Naro Moru River Lodge
There is no doubt of why this lodge is named “River” lodge. Last night, after heavy rains here and torrential rains on Mt. Kenya, about 9 miles upstream, the river just outside our door rose at least 5 feet. As we left dinner to return to our cabin, the night guard walked with us, leading us along higher walks, over a fence and past the rising river – already it had covered part of the sidewalk that we normally would have used.
So, here you have 2 public health nurses, both mountaineers and used to “being prepared”. We launched into securing the things we would want to have with us in case we had to evacuate in the middle of the night. Passport, money, clean undies, toothbrush, sunglasses and hat. We laid out the clothes we would jump into (just like firemen) and decided to go with tennies rather than hiking boots, as the boots would make swimming harder!! We set the alarm for 1 am to check the status. Up we got, raincoats over nighties, headlamps and sandals. River was holding just a few inches above a spot on a tree that normally stood on the river bank. Now it was in about 4 feet of water.
We repeated our alarm-rising river-checking at 3 am and were exceedingly relieved to find that the water had begun to recede – at least it was going in the right direction! Slept in till almost 7! The pay-off for the heavy rains Wednesday was almost 24 hours without rain on Thursday.
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