Gogo Salt Lick is a naturally occurring salt lick located in Embu County, Kenya.
Gogo Salt Lick is a naturally occurring salt lick located in Embu County, Kenya.
It has been known as a place of Mûnyû (salt) for hundreds of years in Embu land, since the founding of the Embu Community. [1]
According to Mbeere Historical Texts written in 2005 by Kenyan historian and author Mwaniki Kabeca (10th August 1944 – 13th March 2023), Gogo is where Mwenendega, the founder of Embu tribe, met his wife Nthara. [2]
Kabeca's book narrates that "Mwenendega," who lived near the current Mwenendega grove in Runyenjes, [3] took his cattle to drink at the Gogo Salt Lick and found a girl. The girl spoke with him and made him swear never to tell her negative things or abuse her, as there would be consequences. [4]
Gogo Salt Lick is located in Mukuuri, near the banks of the Gogo River that separates Mûkûûrî and Gitare at the edge of a ridge called Mürurîrî. At least five acres on the banks of the Gogo River, surrounding the salt lick, have been reserved for community use. The five-acre Gogo meadow, which surrounds the salt lick, is populated by indigenous trees.
The Gogo Salt Lick is an area of water puddles fed by slow seeping springs and traditionally used by wildlife and livestock. The salty water that slowly comes from underground empties into the Gogo River. [5] Salt licks occur in areas of both sedimentary and volcanic bedrock. They occur rarely in granitic bedrock except where overlain by calcareous glacial till.
Well established mineral licks, like Gogo, appear as open muddy areas and are characterised by well-worn trails radiating from them. Wild animals, like buffaloes, gazelles, and zebras, and domestic animals, like cattle, goats and sheep, go to salt licks to ingest crucial sodium and chloride minerals, which they need to survive. [6]
The bongo is a large, mostly nocturnal, forest-dwelling antelope, native to sub-Saharan Africa. Bongos are characterised by a striking reddish-brown coat, black and white markings, white-yellow stripes, and long slightly spiralled horns. It is the only tragelaphid in which both sexes have horns. Bongos have a complex social interaction and are found in African dense forest mosaics. They are the third-largest antelope in the world.
Weathering is the deterioration of rocks, soils and minerals through contact with water, atmospheric gases, sunlight, and biological organisms. Weathering occurs in situ, and so is distinct from erosion, which involves the transport of rocks and minerals by agents such as water, ice, snow, wind, waves and gravity.
Mount Kenya is an extinct volcano in Kenya and the second-highest peak in Africa, after Kilimanjaro. The highest peaks of the mountain are Batian, Nelion and Point Lenana. Mount Kenya is located in the former Eastern and Central provinces of Kenya; its peak is now the intersection of Meru, Embu, Kirinyaga, Nyeri and Tharaka Nithi counties, about 16.5 kilometres south of the equator, around 150 km (90 mi) north-northeast of the capital Nairobi. Mount Kenya is the source of the name of the Republic of Kenya.
Big Bone Lick State Park is located at Big Bone in Boone County, Kentucky. The name of the park comes from the Pleistocene megafauna fossils found there. Mammoths are believed to have been drawn to this location by a salt lick deposited around the sulfur springs. Other animals including forms of bison, caribou, deer, elk, horse, mastodon, moose, musk ox, peccary, ground sloths, wolves, black bears, stag moose, saber-toothed cats, and possibly tapir also grazed the vegetation and salty earth around the springs that the animals relied on for their diet.
Mountain Elgon is an extinct shield volcano on the border of Uganda and Kenya, north of Kisumu and west of Kitale. The mountain's highest point, named "Wagagai", is located entirely within Uganda. Although there is no verifiable evidence of its earliest volcanic activity, geologists estimate that Mount Elgon is at least 24 million years old, making it the oldest extinct volcano in East Africa. The mountain's name originates from its Maasai name, Elgonyi.
The Kamba or Akamba people are a Bantu ethnic group who predominantly live in the area of Kenya stretching from Nairobi to Tsavo and north to Embu, in the southern part of the former Eastern Province. This land is called Ukambani and constitutes Makueni County, Kitui County and Machakos County. They also form the second largest ethnic group in 8 counties including Nairobi and Mombasa counties.
A mineral lick is a place where animals can go to lick essential mineral nutrients from a deposit of salts and other minerals. Mineral licks can be naturally occurring or artificial. Natural licks are common, and they provide essential elements such as phosphorus and the biometals required for bone, muscle and other growth in herbivorous mammals such as deer, moose, elephants, hippos, rhinos, tapirs, woodchucks, fox squirrels, mountain goats, porcupines, and frugivorous bats. Such licks are especially important in ecosystems such as tropical rainforests with poor general availability of nutrients. Harsh weather exposes salty mineral deposits that draw animals from miles away for a taste of needed nutrients. It is thought that certain fauna can detect calcium in salt licks.
Geophagia, also known as geophagy, is the intentional practice of eating earth or soil-like substances such as clay, chalk, or termite mounds. It is a behavioural adaptation that occurs in many non-human animals and has been documented in more than 100 primate species. Geophagy in non-human primates is primarily used for protection from parasites, to provide mineral supplements and to help metabolize toxic compounds from leaves. Geophagy also occurs in humans and is most commonly reported among children and pregnant women.
Embu is a town located approximately 125 kilometres (78 mi) northeast of Nairobi towards Mount Kenya. Embu served as the provincial capital of the former Eastern Province and currently serves as the headquarters of Embu County in Kenya. Located on the south-eastern foothills of Mount Kenya, the Municipality of Embu had a population of 204,979 in 2019 census. Embu is also the 8th Largest Municipality in Kenya. It is the commercial hub of the Central Eastern part of Kenya and provides an avenue for trade, tourism and highway transit between the national capital and the Northern Frontier.
Mûkûûrî is an administrative Location and township in Runyenjes Division, in Embu County, Kenya, with a population of about 25,000 people. It is named for a large, strong Sycamore Fig Tree that stood for over 100 years at the current site of the township. The Sycamore Fig tree symbolizes strength, rejuvenation and regeneration. Mûkûû-rî region lies on the green, rolling hills of the Mount Kenya slopes. The administrative region begins from the stone cliffs of Nthûngû waterfalls, all the way to Nthenge Njerû falls, through the famous Kirimiri Forest, stretching to the historic Gogo Salt lick, bordering Gitare. It is home to four public primary schools, including Kubu Kubu Memorial Boarding School and Muragari School, which is among the oldest schools in Embu and Kîrînyaga districts.
The Meru or Amîîrú are a Bantu ethnic group that inhabit the Meru region of Kenya. The region is situated on the fertile lands of the north and eastern slopes of Mount Kenya in the former Eastern Province.
Embu County is a county of Kenya. The capital of Embu County and the former Eastern province headquarters, Embu is a large and largely metropolitan area with a population of 608,599 persons. The county borders Kirinyaga to the west, Kitui to the east, Tharaka Nithi to the north and Machakos to the south. The county occupies an area of 2,821 km2.
The American Fork is a river in Utah County, Utah, United States.
Blue Licks Battlefield State Resort Park is a park located near Mount Olivet, Kentucky in Robertson and Nicholas counties. The park encompasses 148 acres (60 ha) and features a monument commemorating the August 19, 1782 Battle of Blue Licks. The battle was regarded as the final battle of the American Revolutionary War.
The Embu or Aembu are a Bantu people indigenous to Embu county. The region is situated on the southern slopes of the former Eastern province. They belong to the northeastern Bantu branch and speak the Embu language known as Kiembu as a mother tongue. It belongs to the Bantu branch of the Niger-Congo family. Kimeru, Kikuyu, and Kikamba share similar language characteristics. To the west, Embu neighbours are the closely related Kikuyu in Kirinyaga, Nyeri, Kiambu, Muranga and Nyandarua counties. The Meru people border the Embu to the East.
The Dawaro River is found in East Africa, covering an area of, 58,961 km2. It flows through three major countries: Kenya, Ethiopia, and Somalia, with 81% falling into Ethiopian territory. It is known for its complex geological environment, evident through its diverse lithology and structural framework, coming from the river's closeness to multiple volcanic-tectonic events. The wide river has gentle slopes either side of its exposed bedrock. The Dawa river flows south east to form part of the Ethiopia - Somalia border and part of Ethiopia - Kenya border. Awata, Digati, and Mormora are the only significant off-flowing rivers to Dawa.
Kanyuambora is an administrative division in the Mbeere sub-district of Embu County, Eastern Kenya, which is commonly referred to as a "location". It lies on Latitude: 0° -29' 0 N, Longitude: 37° 43' 0 E and is about 90 miles North East of Nairobi. Kanyuambora is one of the eight locations that form Siakago constituency. It was formerly part of the now defunct Mbeere District.
Shungwaya is an origin myth of the Mijikenda peoples. Traditions known collectively as the "Shungwaya myth" describe a series of migrations of Bantu peoples dating to the 12th-17th centuries from a region to the north of the Tana River. These Bantu migrants were held to have been speakers of Sabaki Bantu languages. Other Bantu ethnic groups, smaller in number, are also suggested to have been part of the migration. From Shungwaya, the Mount Kenya Bantu are then proposed to have broke away and migrated from there some time before the Oromo onslaught. Shungwaya appears to have been, in its heyday, a multi-ethnic settlement with extensive trade networks. Between perhaps the 12th and 15th centuries, this settlement was subjected to a full scale invasion of Cushitic speaking Oromo peoples from he Horn of Africa. From the whole corpus of these traditions, it has been argued that Shungwaya comprised a large, multi-ethnic community.
Thimlich Ohinga is a complex of stone-built ruins in Migori county, Nyanza Kenya, in East Africa. It is the largest one of 138 sites containing 521 stone structures that were built around the Lake Victoria region in Kenya. These sites are highly clustered. The main enclosure of Thimlich Ohinga has walls that are 1–3 m (3.3–9.8 ft) in thickness, and 1–4.2 m (3.3–13.8 ft) in height. The structures were built from undressed blocks, rocks, and stones set in place without mortar. The densely packed stones interlock. The site is believed to date to the 15th century or earlier.
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