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Adventures with Kingsley Holgate (9)
Adventures with Kingsley Holgate (9)
It's tough going but to be true to the journey, some of the team now led by local Maasai age, set warriors, must scramble down the two thousand meter high rugged Nguruman escarpment that forms the Western wall of the Rift, leaving the Landy crew to boulder hop down a cattle-smuggling route to the flamingo-lined edge of Lake Natron. We all meet at a remote village for more Right to Site, LifeStraws and Mozzie net distribution. Rich in wildlife and traditional Maasai culture, this part of the Rift is Kenya's most challenging.
It's very dry. Through the stifling heat haze we make out the shapes of Maasai giraffe, wildebeest, Grant's and Thompson's gazelle, kicking up dust as they slowly make their way across the Rift Valley floor to drink from the brown waters of the Ewaso Ngiro.
Using the point of a Maasai spear, Ross draws a map in the sand. We'll take a dirt track South, stamp into Tanzania at Namanga, then West across Maasailand to set up a base camp on the floor of the Great Rift Valley to prepare for the challenging 2878 metre accent of Ol Doinya L'engai, Maasai 'Mountain of God', the only active carbonate volcano in the world. To avoid the heat of the day, our team will have to leave around midnight and use head torches to light the torturous route that will hopefully take them to the high crater rim by sunrise. Life's a great adventure isn't it?