Mount Elgon Reserve

This week's photo has nothing to do with the story, well not directly anyway. It was shot from the porch of a banda we stayed at, on the edge of Mount Elgon nature reserve. The well manicured lawn which boasts a purpose built BBQ and picnic area is surrounded by woodland and is home to many different animals, some of which we got to see at very close quarters. Each morning a large troope of baboons and a large herd of waterbuck ambled across our lawn as they ventured deeper into the woods looking for food. The waterbuck being quite shy kept their distance, the baboons on the other hand were more gregarious and came quite close, some of the males were pretty big. The baboon in the photo took an opportunity to rest on one of the seats in the picnic area on his way through.

My story is in fact about getting a hot shower. A hot shower is a big thing for me while on safari. I can go without many comforts but a hot shower is not one of them. There's nothing nicer than getting into a hot shower before dinner, after spending a day on the road often in quite dusty conditions, its heaven! Actually getting what I consider to be a hot shower is a bit hit & miss. The water that feeds the showers in the campsites is heated in a big oil drum, which is supported on a rickety, homemade platform at a height of around 8ft in order to get enough pressure. A fire is lit beneath the drum so the temperature of the water is determined by the distance of the fire from the drum, how big the fire is and how long the fire has been burning. Getting it just right is tricky. This set up leaves the structure vulnerable to strong winds and it's not unknown for the whole thing to collapse, fortunately due to its simplicity it doesn't take too long to put back up again.

On this particular day we had arrived at Mount Elgon after spending two days in a tree house in Saiwa Swamp which we shared with a swarm of flies and a swarm of wasps who had made their home in the small shower room. So for two days I got by with washing in cold water using an outside tap. I was now really looking forward to a hot shower but was preparing myself for possible disappointment. I sent Ken in first so I would know what to expect, his verdict was it was hot, it was too hot. I thought thats not possible, how can a shower be too hot. I gathered my shampoo and other toiletries and rushed eagerly into the bathroom. To my surprise it really was too hot, in fact I would describe it as scalding! and I couldn't get it any cooler. I tried squatting down close to the floor as I figured it wouldn't be quite as hot at the bottom, it was just bearable. I got my hot shower anyway; I emerged looking like a ripe tomato. All ken said was "I told you it was hot."

I'm still hopeful of finding a perfect shower while on safari, Maybe next year.