The Abadares Trip - What I can remember of it!!

All ready to leave - borrowed rucksack and various billy cans to eat the food out of for the duration of the trip. Jump into the back of the van and off we go. It was quite an uneventful trip there. On arrival it was discovered that there weren't enough tents to go around - some ground
sheets were missing and some fly sheets had flown. I volunteered to sleep in the front of the pickup as it looked like it would be the warmest place to be. This later proved a rather good decision.

The first night was spent trying to think of something to do. Campfire gossip and some people even 'getting off' together. Anyway - after a bit of a mess around, sleep time set in. And so did the weather. I had a pretty good view of the rain from the cabin of the pickup. Perhaps not as close to it as those in tents but close enough for me. It absolutely pissed down.

A rather damp crew awoke the next morning getting ready for the little excursion out into the back of beyond. We walked for what felt like 12 hours through all of the terrain that the Abadares had to offer. At one point we passed rather close to some elephant. Some of the others decided to get a bit closer but were eventually put off as the elephant got a little miffed.

We finally arrived. A picturesque little spot by the banks of a river (The name of it eludes me at the moment). The river was freezing - fresh water from the snow caps of Mt Kenya. Some dared to swim in it and strangely enough - others didn't. Duly refreshed - it was time to build accommodation for the night. Armed with some ingenuity and some black plastic we proceeded
to build a colander. Well it was meant to be a tent to house us all but would have done a good job at straining just about anything liquid.

Mark McCloy and James Fox built their own little tent that served the purpose of keeping dry much better. I offered them my Rucksack to use as a pillow for the night and the offer was accepted.

Dawn broke and a number of tired and wet individuals regained consciousness. Bags full of wet clothes to get changed into laying by their sides. Fox and McCloy woke and opened the entrance to their tent. Steam fled out of the opening. At least someone had stayed dry! Ah - but my rucksack was in there with them and was also dry. I was doing quite well so far - having to sleep
in the front of the pickup. Having to get into dry clothes after the camp out could my luck change?

After a quick bite to eat - Dave Harries (The guy who ran the trips) left us (or did he leave the night before - can't remember) and told us to find our own way back to the original camp. The group went one way and McCloy, Fox and I went another (well they had done so well with the tent - what did I have to loose!). It turned out to be the right thing to do. We took the straight line approach - with one of the other two recognising one of the hills ahead as being near our 'base camp'. We walked for a hell of a lot less time than it took us to get to the leaking camp and had only one stream to cross. Over went McCloy, balancing across a log. Over went Fox in the same manner. Over went I in a similar manner but with the disadvantage > of being heavier than the two of them. This, coupled with the weight of the rucksack on my back, caused the log to snap. My dry clothes up to just above the knees were no longer dry.

We got back to base camp about an hour before the others did and made do with what was left of the 'luxuries'. That is all there is for now - the memory is still on paid overtime to get it all done one day!