It was very wet and muddy with most fields running excess water into roadside gutters.  Large puddles were everywhere.

Puddles, puddles, puddles  P1260005  DY of jtdytravels

…and more puddles  P1260008  DY of jtdytravels

It is partly overcast as it has been nearly every day since my arrival in Africa.

There is a head cold developing on the bus, I hope I don’t catch it or be the carrier to the next group.  I’m OK so far.

Today we retraced our first day back into Nairobi.  It was foggy most of the way once we got to the high pass where we looked down into the Rift Valley on our way out of Nairobi.  The road is nearly all, if not all, downhill for nearly 3000 feet.  It is a long way down under brakes. We made it OK and so came to the end of a memorable African sojourn.

Thanks for coming along with me on an armchair ride!

Now it’s time to move on to my next adventure.  D

My tent has a flap on each of its four sides.  I roll these up for some air movement as otherwise the inside gets rather stuffy.  I’m in a tent on my own so can’t imagine how unpleasant the air must get when two people share a tent.  It started to sprinkle rain at 05h00 so there was a mad scramble to get up and drop the flaps before I got wet inside.  Whilst this was being done a bloody mozzie got inside so no further peaceful sleep resulted.  I got up 45 minutes later, and as usual, was the first, or one of the first, to be up and about.  I had my tent cleared out and packed up and on the truck before some others were up.  There was plenty of time to help some of the others, but isn’t it strange how it seems to be the same ones every time.  Some just disappear into thin air and wait for somebody else to chip in and achieve a quick pack-up.

We crossed from Uganda back into Kenya this morning.  The exit from Uganda was no problem.  I had to get another three day ‘Transit Visa’ to get into Kenya, but as I had done my homework this time, three days was all I needed.  Mind you, I used each of the three days!  It took us over an hour to clear both borders.  Again, there were trucks as far as the eye could see waiting on the Kenyan side to clear immigration and customs.  I counted 88 but didn’t start doing so until some way along the line.

We arrived in Eldoret at 16h45, rather early, but pleasant.  This is the same camping ground as last time.  I decided not to upgrade this time, I rather like my tent and because last time I had to squat under a low tap in my shower to get any water.  The communal shower was wonderful with water that hot I needed to use some cold to make it useable.  A thunderstorm had been brewing all afternoon and broke just as I started to dry off.  I waited until the worst of it passed before I made a dash back to my tent.  When I got there I found a river flowing beneath it.  It wasn’t as though I’d chosen my site badly as all the other tents were in a similar position.  I could feel the water flowing under the floor.  Thankfully the tent is completely waterproof and everything in it, including me, stayed dry.  It is interesting to look back on the whole trip to realise that we didn’t have to put up or take down our tents in the rain.  In fact, the only rain occurred when it didn’t really matter too much.  We were either on the road, eating under cover or in our tents when it rained.

My real comfort is the last of my ‘medicinal’ whisky and some peanuts.  With only one more night to go, I think I did pretty well eking it out to run out with only one night to go!  There will be some more bought in duty free at Abu Dhabi airport for the next leg.  If I get it on the way in I can pack it in my checked-in baggage as I have an overnight stop in Abu Dhabi after my flight from Nairobi.  Saves any possible confiscation of my litre of whisky by some nasty security person!  I can also decant the precious golden liquid into my metal water bottle to save both the weight of the glass bottle and to protect it from breakage.  Can you imagine me trying to suck my clothes dry should the unthinkable happen?

Juma gets a night off cooking tonight as we are being catered for by the camping ground.  They have a pleasant dining area next to the bar and as it is still over an hour before dinner and I’ve run out of whisky, I just might have to start warming a seat in that area.

The thunder storm turned out to bit more than a passing event as heavy rain settled in for an hour or two.  Again, we escaped an unpleasantness while eating our buffet meal.  After the meal, which had an African theme, one which I’m not sure I could get used to as it consists mainly of ugali, a maize based thick goo, and even more carbohydrate in the form of a yam-like root vegetable.  There were plenty of vegetables and tough meat to choose from to make the carbohydrate palatable.  Fond farewells were made as this was to be the last night the group was to be together.  Tip envelopes were handed over and the crew seemed to be happy – as we were with the whole trip.

Our driver, Mbuthia  P1250984  DY of jtdytravels

Our camp cook, Juma  P1250988  DY of jtdytravels

A Tusker beer surrounded by the group!  P1250992  DY of jtdytravels

The trip kitty was reconciled by Ingwe and three of our group and after paying for dinner there was just over $5/PAX left over.  I think this is pretty good.  It was decided that anyone who wanted their $5 could have it in cash, otherwise the balance was put on the bar for all to enjoy.  It only paid for a couple of drinks each so nobody was able to go mad.

The group at the fire  P1250998  DY of jtdytravels

I was well and truly snuggled up in my tent by 23h00 and asleep soon afterwards.  As would have it, a nature call was required some hours later.  The ground was really muddy and very slippery as a result of the earlier rain.  Over I went, down on my bum to dirty my clean undies and hands.  Thankfully there was a nearby tap which could wash the mud of my hands but my undies are still muddy and will have to wait until I get to Copenhagen to be washed.  My dignity didn’t suffer as there was nobody around.  Back in my tent I had to zip up my sleeping bag for the first time.  Until now I’d been warm enough just using it as a throw-over to my sheet sleeping bag.

Today was the adrenalin day for the younger people of the group.  There was white water rafting (up to Grade 5), bungy jumping, a river cruise on the Nile and/or one could join a community aid project and paint a school.  This sounded OK until the thought of getting paint all over our clothes was taken into account.  The Nile and Jinja hold a significant place in the geography of the region as it is said that the Nile starts where it flows out of Lake Victoria.

Brad about to jump  P1250899  DY of jtdytravels

I may have been enticed into doing something silly but bungy jumping for the ‘token grandfather’ of the group was not on.  I rather like my ball and socket joints the way they are.  The other thing that irked me was that the camp site only took Visa card.  This is the first place I can remember where, if credit cards are accepted, that both Visa and MasterCard are accepted.  Add to this anomaly, the blighters added a 5% surcharge on the use of the Visa card.  I’ve had to stomach up to a 3% surcharge on credit card usage, and maybe 5% on Diners or American Express, but not 5% on the two most common cards.  My protest was not silent as I told Ruth, the camp manager, that it was just another way to add an extra cost to the activity.  A captive audience, a captive market!  I just spent a quiet day in camp doing some washing and catching up on some writing.

There were some long-tailed macaques roaming around the camp taking every opportunity to grab any discarded food.

A long-tailed Macaque  P1250952  DY of jtdytravels

One poor individual had a piece of twine tied tightly around one wrist which rendered it useless.  I don’t know if it got tangled up in the twine or if someone had tied it on to tether the animal.  The way the animal wasn’t able to put the hand down indicated that the circulation to the area had been cut off.  I can only assume that the hand will eventually drop off!

This individual had twine tied tightly around a wrist  P1250948 DY of jtdytravels

There was free WiFi in the bar area so I took full advantage of this and talked to my sister Helen in Melbourne, son Peter in Newcastle and Jennie in Bangkok when she happened to log on while I was writing.

The Olympics start in London tonight – and although we had a ‘sporty’ day …a world away from here!

Around 03h00 this morning I heard a water tank being filled.  Silly me. I thought this might mean a hot shower.  There was water but definitely not hot.  I remain somewhat oily from yesterday’s massage but that is probably not a bad thing.

I was up at 04h50 to light rain as an early breakfast was needed because the day was to be a long one.  We actually left 5 minutes early at 06h25 and didn’t get to Lake Mburo until 17h45.  There were 3 roadside loo stops and an hour for lunch.  A long, long day, but the kilometres had to be done.

We just had time to put up our tents amongst wart hogs and hippos making all sorts of grunting noises in the nearby lake before the sun set.

Our camp site at Lake Mburo      (P1100602  DY of jtdytravels)

We watched the sun set over the lake with the hippos briefly surfacing from time to time whilst we rehydrated with a Tusker beer… or two.

Sunset over Lake Mburo      (P1100612  DY of jtdytravels)

Most enjoyable… and equally enjoyable was the camp fire we sat around after dinner.

Our campfire  P1100622     (DY of jtdytravels)