Gogo Salt Lick, Kenya

• Comment: still needs rewriting DGG ( talk ) 11:07, 23 November 2020 (UTC)

• Comment: See the earwig report for details. The copied text is minor, so should be easy to clean up. Beyond that, while I suspect this may well be a notable topic, the draft needs a lot of rewriting. -- RoySmith (talk) 18:15, 25 May 2020 (UTC)

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In Embu County, Kenya, apart from lesser-known sites within Mt Kenya Forest, there is the historic Gogo Salt Lick in Mukuuri, Runyenjes.

Because of the growing acidification of soils nowadays, natural minerals and other trace elements are becoming quite rare, yet animals require them for many of their bodies’ biochemical and physiological processes.

However, Gogo and the few places in Kenya with established mineral licks, remain a great meeting point for people, and animals seeking to cover their mineral and trace element requirements.

History

Gogo has been known as a place of Mûnyû (salt) for hundreds of years in Embu land, in fact, since the founding of the Embu Community...

History has it (Mbeere Historical Texts by Prof Mwaniki Kabeca (2005) Gogo is the place where Mwenendega, the founder of Embu tribe, met his wife Nthara.

Prof Kabeca narrates that Mwenendega, the founder of Embu, who lived near the current Mwenendega grove in Runyenjes, took his cattle to drink at the Gogo Salt Lick and found a girl who refused to talk to him at first. After much cajoling, she spoke with him and made him swear never to tell her negative things or abuse her, as there would be consequences.

The woman’s parents were not known, and it was, therefore, believed she was sent by God.

Then one day the two, now man and wife, had a ceremony, where Ndega broke his promise and reproached his wife. It rained heavily, and the floods drowned the old couple.

Their children survived and their descendants filled the land of Embu

Geography and Location

Gogo Salt Lick is located in Mukuuri, near the banks of Gogo River that separates Mûkûûrî and Gitare localities 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.

Although it has not become a tourism spot, Gogo is tranquil, rejuvenating, and refreshing, with the rush of water creating a mild breeze and with birds chirping from the nearby thicket.

The five-acre Gogo meadows, all grassy, is surrounded by indigenous trees thicket and soul-pleasing tea farms that bloom the entire year.

It is two kilometres from Mukuuri-Runyenjes Road, a good distance away from the hubbub of road traffic.

Gogo Salt Lick is best accessed from Kubu Kubu Memorial Boarding School through Mürurîrî Road. It can also be accessed from the Mukuuri-Runyenjes Road at the Kîthuraku Junction, which is shorter but not motorable until the historic salt licks.

The chemistry of Salt Licks

The Gogo Salt or Mineral Lick is an area of water puddles, fed by slow seeping springs, and traditionally used by wildlife and livestock. The salty water that oozes from the undergrounds, empties into the Gogo River. Mineral 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, typically appear as open muddy areas and are usually characterised by well-worn trails radiating from them.

Animals from Kenya, such as buffaloes, gazelles, zebras; and domestic ones such as cattle, goats and sheep, always come to such salt licks, to ingest the crucial sodium and chloride minerals, which they require to survive.