Miriakamba Hut – 17th February
International relations restored it was time to get down to the serious business of beginning my African adventure.
Giraffe, Zebra and Warthog on the plains at the base of the mountain
The morning had been blisteringly hot, walking along a dirt track that in any other circumstances would have been relatively uninteresting, so it was something of a relief to reach the shade of the rainforest.
As we made our way into the forest you could hear an immense racket of Colobus monkeys warning each other as we approached and it wasn’t long before we managed catch our first glimpse of their long white tails contrasting against the black fur of their bodies high in the canopy above.
Colobus Monkey
One landmark I had been looking forward to seeing “in the flesh” was the Fig Arch Tree, a giant specimen of a Strangler Fig which had long ago enveloped its host and subsequently split to straddle the track.
Forming an arch large enough to drive a truck through it certainly lived up to the hype as I craned my neck trying to see up to it’s upper reaches.
After a flurry of photographs and a quick decision to carry on a little further before breaking for lunch we moved off and no sooner had I tucked my camera away than my guide Wilfred tapped me on the shoulder and pointed into the forest.
Demonstrating the benefits of walking with others!
Looking hard into a sea of green I could just make out the contrasting colours of a Giraffe, slowly we crept towards it managing to halve the distance between us before he turned his attention to us.
There was just enough time to fire off a few photo’s before he decided enough was enough and lopped off into the forest.
Let's play spot the giraffe....
Elated we returned to the track and continued on our way until we reached the small clearing, complete with waterfall, which marked our spot for lunch.
Relaxing whilst enjoying the view after some lunch
Well fed and watered we continued on our way and it may have been the steeper gradient, increasing humidity or the previous days travel catching up but the going was getting tougher (and this was still an “easy day”)!
Making our way through the rainforest
Needless to say I was grateful to reach the high point for the day, safe in the knowledge that there was just a little walk across the plateau and a short descent before a welcome opportunity to drop my rucksack and put my feet up.
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