Mum didn't sleep too well last night as ironically she said she was cold...your in Africa, few miles off the equator and your cold?...yet you have a four seasons sleeping bag in the backpack but the thought of unpacking it is too much effort and therefore would rather stay cold. I was woken up at 5am by the wailing sound from outside calling people to prayer at the mosque. At 6.30am the MC group were all up and stuffing themselves with their last proper breakfast for the week. We all boarded the minibus which took us on a 4 hour drive to around the mountain to the start of the Rongai root. We had 3 toilet stops (everyone busting to go from the mix of water and diamox). One stop was in a very dodgy night club, one in a farmers crop field (beggers can't be chosers) and once was...well in a brothel. 3 young ladies ushered us into a courtyard with 3 open rooms...consisting of a double bed, a tv locked in a cage and a coffee table laden with condoms...oh and a smelly onsuite bathroom (this was no honeymoon suite). we were just grateful to see a toilet! we tipped the women dollar bills and they were over the moon.
Unfortunately we didnt see any safari animals on the bus ride through Kenya, however we did see how the locals live. The land was dry and dusty, with no signs of rivers or lakes. Where crops grew, the land was irrigated but god knows where the water source came from?! The men sat on their porches, the women were hard at work in the fields...picking sugar cane, washing clothes, balancing baskets of bananas so carefully on their heads to sell them at the corner fruit and veg stalls at the side of the road. The woman were beautiful...their hair short like a bloke, their hair braided or their hair wrapped up in a clothe on their head, these woman wore no makeup but had stunning facial features. Many of the buildings dotted around the roadside were half finished. i dont think they use foundations for their bungalows...a lot of the buildings were falling down or sinking...the beams were never straight. they were all one story buildings with tin roofs and porches. the area was very poor and made one appreciate just how lucky we are at home to have driveway with nice cars on it and windows and doors. We passed a field of children playing football...they looked happy kicking this wired grass ball around bare foot. somehow, amongst all the dark browns and yellow dust, a magnificent purple blossom tree grew every now and then adding life to a dying landscape. Cows were tied up by their noses, lying depressed in the sun. goats and skinny chickens were being hearded around. i didnt see any sign of sheep or lambs...which is why i am skeptical as to what exactly we were eating when lamb was on the menu :S.
On arrival, 75 porters whisked out backpacks away up the mountain to set up camp ready for when we arrived. After a quick bite of lunch, our ascent began from Naremoro gate (1950m) and took us through farmers fields and into forestry. We walked for 4 hours along a well trodden path, 'pole-pole' (swaheli for slowly slowly). it was a nice gently, relaxing pace underneath the cool climate of the shaded trees. We didnt see any wildlife but the group had high spirits and it was nice getting to know one another, askin what has influenced them to climb the mountain and where they are from, what they do etc. After climbing 700m to simba camp (2650m), we were greeted by song and dance from all the porters who had already managed to carry water, food, tents, luggage, toilet rolls, seats etc etc up the mountain and got it all laid out ready for us. Everyone commented on how easy the walk had been...but we were not disillusioned as we knew it was going to get tough and they were breakin gus in gentley. For dinner that night we had soup for starters and fish and chips! the chef even baked a cake (up the mountain) for one of the guys (Bens) birthday!!! it was amazing!
When the sun had gone down around 6pm, the temperature also went down, probs to around 5 degrees...mum and i had our warm down jackets on so we were toasty. the toilet was a long drop...a nice big hole in the ground. i was busting for the loo but somehow just hovering over the hole gave me stage fright and it was difficult to go. i wont go into too much detail!!! but thank god for antibacterial hand gel. Everyone was in bed by 8pm...stupidly mum and i chose a tent on a rather high incline slope. by the morning, we had slide down to one end of the tent...not the most comfiest nights sleep!
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