This morning we left the lake (Lake Chala) under cloudy skies but it was very warm and humid. We stopped at the Kenyan-Tanzanian border, the perfect photo opportunity and a chance to put our feet on Tanzanian soil.
Bev discovered two small scorpions in her tent. One last night that she carefully extricated, and the other she found inside her gear bag in the morning - all good though- no casualties!! Some of us have, however, encountered Nairobi Eye (fly), which is actually a beetle that secretes an acid when touched. There seem to be many in this area now. So, we are all being careful and tending to our wounds. Apparently, if you see them on you, it’s better to blow them off rather than swatting them away - lessons learned!
For the first time, we have Mount Kilimanjaro to our backs as we walked away. It was such a strange feeling as we headed further southeast towards the coast, as this magnificent mountain has always been to our right for so many days.
Thinking of Joseph Thompson and his days travelling through this area. Days when there were no fences dividing the land, no conservancies and no conservancy associations managing travel through the areas and wondering what his experience was compared to ours??
We travelled 19 km today and soon found ourselves leaving the tropical vegetation around Lake Chala into more acacia trees that we have become so accustomed to. Also, more wildlife appeared, including a lone elephant, wildebeest, Thompson gazelle, oryx, and some zebra whose white stripes were more red than white in this area, indicative of the red Tsavo soils that we are walking on (no dust or mud now though!)