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Do not feed the monkeys!

Do not feed the monkeys!

Our second day was one of travel from the traffic filled mayhem of Nairobi up to the mountainous region of Meru, to Kithoka Amani Children’s Home (KACH), in the foothills of Mount Kenya.

Gradually the houses and shops thinned out and as we got higher we travelled from shrubland into much lusher lands. Crops were being grown, rice in low terraces, corn and eventually, bananas.

After about five hours we reached the Trout Tree Restaurant where we’d been recommended to stop for lunch. It’s a restaurant in a tree above a trout farm.

It was raining slightly as we arrived, but we sat outdoors, under cover in the pleasant coolness. We could see down to the trout ponds, hear the sound of the river and in the trees around us were Colobus Monkeys. Lunch for the four of us was a delicious platter of trout many ways, smoked in two ways, sashimi, grilled and in soup with lots of avocado, salad and plenty of chips.

After eating Hattie wandered off for a look around and came back to tell us that in spite of the sign, one of the kitchen workers was feeding a monkey.

Leo and Colobus Monkey - Kenya

Leo and Colobus Monkey – Kenya

We all trouped excitedly to the far side of the massive central tree trunk and there was a monkey. The guy gave us chips to feed him and the monkey came down and took them from us.

He ate them with his face right in my hand so that I could stroke his head. Unfortunately I got a bit over familiar and also stroked his leg, I think maybe he thought I was trying to grab him, as he rewarded me with a quick slap across the head!! His trust was broken and he didn’t come so close again.

Leo, Hattie and Mica at the equator Kenya

Leo, Hattie and Mica at the equator

Back to the van and we soon came to the equator to cross back into the Northern Hemisphere. ‘The Doctor’ was waiting to show us the ‘Famous Water Trick” of special interest to us.

The trick is that in the Northern Hemisphere water going down a drain circulates clockwise and in the Southern Hemisphere it rotates counter-clockwise. Right at the equator it travels directly down. As one gets nearer to the poles it spirals more quickly due to the increasing strength of their magnetism.

Finally at about 8pm we arrived at KACH, after a very warm welcome we ate our tea, showered and all went straight to bed.