Having woken up in a piled heap on one side of the tent (damn that gravity), mum and i repacked all our equipment into our backpacks and left them outside the tent ready for the porters to come whisk them away up to the next camp. we had hot water supplied to us by one of the porters to wash our faces in and hot chocolate, tea, coffee sat waiting for us on the breakfast table - this was more luxurious than being at home! Breakfast consisted of porridge, omlette, bacon and toast - yum yum! Having filled our camel packs with 3 litres of water, we were ready for the 9 hour hike from Simba camp to Kikelawa camp (3678m). The first 4 hours was through moorland and the views of Kenya to the North could be appreciated. As we trekked higher, the environment changed to shrubbery to eventually very rocky, narrow paths which made it very difficult to tread. the toilet situation also got a more difficult as the shrubs offered little privacy from the views of all the men. After 3.5 hours, the weather took a turn for the worse and the rain began pouring down. luckily i was walking at the front of the group and we had just reached our lunch spot inside one of the lava caves. mum, unfortunately, was about half hour behind us as she had opted to stay at the back with one of the women, Tara, who was feeling very ill with D and V. When mum eventually arrived, soaked but thankfully protected by her waterproofs, they tucked in to the left over spag bol which the rest of the group had devoured in minutes. there were other backpackers in the cave with us, mainly french - the arrogant, rude, ignorant so and so's! they glared enviously at our banquet that had been set up for us...tables, chairs, cutlery, hot food....whilst they munched on their packed lunches, sat on rocks. mwahaha.
After lunch, we prepared for a nother 4 hour trek over the rocky path. It was this point in time when everyone started to feel the strain of all the walking and the altitude was just beginning to take effect. the rain had eased off to fine spits but it made everyone a little bit cold and damp. i turned to admire the view from the land below and could see the sun beating down, heating the land at the bottom of the mountain. unfortunately we were in amongst the clouds now. it was cold up here!
When we made it to camp, the porters were there, yet again, to greet us. singing and dancing. their energy and high spirits amazed us all and really boosted our attitudes to a more positive outlook! Dr Dom even joined in with the male voice choir, dancing like a little monkey on ecstasy. Tara lagged behind by a few minutes, she is not in a good way. Mum and i were getting a little more organised at this unpacking me-larky and we got changed out of out waterproofs, into our warm evening clothes ready for dinner. Zookinie soup (i dont think ive spelt that right) and rice with beef sauce - again, another delicious meal. By 8pm we were all knackered and getting tucked up in our 4 season sleeping bags ready for bed. it was a little colder tonight so some of us slept with our thermals on...mum had her silk liner out for her sleeping bag. I like many others in the group was suffering from a tension headache - one of the early signs of altitude sickness. mum was also feeling the effects of a sore head and was starting to feel the cold.
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