Mount Elgon - Day 1

The first day started with the early morning breakfast and even earlier inventory of the stuff I’d actually taken with me. I could not fit all in my bag, which made me worry about the weight too, but in the end I did not carry the stuff myself. The porter, i.e. guy who carries stuff, which I thought would only take care of the tent and maybe the sleeping bag actually took all my stuff and I was left with camera and bottle of energy drink & water. Climbing the mountain became suddenly a considerably less challenging task… the day was hot though and there was plenty of kilometres to cover and altitude to gain. Ben was having serious trouble getting up the steeper spots and breathing like a steam engine, while Carrey surprised me by being so fit (it turned out to be due to regular field work and trekking hobby) . The porters were really fit too and almost kept our pace while climbing. Our guide, Tom, seemed to have no trouble climbing either despite his backbag and AK-47.

Most of the morning was spent climbing the farmed slopes of the mountain and we were accompanied by almost a constant song of “howareyou?” from the local kids, even much more common than muzungu (white), which I have now gotten used to. (should probably find that t-shirt, with “you can call me muzungu” on it). Fortunately we reached the canopy before I burned and continued upward, while spotting the blue monkey, kolubus monkey and the baboons.

Around midday we reached the Sasha river camp and had luch, which was the turning point of the day for me. I had taken some stream water from Tom and used the purification tablets given by Carrey, so I was confident that the water was OK, my soup was not out-of-date and I boiled the water, but still somehow I got sick. and badly sick indeed. We left for the mude cave camp site just after finishing lunch and after a while I could feel the salty chicken minestrone soup getting up faster than I was walking up. Getting rid of the soup left me dizzy and weak, but by sheer determination I made it to the camp site, where rest of my guts were turned inside out.

Sitting in a smoky hut with the guides & porters did not help, but fortunately the they were kind enough to set up my tent for me, while I was shaking and feeling like I am going to die. Well, I survived to tell the story, but I will not forget the constant thirst and at same time being unable to keep liquids in my stomach. Do I dare to take one sip of the water or does it lead to vomiting the previous two sips I took half hour ago? That’s the problem I was facing most of the evening. Guides thought it might have been altitude sickness, but me, Ben and Carrey came to a conclusion that it was probably food poisoning instead. Nevertheless, I got sugar & salt solution and sympathy from Carrey to my muscle cramps, which were added pain to the other symptoms.

There were some British gap year students at the campsite too, who had left day earlier than we, but I was in no condition to socialise with them or with the Danes who arrived few hours later than we did. Instead, I stayed in the cold and wet tent, listened rain and thought about drinking. Finally, the shaking stopped and I was able to sleep and around 5 in the morning I did not feel like throwing up again. So it was not bilhartzia either… What a relief!