1LgxLqx – Gatlinburg Garden Castle Rainbow Tower Library Imagination Station Temple Water Spirit Guardian Labyrinth Treasury Magic Healing