DECEMBER 8-Long Day and then Crazy Trip to Top of Mountain
There was a huge plantation of "sigh-so." I have no idea how they really spell it. It is used for making rope, and what sounds like the bottom of carpets. We were told this massive plantation belongs to the President of Kenya, Kenyatta, who is the largest landowner in the country.
A fisherman showing off his catch at a small reservoir near Taita.
Staci pushed really hard and did another 40 km day. The area feels safer and comfortable. There seems to be more of a functioning economy. There are still many mud huts, but they're nicer.
When the hike ended for the day, the adventure began.
The driver and the guards (askari) decided we would camp at a school. We're not sure why, as there were plenty of logical campsites closer to where the day's hike ended. None of them had ever been here before, but turned up a road that indicated a school. Staci noticed a sign there indicating 8 km more to the school, nobody else saw it. We had already driven a ways just to get to that sign.
The road was as bad as roads up to old mining claims in the Salmon River area in Northern California. There was no place to turn around. It was the longest eight km I can remember. It was so absurd all Staci and I could do was laugh.
Then it started to sprinkle, and it was getting dark, as we finally pulled into Rung'e, a village about the size of Etna. It was near the top of a mountain. There were pine trees, small plots of corn on steep hillsides, and people smiling. It wasn't on any maps we had. It was Shangi-La. Samuel, one of our KWS guards, said they have probably never seen a Land Rover like this, never seen a KWS Ranger, and certainly had never seen a mzungu before (at least the children hadn't).
We are such an oddity that children call out to their friends to come see the mzungu (wazungu pl) when we show up.
Upon arriving at the school the rains came with a vengeance. Going down that road we had just gone up, if wet, was unthinkable.
The village was so obscure, there is no doubt tourists would never stumble upon it. Villagers were especially friendly here! Everyone was curious and kind.
A man at the school, I assume the live in maintenance man, let us take over one of the schoolrooms to cook in and sleep out of the rain. There were 39 desks. We're told classrooms 42 students is the Kenya federal standard. Luckily in December schools are on holiday, so we didn't disturb classes.
DECEMBER 9-Waking up to Beauty
It wasn't raining in the morning. It was beautiful. The guards, Staci, and I walked to the only place to eat, the Small Joint Hotel.
It was quaint. The proprietor was a schoolteacher where we had stayed the night. Like everyone, he was fascinated. Everyone speaks Swahili, and many speak English, but is often broken. His English was excellent, and he was very intelligent. It was so similar to sitting down in a local coffee shop in America, except the drink was chai tea.
The sun dried out the roads quickly as we relaxed at the Small Joint Hotel restaurant. The trip down was extremely slow, but uneventful, except for a broken bushing on the Land Rover which will need to be repaired.
The view from the school, with a beautiful church on the very top of the hill.
Some unique nests apparently from golden weaverbirds.
After a long day of hiking we took the guards back to the headquarters at Tsavo East NP. On the way we spotted six or eight elephants. We have now spotted two of the "big five" species, the elephant and the African buffalo. The red color of the elephants was a surprise.
Staci has hiked about 380 km, roughly 240 miles.
DECEMBER 10-Zero Day in Voi
We are okay with being marooned on the outskirts of Voi in a safe, nice, hotel that is cheap by American standards, about $38/night. The vehicle needs to be fixed.
