Day 35- SNP 7/11/12

We are assured that we are well into the dry season, but this did not prevent a massive rain storm last night. Fortunately, our tents proved themselves to be totally waterproof (but not soundproof!) so at least we woke up dry. However, the weather had taken a drastic turn for the worse, and our planned expedition up even higher to over 13,000ft (with reported even more spectacular views, including the wild ibex) had to be abandoned. We still walked under low cloud cover etc, but nothing like what we had hoped to see. Unfortunately for the rest of us, we decided not to join Pip and Ian in their solo walk - so were decidedly miffed when they returned with claims to have seen one of the rare Ethiopian leopards. We were even more miffed when they were able to show us the photographic evidence! Not even their guide had seen one before.

The rest of us had to content ourselves with hordes of swallows sweeping and diving, and red winged starlings sucking the nectar from masses of orange and yellow "red hot pokers" - good, but a leopard would have been a lot better!

During this time, Helena had been trying to negotiate the roads / tracks but in view of last night's tremendous storm, this was proving extremely difficult. In the end, we had to abandon all plans, and retreat down out of the park and bush camp at a lower height. Those of you who are a bit squeamish may wish to omit the next sentence. The most interesting part of our evening was that our meal was a sheep that we saw being caught, then killed and roasted over another of our camp fires. To say the least, quite an experience! No photos!