Day 6: 3 August 2002 9:30 pm
Many of the group are groggy after a night of partying and Jason ends up sleeping on the grass in his sleeping bag after being evicted from his tent.
12:10 am - Some of the group are partying in the bar and we are woken up by thumping dance music.
2:00 am - Jason and Natasha return to their tent and have a blazing row and Jason ends up sleeping on the grass. Their argument may have been alcohol induced.
9:30 pm - Despite all the comings and goings of last night, I didn't sleep too badly. We went to the bar to pay our miniscule bar tab and discovered that two of the Aussies from the other truck had a bar bill of Ksh 3000 (approx $40). I think some people are nursing bad hangovers.
At breakfast, Heinz asked our tour leader to look at a nasty bite on his stomach that turned out to be a tick. In the evening our tour leader managed to extract it by twisting the tick's head with a pair of tweezers. Glad it wasn't me. Apparently they can be picked up quite easily if you walk through long grass and haven't covered up your legs.
We had a three hour drive to Eldoret and stayed at Naiberi River camp site run by Raj. Raj is the black sheep of the family, who are Kenyan shilling multi-millionaires. Ash (who is permanently smoking hash) is his side kick although no one seems to know what the exact relationship is between them.
We set off on one of Ash's little walks into the Kaptagat Forest to see Colobus monkeys and embrace the trees. I should have known better than to follow someone as high as a kite but you live and learn.
It was an ominous sign, that as we were plodding down the red brown track, storm clouds were gathering overhead and that this was a bad idea. After passing lush green fields, I should have known that this is an area where it rains constantly. Before we knew it, we were wading through mud, sliding over rocks and tripping over roots. Siege mentality ruled - no one could appreciate the gorgeous vegetation or stunning aloe vera plants - everyone kept their heads down and concentrated on their feet.
We ended up covered in mud, cold and shivering. Thankfully there were hot showers as the water is heated by wood fires. I had just finished my shower and Tom had lathered himself up from head to toe when the water completely stopped. There was no water left in the tanks. Tom had to dash naked to the outside sinks and wash out in the open in the freezing cold water while it dipped down. It was funny afterwards but not while Tom was giving everyone a free strip show.
I was on washing up duty, so most of my evening was spent wearing marigolds. Other people had slipped round the back of the bar to buy some of Ash's hash.
We discovered this evening that Beth is a closet pyromaniac. Her solution to all medical problems, including Heinz's tick, is to 'burn it off' as that is good enough for her dog so it's good enough for humans.
She lives on a farm that nearly went under due to BSE and foot and mouth. They have now diversified into pet cremations and funerals. Apparently the well-heeled in London, are more than happy to pay a small fortune to have 'Fluffy' the pet cat laid to rest tastefully. I have to say it brought to mind the French and Saunders sketch of 'Pet Cemetary' on a farm. Beth reckons that for one funeral, a cortege of black Mercedes rolled up and everyone wore black. She says on average they cremate three horses a week.
We went to bed at 10:30 pm as we have to get up to cook breakfast at 5:15 am tomorrow. Tom stuffed himself full of food today so let's hope that is the end of the dreaded food conspiracy. Otherwise, it won't be long before he is asking to audit their books.
Positives: Not sure, ask me tomorrow, at least I didn't have a tick.
Negatives: Should have listened to Tom and not gone on a wild goose chase with Ash - he told me it would end in disaster.