Saturday, October 15, 2005

This time last year

I began walking up Mt Kenya....

Today I got up and take breakfast about 8am and meet up with Andre and Patrick at 9. We buy loo roll and water purifying tablets and await the arrival of Robert. He's delayed waiting for some chicken. Eventually we set off after 11 and take a van up to the Sirimon gates. Here our chef, John, prepares us some sandwiches, chese, salad and avocado. We then start the trek up to OPld Moses hut. The incline is steady, mainly like walking up to Broomhill from uni. After a water break, we set off at different times, and I go a bit later. As I walk along the path I hear a noise in the bush and looking around I spot two baboons. Which I think is an impressive spot, until I turn the corner and see about 30 on the track ahead! immediately I feel a bit vulnerable and stand still wondering whether to head back to the guide. Eventually I press forward and they leave the path as i approach. Unfortunately I tried to take a photo, but it didn't work. The flora and fauna on this trek is incredible, from a forrest with the baboons, which moves to a more scrub based landscape with heather as the tree line is passed. Many beautiful coloured birds exist up here too. We reach the hut around 4pm and make ourselves at home as the clouds begin to encoach around 5pm.
We watch the sun go down and then take tea, which is remarkable considering what is available. Afterwards we make a set of cards from paper to play some games with. My nights sleep was odd, I was warm but a little cramped. Didn't appear to fall into a deep sleep, more a kind of limbo, but I was quite relaxed in the morning.



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