IN THE BEGINNING . . .

We met “Caprice” this morning. She’s a cross between an APC (armored personnel carrier), jeep and an Amtrak car. High off the ground with giant tires and big windows, she’s a 25+ seater, some of which are opposing and separated by a table – very convenient for playing cards or resting coffee mugs. Overhead bins hold rolls of toilet paper, sleeping bags and hiking boots. Her interior belly houses the cooking supplies and food stock as well as tents, camping chairs and of course, luggage for 23 people. Caprice was to be my home for the next 39 days.

Before “lift off” we got trained in the maintenance of cleanliness, - of the highest priority. A spray bottle containing water and a Lysol-type disinfectant is kept at the entrance to Caprice at all times. We were NEVER to board the truck without first spraying our hands with the solution. Washing dishes was an elaborate ritual: 5 large wash basins were always to be set up on camp stools: the first two were for hand washing (to be done prior to every meal and then again prior to dish washing). First wash hands with soap, then rinse in a Lysol/water solution. Dirty dishes then get scrubbed in soapy water, dipped in the water/Lysol solution to rinse and then dipped again in hot water. The final act was “flapping.” The dishes had to be fully dried by flapping them in the air before returning them to their proper place. A towel was NOT to be used for drying – too much bacteria may be lurking there. If the dishes were not fully dried before storing, germs of every sort, known and unknown to the western world, might creep into the containers holding the equipment and our food could be contaminated by the next meal.

After several more instructions relating to emergencies, animals and mosquito protection we were finally off - heading west toward the Ugandan border at a fairly good clip, ipods rotating on the speaker system. The color of the soil and mud is alien and beautiful . Bright rust, blood orange and red gold mixed with pale yellow and just a hint of mocha . The colors creep into the trunks of the mostly acacia trees running through the Great Rift Valley through which we are traveling. Orange tree bases turn a paler shade of mustard as the trunk makes its way up to the green leaves.

We visited our first game park mid-afternoon. Lake Nakulu is home to tens of thousands of pink flamingos as well as zebras, giraffes, some (very horny) impalas and scores of other wild life (see photos). Black and white rhinos roamed about. Baboons tried to invade our kitchen when dinner was being prepared, but were quickly chased away by shouts of “get lost!” followed by the clanging of dishes.

My worst nightmare materialized our first night on the trail: it rained while we camped. Although I had to pee really badly at around 3 am, there was no way I was going outside, among the wandering wildlife, in the rain. Better to hold it and not sleep. The morning air was dry, but the ground was sopping wet. How many more days to go???