From Dom…Man vs Ant

I am writing to tell you of a tale of good vs evil. A battle between right and wrong. This is the story of the struggle between Amol and the safari ants. Before this tale unfolds we made the journey from Malindi in Kenya to Sipi in Uganda via Nairobi.

It was an early wake up at Malindi to catch the bus to Nairobi. By this time we were just about getting used to long bus journeys, however the same cannot be said for Haydn due to an unfortunate onset of what is known as ‘wee-bums’. As Haydn’s bowls struggled under Immodium we journeyed to Nairobi.

Our day in Nairobi was full of individual adventures. After attempting to work out the impossible equation that is Nairobi public transport, we explored the city. We ended up walking through the central business district in our brightly coloured clothes and flip-flops. However no business deals were done. When returning to the backpakers, Jess an I received VIP treatment by our matatu driver. He ushered us to sit in the front and kindly gave us a tour which included the informative statement that, ‘this building contains many things’, and that, ‘this is a newspaper’, whilst holding a copy of the national standard.

That night we got on a bust to Mbale in Uganda. It was our longest bus journey yet but it took us to a different environment of forests and mountains. We then ascended to Sipi Falls Lodge which was the base for our trekking. The lodge felt like luxury with its incredible food, amazing set up and the fact that it is situated at the base of a waterfall! The most exciting moment was when we realised that we get tea and cake. As we stuffed our faces with cake we remembered that we had a two day treck the next day.

We met our animated guides Tony and Jasper. (Jasper wore a Panama hat!) we did a long treck on the first day but it was broken up by the stunning waterfalls and distant views. That night we made camp on a plateau above one of the waterfalls. This was the scene of the skirmish between Amol and the Safari ants.

I suddenly realized that my bag was a moving black mass. There was a sudden cry of, ‘safari ants!’ A cry from Haydn, ‘an ant just bit my bum!’ We moved swiftly to remove our belongings from the oncoming danger. We made fire in order to slow the progress of the ants. We needed more hay so Haydn was sent on search. Due to the ants’ interest in Haydn, he wore only his pants. This led to him protesting at the order to find hay. The response from Amol was, ‘You don’t need clothes!!!’ Once half a field had been burnt to cinder and the ants averted, we got some sleep.

After our epic adventure we returned to the lodge and enjoyed some more tea and cake. We were all left eager to see what Mt. Elgon had to offer…