Journey to the Mountains of the Moon - 1994 (5)

We had a good breakfast the next day prior to Dominic heading off with his 'expedition'. After Dominic had gone I later had a good lunch which was pretty much the same as the previous night's dinner except that it was in the restaurant beside the swimming pool. Unfortunately afterwards I had an attack of the skitters which saw me have to walk with clenched buttocks back to the cottage. Because I was on my own in a fairly large cottage, they moved me to a different cottage which was a bit closer to the lodge amenities and beside the river but it had a lot of overhanging trees which made it quite a gloomy place. I managed to call Patricia at home and had a welcome conversation while I brought her up to date with the happenings.

That night I was very uneasy. Alone in this very dark cottage I was conscious of having all of Dominic's and my worldly possessions and the slightest noise from the trees outside had me twitching. spent a very uneasy night. The cottage was quiet apart from ambient bush and river noises but I felt very insecure even though I double and triple checked that doors and windows were secured. When I wen to bed I spent the early part of the night starting at every unusual noise. Eventually I got out of bed and barricaded the bedroom door with a chest of drawers buttressed by the end of the bed. At least if anyone broke in I was going to have plenty of warning before they could get into the room. After blocking the doorway that I was able to get back to sleep properly although if there had been a fire I would have been stonkered.

Later next morning I went to reception and put Dominic’s money into safe storage. I also got them to move me into a double villa-type room which gave me a more secure feeling as there were people in the rooms on both sides. The ‘room’ was half of a small villa – one of several which are set in a row alongside the pathway to the lodge's central amenities area.

I bought a writing pad and wrote seven pages to Patricia. Possibly the spooked feeling was down to a bit of physical exhaustion compounded by the dose of skitters. I wonder if I was coming down with that while up the mountain and it might have contributed to the fatigue?

Even though I’d only been by myself a day, the enforced inactivity was making me a bit potty and I would be glad when Dominic arrived back. I did hope he was having a good experience though.

I lit a fire before going to dinner and by the time I got back it had warmed the room up quite nicely. People who haven't been there often think that all of Africa is hot and steamy all of the time. Even though it straddles the Equator, upland Kenya is quite temperate and night time temperatures drop quite low because of the altitude. Dinner was up to the usual standard – especially the Piripiri Chicken. That night I slept much better.

The following morning I skipped breakfast as I was feeling a little overfed. I mooched around the lodge property, read, watched birds then had lunch. This included samosas and curries for a nice change.

A group of American twitchers (birdwatchers) arrived during the morning. The group was mainly composed of middle-aged women and it was amusing to me to watch them wandering around with binoculars oohing and aahing at every little bird that moved. There were some very pretty birds around, however, including a group of green parrots.

At around 4:30pm Dominic arrived back from his mountain adventure very very tired. He made it up to Pt Lenana but only just. Still, he did get there and was glad he had done it. His description of the last section from McKinder’s Hut to Pt Lenana was almost word for word with my memory of my own experience 19 years ago.

The 1975 Mt Kenya Summit Party at Pt Lenana.
The author is 2nd from right in the yellow balaclava.

Dinner that night was a good one enjoyed with three Spaniards – Idor, Jose, and Anna – who were actually Basques, and a German – Klaus. They had all been part of Dominic’s ‘summit party’. As they were all weary from their Mt Kenya experience we soon broke up after dinner for an early night.

The 1994 Mt Kenya Summit Party.
Dominic in red Goretex 2nd from right