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You'd be surprised what you can get used to…….
Well I've been on this trip for two months now and I thought I might write up what that involves on a daily basis, that and this morning I have actually felt like I am used to this way of life, being and overlander after two months.
This morning it was up at 6:30am, Siobhan and I awkwardly get dressed in our small tent and pack up our sleeping stuff. Everything at the back of the tent is wet, as it had rained yesterday and the back of the tent didn't get pegged in right. So my sleeping bag cover, the back of my sleeping mat and parts of my blanket are soaked. Great. I go and hang things around Gertie (our truck) to attempt to dry them, along with my towel, which is already over the back of my seat.
I then go to see if there is anything I can do to assist the breakfast group, I am on back locker today, so I unlock the back of the truck, lay out the tarp and wait for everyone to put their bags on it before David, Derek and I pack the mountain of backpacks, sleeping mats and bags away for the day. The truck is parked at an odd angle and on a hill in the mud so this actually takes a few more people than usual. We eat breakfast and then pack everything away. We roll up the awning, five people are needed to roll it up and then three people in the truck to keep rolling it up through the windows and then to pass it to Dave (our driver and fearless leader) who straps it to the roof. Today I am in the truck. I then get off and brush my teeth in the middle of the campsite, using water from my drink bottle of course, as the water here is undrinkable.
When we finally get packed up, we jump on the truck, spraying our hands with disinfectant first and then we are off to do food shopping in Nakuru. It takes us half an hour to get into Nakuru and we float around to all the different shopping centres trying to get what we want. Today our group is told we have to prepare tonights dinner and lunch at a later date, we are given our budget of 4845 Kenyan Shillings, roughly $70, to feed nineteen people for two meals and off we go. We manage this, miraculously with 1500 shillings left over. We then go to the markets so some of the other groups can buy fresh fruit and vegetables. Dennis and I wander off, I want a hat. It is a mad s*** fight to get through the Motato drivers who try to drag you into their vehicles, "I don't need to go anywhere!" I yell at them. We head back to the truck, Dave has had to do a lap, to get out of the traffic and while we are waiting I look around the various stalls and finally find a hat, which I have called Top Gun hat I also bought another hat which I have called, Jazz hat. I am happy to finally have hats to wear.
We load the truck and continue on for about fifteen minutes, before the truck loses high gear and Dave has to stop in the middle of town and repair the gearbox. A small hoard of locals stops to watch, I stay on the truck and they throw things at the windows to try to attract my attention. I ignore them.
We drive up the road to find a flat spot to have lunch, we get the tables out at a tea plantation which has a sign, No trespassers or tourists. We have lunch here and pack up in a hurry when it starts to pelt down with rain. We get back on the truck and drive another ten minutes up the road and cross the Equator, David and I jump out to take pictures with the sign, we are the only ones that brave the rain, everyone else takes pictures from the truck. We run to jump back on the truck and as we are crossing in front of it Dave honks the horn in an attempt to make us jump out of our skins.
We get going again and we are on the road for about three hours and I have been listening to my iPod and have since fallen asleep when I the truck stops and I am woken by Dave, who yells "Pee stop!" Now you'll notice, its never Bathroom break or Toilet stop, that's because there is never a toilet or a bathroom within a hundred miles of anywhere we ever stop for the toilet. This time I don't need to go. The other girls go for a hike up the hill to find a bush and the boys pee of the nearby cliff.
We continue one to Naru Muru and when we arrive, Siobhan and I set the tent back up. Dave, Derek and I empty the back locker of bags and then it is my groups job to cook dinner for nineteen people. I have decided to cook chicken catiatorie, which takes about two hours. I also cook broccoli and my special carrots, which everyone loved. Dave cooked the potatoes, which kind of came out looking like hash browns, but were really good. As usual and just like at home, I use every pot and pan in my arsenal to cook the meal and unlike at home my group now has to clean it all up. We wash everything and then flap it dry. For those of you who don't know, flapping is the art of waving your wet dishes back and forward until they are dry.
After cooking dinner, which I have thoroughly enjoyed, I get on the truck to write up my journal on Eva, keeping my eyes peeled for baboons, who may want to jump on the truck and keep me company. At some stage after the diary writing I will either retire to the bar or to bed, to get up and usually do it all again tomorrow. That's life.
- comments
Nikki You gotta love the "flap" hey K!!! So jealous! We had Buzz last night, feeling less than average today:)