We were up at 06:00 and off at 07:30. It was fairly steep at the start, through the giant heather, then it levelled off and we contoured round int the Mackinder Valley. The vegetation changed throughout the day: giant heather to tussock grass end then giant lobelias, of which there seem o be several varieties. One type, "ostrich lobelia", looks like Cousin It. The real giant lobelias grow into trees with several branches.
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| Giant heather zone |
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| Looking back to Old Moses Camp |
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| Going well - still smiling! |
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| Broken ostrich lobelia, shows the flowers among the leaves |
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| Cyrus on a bridge - this bit looks very Scottish |
We spotted an eagle, too far off to identify without binoculars and
bid book. There are lots of Alpine Chats and Redwing Starlings (or maybe
they are Slender-billed...), and several Scarlet-tufted Malachite
Sunbirds - males are greenish with very long tails - which feed on the
Cousin It lobelias. The flowers are hidden inside he fluffy leaves.
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| Alpine Chat |
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| Male Scarlet-tufted Malachite Sunbird feeding |
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| Starlings - Red-winged or Slender-billed |
There were recent signs of buffalo and elephants, but we haven't seen any of the actual animals - probably fortunately...
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| Steve, Mark and me - our first view of Mackinder Valley |
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| Mark with Cousin It |
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| Giant lobelia country! |
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| Lobelias |
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| Mackinder Valley - still quite a way to go |
It was very cold in camp once the sun went down; it's going to be
perishing up on top... The camp is right underneath the big peaks,
Batian and Nelion. I took a few photos, but am very tired, so bed at
8pm.
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| Arrived, and feeling chuffed about it... |
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| Pt Lenana on left, Nelion and Batian on right |
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| Shipton's Camp with Sendeo behind |
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| Female Sunbird at Shipton's Camp |
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| Bunk room at Shipton's Camp |
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