Monday August 9, 2010 – The top of the falls, Red Chili, and I smell something dead!

Monday August 9, 2010 – The top of the falls, Red Chili, and I smell something dead!


Well, we were totally clever to stay in the dorms as it poured and poured and poured last night – thunder and lighting and torrents of rain. What a pleasure NOT to be in a tent. Plus something, perhaps the African tea as it was the only thing the girls didn’t have yesterday, did not agree with me. Our breakfast was included, and what a breakfast it was! Cereal, then banana muffins (I’m not if they count as they were rather inedible), then eggs and toast, with tea and fresh squeezed mango juice. Set for the day!
Our planned itinerary was to drive to the top of Murchison Falls, where we had originally planned to camp, and then continue on to Red Chili backpackers for the next few nights. A few km out of the driveway we turned on the fan and noticed a really odd smell, which in an instant became a really bad smell. Like really bad. For a second we thought of our damp laundry, but realized that it was the smell of something dead. And every time we switched on the fan, that’s when it started, along with an unpleasant noise. Uh-oh. Will have to try and deal with that later. Fortunately we don’t need the air-con so windows open are just fine. After several hours of driving along some pretty winding ragged roads in very green forest and then savannah, we reached tsetse zone! A problem with the windows open but since it was still overcast we weren’t cooking yet. The road to the head of the falls was quite rough, and then we reached a point where there were cars parked along the road, and then we came to a hill that resembled a mudslide and decided we better park as well. Fortunately the Head of the Falls campground was only a few minutes walk downhill, where we passed a large overland truck stuck there - unable to get up the muddy incline. From the picnic area the spray was visible rising off the Victoria Nile as it rushes through a narrow rocky gorge and forms Murchison Falls. Impressive and very wet! Sarah was quite unconvinced, all her hiking expertise from yesterday vanished, but we got her down a short path and parked her on a bench out of the spray zone while Elizabeth and I stood in the spray and took photos of the raging waters.
Next stop was Red Chili – a major stopping point for overlanders and minibus tours. They have tents, bandas, and a camping area with a resident group of warthog who raid tents if there is food left in them. Plus a nice open bar/restaurant with a rather distant view out towards the river. The camping area isn’t too special, but we set up our tent and clean up a bit and have an excellent lunch in the bar. And then – the smell to deal with. I confirm that the smell is coming out from behind the glovebox, not the engine, and that’s about where I stop. A nice man who seems like the local manager for the Wild Frontiers company came to our rescue. He called his mechanic who arrived in about 10 minutes with an assistant, and then spent 3 hours taking the ventilation fan and housing out. When I explained the problem he smiled and said “you have a rat!”. When I turned the fan on to show him what was happening he gagged and almost lost it. Bottom line --- during the night a rat chewed a hole in the foam cover of the ventilation cover, dragged in a plastic bag, and then had a litter of pups. I’m not quite sure why they smelled dead first thing in the morning, but they were AMAZINGLY smelly for several tiny bits of rat pups. The entire fan unit had to be disassembled and cleaned. And much to my great relief everything went back together again and works. And – they didn’t charge us – I guess it was on the house, although I gave the guys a tip as they certainly deserved it!!!!
So between that and hand washing the first batch of incredibly filthy laundry in some rather red water (a combination of iron and sand), the day passed. I spent the day getting rid of residual nausea and shakiness from the food poisoning, which was not helped at all by the rat smell. The rest of the evening was uneventful – dinner in the restaurant – our beer and soda consumption has increased substantially, and chatting with a young American couple who are touring around for a few weeks.