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'Bless the rains down in Africa' (Toto) - Extreme East 4

'Bless the rains down in Africa' (Toto) - Extreme East 4

Author: Kingsley Holgate
Date: 2018-07-27

The dry and the dust continue as we zigzag across Tanzania and into Kenya. In Nairobi, Anna (Ross' wife and a keen adventurer) flies in to join us. She's accompanied by Shova Mike's good mates, Leith Stewart and Shane Barker, two surgeons from Cape Town who are avid mountain bikers and fired up for their cycling adventure ahead. Shova Mike's hired a Landy - a battered green Defender - as the cyclists' back-up vehicle from a Kenyan operator for the stretch through Kenya and onto Harar in Ethiopia. It comes with a driver and Stella, a charming Kikuyu safari operator.

Next day it's north, through the green highlands to Nanyuki, passing Mount Kenya swathed in mist, to set up a base camp in Samburuland. Here the drought has been horrific; thousands of goats, cattle, sheep and camels have died - it's been a main cause of the recent land invasions and political unrest in the area. With our great friend Dipa and his Il Moran (Samburu age-set warriors), we slaughter a goat. With us to sample expedition life and the humanitarian work we do, are Siv, Matt and Wim from the Man Cave TV programme. Siv, the presenter, and some of the expedition team are invited to drink blood from the sacrificial animal. Coincidentally the heavens open and soon we're all running for our tents.

Throughout the night, the rain drums down onto our flysheets, competing with the gurgling, grunting and spitting of camels in a nearby boma. In the morning, we wake to curtains of falling water cascading down the high cliff faces of the sacred Samburu mountain of Olelokwe, where the women come to pray for rain. The drought has broken! Now the challenge is red-brown mud and swollen rivers. As we continue through the Wamba area conducting Elephant Art education with school children and humanitarian work in Samburu villages, the torrential rains continue - flash floods, bridges are washed away and rocky mountain passes become slippery and dangerous. Will keep you posted.