At 3 am I was awoken by a thunderstorm and just before dawn rain was hammering on our tent but as if by magic it had all ended by the time we emerged from our tent at 6.15am. Breakfast was porridge (by special request) and toast - again mayonnaise appeared instead of butter but I knew better this time and it was quickly swopped for the butter in the cool box!
John had a place under his eye which was looked very red and swollen - big John diagnosed it as Nairobi eye - some bug had given him an acidic bite - the cure was to neutralise it with toothpaste which had bicarbonate of soda in it and freshly cut aloe - it did the trick albeit his face, around the offending spot, was yellow and darkened and tightened as the day went on - he described it was like a mud pack .....you could pay pounds in a spa for this no doubt!!
At 7.20 we set off for the Rift Valley and viewpoint over Lake Eyasi.....The largest soda lake. John hadn't done this walk before and it was one he wanted to try so GPS in hand we headed in that direction following animal pathways and picking our way through the vegetation - I soon realised that following John through acacia studded undergrowth was not good for my legs - his height must put his ankles 6inches higher than ours or his skin is rhino hide- whatever I often found the tribesmen's routes less masochistic and easier on the legs!
Just after setting off we crossed a river, after the immortal words from our leader ' careful the rocks are slippery' one foot slipped in the water and in an effort to regain my balance the other foot followed. I now had two wet feet and squelchy socks......I had no option but to carry on - I knew they would soon dry and was surprised to find that it wasn't at all uncomfortable to walk with damp feet and wet boots!
When we reached the Rift Valley edge there was time for photographs with John positioning us all and taking them with his own, ours and Dania's camera.
We got there around 10 and could see the point where lunch was on the horizon but it was still a couple of hours trekking away. Enroute John spotted a male greater kudu disappearing into the undergrowth - using his and the tribesmen's skills we tracked it until we all got a better view of it making its way along the lower slopes into the valley together with another young male.
At about 12 noon I could see the land cruiser with a Masai blanket spread out on the drop down tail board- it was a welcome sight as I guessed it had lunch on it! It did - Mdebe welcomed us with a refreshing juice and we sat looking out over the Rift Valley in the shade of the trees eating a lovely pasta salad lunch......I took my boots and socks off to allow the final drying off to occur.....I was pleased to see that trench foot was along way off!
We returned to camp after some more bow and arrow target practice - which we watched in the jeep. It took over an hour and when we returned we spent the rest of the day relaxing.
Today's walk was about 10 miles but with more ups and downs than yesterday....brilliant.
After hot showers we watched the skies darken - the colours - blacks, pinks and reds as the sunset mixed with the massing thunderstorm were amazing - and we tried to decide if the storm would hit us ---it did and we had to leave the warm camp fire and make for the mess tent as the skies opened.
Every few minutes John would push the tent roof and gallons of water would pour off - it was a deluge - thankfully it did stop before we went to our tents after supper. We all left at 2040 - early for some but everyone, reported next morning, that sleep came quickly.
PS We had news that the area around main camp had been hit by rain during the day and 3 jeeps had got stuck in the mud - 2 were still stuck when we left on Sunday and one poor honeymoon couple missed their flight to Pemba (another lodge also had 3 stuck) !