Hello and sorry for the delay between postings. I think my day to day life here is pretty unexciting so I don’t like to write unless something awesome happens. Which it just did.
Last weekend saw me, my partner in crime Jess, and 6 work colleagues head up to the Rutundu Log Cabins on the slopes of Mt Kenya. It was a 4 hour drive from Nairobi, and once we hit Mt. Kenya National Park we spent another 2 hours traversing what I can barely call a dirt road. It was slow and painful going as Jess and I were flung from side to side of the car every time we hit a bump or pothole. Which was often. We basically just held onto the roof handle for dear life while our necks snapped from side to side. Occasionally we came across incredibly steep climbs or descents, which I could only deal with by squeezing my eyes shut and emitting a high pitched groan.
When I wasn’t a human bobble head doll I could occasionally look out the window and admire the landscape. We slowly ascended above the tree line and were surrounded by dense scrub, some of it taller than me. The brochure said that the park was home to elephant, buffalo, zebra, and leopard, but I found that hard to believe. How could all these animals live in such a desolate place with nowhere to hide? Nevertheless, I kept a sharp eye out. I was rewarded as we approached the cabins when I spotted a zebra in the distance. We stopped the car to watch it when suddenly we realized that there was not one, but twelve! You would think twelve large black and white animals would stand out in this desert landscape but it was quite the opposite, we nearly drove past them without noticing!
We arrived at sunset, exhausted and hungry. But no, our adventures weren’t about to end just yet. Turns out there was the small problem of a gorge separating the road from the cabins. We ended up sending our luggage over on a zip line (!), where four staff members collected it and brought it to the cabins. We were not as lucky and ended up having to hike over.
The cabins were the most isolated place I’ve ever been to. No electricity, no phone signal, and at least a 2 hour drive from the nearest community. The cabins themselves were incredibly luxurious despite (or because?) of this. There were two – the main cabin had a kitchen, common room with fireplace, couches, and large dining room table, and a bedroom with a double bed and 2 bunkbeds. The second cabin was basically just sleeping quarters, again with a double bed and 2 single beds. Of course, knowing that Prince William and Kate got engaged here only a few months previous, the question on everyone’s mind was WHERE DID THEY SLEEP??? Well, it may not have been the question on everyone’s mind but I was certainly thinking about it.
Cabin life was pretty sweet. Our breakfasts were eaten at a large table outside on the porch overlooking the lake. Occasionally, brightly coloured sunbirds would zip by. At night, we would cozy up by the fire after having a delicious dinner. We told funny stories late into the evenings before bundling up in bed where the staff would leave hot water bottles under the covers to warm up our feet. Bliss! I was especially thankful for this as I packed like a doofus for my relocation to Kenya and only packed three pairs of pants, no coat, and one pair of socks. Yes, one pair. I was obviously thinking like a champ that night. Anyway, as you may have guessed, the environs around Mt. Kenya get pretty cold at night. I ended up wearing two sweaters and my pyjama pants under my regular pants. It wasn’t too bad actually.
I will spare you the details of our 5 hour hike up to Lake Alice on Saturday, as I wanted to kill myself about 20 min in. Once we got to the top I couldn’t be bothered to do anything but eat some food and pass out. This resulted in a pretty weird sunburn as the chilly winds caused me to wipe my nose often on the way up, thus wiping off all sunscreen in that general region. I capped off this triumphant afternoon by face-planting into a shrub on the way down. We did find a chameleon though, which was really awesome in my opinion.
I decided that the only way to recover from this experience was to go fishing in the lake by the cabin. Five of us set out along with two of the staff. It was not long until Jess and I began to regret this decision. The sun was starting to set and the winds were picking up, and to top it off we noticed our boat was leaking. There were not enough rods to go around so Jess and I basically just sat there eating Pringles and staring at each other. We rowed silently back and forth across the lake, dragging the flies behind us. Every time we approached one of the three docks, Jess and I would longingly think of being dropped off, but to no avail. I’m not sure how long we spent in complete silence freezing out butts off and shifting our legs to avoid a rapidly spreading puddle in the bottom of the boat, but it was too long. Ironically, as we begged the staff to take us back, we caught a trout! And yep, we ate it, and yep, it was awesome.
And now, the details you’ve been waiting for! After the hike, we basically cornered a poor staff member and forced him to give up all details on William and Kate. He told us the following
-the staff didn’t even know who William and Kate were at the time!
-they drove up, alone (which is pretty impressive I think)
-they brought their own food and cooked it (he couldn’t remember what they ate)
-they only stayed one night instead of two because it started raining pretty badly and the roads can get washed out
-they went fishing but didn’t catch anything (guess they didn’t feel like spending an hour in silence with the staff as the boat slowly sank)
-and finally: JESS AND I WERE SLEEPING IN THEIR BED!!!
In short, pure win.
