17 August 2010
Our guide and leader Amanda (daughter of Jasper Evans and owner of the camels) drove from her home to join us at the walk start. Those 90 miles took her 8 ½ hours to drive… and quite the teeth and bone-rattling ride these roads can be!
On the first night before the walk start, we camped at Lake Baringo. Beautiful setting, with an “askari” (watchman) outside our site, on the look-out for roaming hippos and crocodiles coming ashore. We had dinner at a tiny café called the “Thirsty Goat”, which we deemed a pretty good nickname for Michael.
Walk, day one:
We awoke at 4:30 a.m. and started to pack up and load the camels, with the hope of starting to walk by 6:30, to beat some of the hot sun. We are deep within Pokot tribe country now. The people have been quite friendly and very curious of our group—with the occasional fright such foreigners tend to inspire, and even a few children crying at the very sight of us. Many of these villagers have not seen “wzungu” (foreigners) before, and our strange apparel, language, and collection of gadgets is all very striking and bizarre. Frequently at our rest stops and campsites, we attract a host of local villagers; some will walk beside us for miles, or just sit in our camp, staring and completely transfixed and agog. We are most definitely the new “reality TV” here, and quite the strange oddity.