Adventure in the Aberdares: Part II

So our GPS batteries die, and in that moment we realise that we don’t have spare batteries or our phones!!! If you haven’t already, please read Part I. And here we are, far from our car, no path to clearly direct us and no gadgets to lead us where we need to go. It’s about 4:30pm and it’s getting dark, probably because we are in the forest. We really want to get to the Waterfalls, but now we are challenged, with no GPS to guide us. We debate whether we should try our luck at finding the top of the Waterfalls, or find our way back to the car. At this point I let AB know that I have zero sense of direction so I’m not going to be of any help in that department, whichever decision we make.  And so we decide to find our way back to the car while we still have sunlight. That’s going to be a difficult feat, at best. The only helpful bit of information I can offer is to point out that returning to the car should be easy as we will follow the ‘path’ we created in the jungle ascending. AB points out that, that’s assuming the ‘path’ we see was made by us, as opposed to some random animal earlier. O dear!!! I start to panic, thinking of all the things that could go wrong if we fail to get back to the car. Do the rangers monitor who comes in and leaves as they said they would? We said we were there for the day only. Will they know or care that we didn’t exit as planned? When will they launch a search party? Most importantly, HOW will they find us, seeing that we are in the middle of the jungle, which is taller than we are. Our car is parked off the main road, will they see it? Panic mode!!! And at this point I quickly reign in my runaway thoughts and decide to think only good thoughts of finding our car … and besides, AB has a good sense of direction, so he’s going to get us back, right? I console myself.

Returning in the first couple of meters is easy, because we follow the parts where we disturbed the vegetation. After about 2-3 meters we realise that the vegetation has gone back to what it was. There’s no path, no clear disturbances and everything looks the same. I start to pray silently, remembering that God doesn’t operate with batteries that go dead, and He certainly is not dead. I ask him to guide AB back to our car. God is our never ending GPS, I remind myself. And once again, we start pushing through the jungle. Going back involves more patience and tact as we are descending. In some places, we soon find out that the ground isn’t as firm as it appears as we step on loose ground and slip downwards, landing on our bum hahahaha. And so we slow down our pace, feeling the ground and making sure it’s firm before putting our whole weight on it. And then I begin to feel really tired. I, immediately, tell my mind that ‘tired’ is not an option. It’s amazing how I regain my strength and the tiredness miraculously disappears.

And then we come to a clearing that we both know we didn’t pass on our way up! AB and I exchange a look that could be best described as “…we are totally done for!” And then he starts calculating the direction to go.  He points out which way the sun sets, making it the west. And then points out where, therefore, the north and the east are, and says we need to go eastward. He looks at me, probably for confirmation? And I remind him that a) I have zero sense of direction and, therefore, b) I have no idea what he’s talking about. Navigating us back to our car is squarely on him :). Also, I let him know that I trust in his ability to get us back :). And so he points out that we will potentially be going towards our car or away from it. It’s crucial to get it right the first time when there’s still daylight. And I silently pray some more. AB says, at this point that we should listen out for the sound of the river at the bottom. That will be our first sign of going in the right direction. We continue pushing through, and then we hear the river – hurray!!! The level of our excitement is super-duper! That’s our first sign that we are going to be OK. Thank you, LORD!!! And we continue towards the sound of the water until we spot it. We stop, realise that it’s a narrow part of the river, and we still have to figure out which direction our car is…

…final part :)…