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…