Today, we visited Hell´s Gate, a large national park in Kenya, which is home to so many animals and has magnificent rocky features, a strong reminder of The Lion King.
Surprisingly, within the beautiful park there were four massive geothermal power plants deterring from the picturesque scene. While driving through the area of the park with these plants, the air smelt strongly of rotten eggs as a result of the sulfur waste. The awful smell truly represented the name of the park and the notion of being in Hell. But, what happens with the sulfur in the air? Is it falling on the lands where the warthogs, gazelles, antelopes, and zebras roam? Or is it carried through the waters of the meandering gorge down to Lake Naivasha? Is it being transported to further distances precipitating as acid rain and becoming a large-scale problem?
By: Nicole Saunders (MMASc in Global Health Systems in Africa Candidate); Óscar Senar (PhD and Collaborative Program in Global Health Systems in Africa Candidate); Milton Wanyama (BSc Masinde Muliro)
The Africa Institute Blog 