Monday, 5th March 2007

Marsabit - Rest Day

Do you want to know what is one of the absolutely completely best feelings in the whole world? I'm going to try to describe it.

Imagine you are riding your bike. Riding along. And going, going, going, for a very, very, very long time. Ride, ride, ride, cycle, cycle, cycle, peddle, peddle, peddle. You become tired, but keep going. All morning long. Then, into the afternoon. By this time, you are very tired. You'd like to stop, but (a) you're worried about time, and have to make it to camp before dark, and/or (b) you're riding with the sweep and don't want to suggest AGAIN that you stop! So, you just keep going. Your human battery and energy seems to be drained, at this point, down to about 20%. You've been riding all day, for hours and hours. Then, you come across a hill. That's it. Starting up that long hill, after already being on the road all day long, your "strength" battery goes down to 15%, 10%, 5%, 4%... Finally, just a few percent above zero, you pull over, stop, lie down, and close your eyes. You're so tired that even the effort of opening your eyes seems like a lot, even if you know (for example) that a father/son/spear trio are watching you.

NOW, here is the part that is one of the best feelings in the whole world. You start to feel your energy returning. You can actually FEEL it coming back, as you are lying there. It's like your battery has been plugged in and it's now recharging. It is an amazing, amazing feeling. I recommend trying it sometime. The only hitch, of course, with this great great feeling, is that you can't get it unless you are in the state that I've just described. And you can't get into that state unless you've ridden ALL DAY LONG, and are very, very, very tired and weak feeling. It's kind of a hassle to get yourself into that state - but if you *do*! Then, the reviving part is out of this world.

We are now in Marsabit, all of us. My friends caught up yesterday. Marsabit is a nice haven, in the middle of nowhere. I've been exploring the whole town. Sadly, however, two neighboring tribes are feuding. Occasionally, they kill each other. A member of one killed a member of the other about 3 days ago, so that murder has been the talk of the town ever since I got here. The surface reason for the murder had to do with somebody stealing somebody else's water. But the real, underlying, reason, I understand, is much more deep.