The next stage of the Kenya trip was to head to a nearby rainforest along a volcano crater called Mount Londiani Forest, an unmapped area. They hiked about five hours carrying heavy packs; Ashlynn carried seven liters of water and food for herself for four days. This was true backcountry camping with no signs of human activity beyond illegal logging (more on that later).
They were led by the owner of the campsite where they’d stayed for the previous two weeks and accompanied by a local park ranger. They had planned to camp at a cleared area, but it had been burnt so they put up their tents in this tight spot between the trees on a ridge which they discovered while hiking in the dark. Every morning they packed up everything and moved to another location. On the fourth day they were relieved to find a clearing, which made pitching the tents much easier.
The trees were beautiful with a mix of olive, cedar...
...and bamboo among others.
It was chillier at the higher altitude of 8,450 feet (2.575 meters). Apparently there were elephants in the vicinity, but the only animals they saw were birds.
As you can see, they had some serious hills to contend with. While they followed logging paths much of the way, they had to clear a section of the path themselves. Ashlynn was the only girl to volunteer to use a machete; she loved how satisfying it was to wield such a powerful tool.
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