Today we awoke to sunny skies after rains persisted through the night. Temperatures today rose to 37 degrees.
John, Amanda, and Robin were joined by Simon, Barabara, and Tingean to climb Mount Kasigau the day before. A climb that sounded well worth the trip. Needless to say however their legs were a bit tired today as we set off for a shorter walking day. We travelled to the other side of the mountain through very dense bush, the drovers using their pangas (machetes) to cut back the bush for the camels to pass.
One of the camels was very agitated the last couple of days due to what the drovers think was a scorpion sting on his “privates” - I’d be agitated too! Barabara gave us a good report today however that all the camels are all well and happy with round tummies after several days of grazing.
We said goodbye to Marefu this morning who had joined us approximately 2 weeks ago to help guide us from Saleita Hill to Kasigau. We were all sad to see him go as was he, however he wasn’t familiar with the area we were setting out to and was also missing his family.
Bev and Kathy chose to sit out of the mountain climb instead opting for another rest day which ended up with a smaller hill climb (Kenyans love to climb hills!) where we had a better view of the larger mountain.
After 46 days on a walking safari exhaustion becomes real . We are feeling muscles, tendons, and ligaments that we weren’t aware of earlier on, and sometimes our attention to the details around us tends to be less acute. Our diet becomes intensely important to ensure we are getting the right balance of fats, carbs, and proteins. Amanda thought we were all a little low in protein and promptly ensured there was fresh goat meat for the walkers and the drovers, as well as fresh eggs on the menu during our rest days. The food on safari, if we haven’t already mentioned it, is fabulous with just the right foods to keep us going but with a safari of this duration fresh meat is not always available nor practical and instead we supplement with legumes and lentils. With 14 days left until we reach the coast the last two rest days were so vital and we definitely took advantage of the down time. Of course this morning we were eager and looking forward to getting moving again - walking is also the best addiction in the world!!
