Mount Elgon Day 4

Our program today is a short one, with the cave of tatum, 3 hours trek away, our next camp. It's possible to continue past tatum cave to the forest exploration camp, another 3 hours on, but I want an easy day for once. I get up at 7 and have the vaguely terrible wheatabix cereal washed down by another tasty coffee/milo. The valley we're in collected moisture all night and my tent is covered in dew. I don't want to pack it up wet and since we have a short day, I decided to wait till the sun bathes the valley and dries my tent. Katy and Barbara pack up, they have a hard hike to Mude camp. Katy is actually moving to Toronto in January and has never been to Niagara Falls, so I gave her my website card and told her to contact me if she wants a tour of the Falls.
By 9am the sun is in the valley and my tent is thoroughly dry and I'm ready to go. The trail begins with a steep climb out of the valley and then into tall grass. I don't like this part of the trail. The grasses are as tall as me and wet. My boots and pants get soaked though they dry out quickly later. Today we have our last grand views of the mountain before we descend into the forest zones. We have a couple of huge climbs and descents before finally reaching the mixed bamboo forest. I loved being out on the mountain in the open with inspiring vistas in every direction but I'm also happy to get back to the forest. The forest is my element, more so the steamy lowland tropical rainforest (my favourite place on Earth, everyone should visit one at least once in their life) but I feel at home in any forest.
The gigantic entrance of Tatum cave comes into view exactly 3 hours after we left Kajere camp. I'm glad to because my left knee is bothering me on some of the steep descents. The cave is an old lava tube and is filled with enormous bolders. This isn't a limestone cave, like I've explored many times in the past. There are no sparkling or dramatic formations here. There is however, a huge colony of bats deeper in the cave. I set up my tent just inside the entrance to the cave behind a small waterfall gently cascading over the mouth of the cave. I really like this spot. It's a bit warmer too, I can take off my boots again, and there are no sweatbees. The ground is flat and dry and the scent has the familiar aroma of ammonia from all the bat droppings, though its not overpowering. I eat my lunch and relax and read in my tent. I come out of my temporary lodging and find camp almost deserted. Fred and Francis have gone and only Fred the porter is left. I take him a bit deeper into the cave to see what its like with my headlamp. He has never been this far in the cave, he tells me. We see more bats but they are too far for a photo.
The ever present fire is weakly smoking throughout the day. The smoke fills the cave and with the late afternoon sun penetrating into the cave makes for some really cool photos ( another daylight hole?). I take a million photos from every angle with different degrees of light allowed in.
Back at the entrance to the cave I take this opportunity to write in my journal. Fred sits on a rock across from me and watched. Later we both move to the fire for warmth. He is sitting beside and I'm still writing in my journal. He not so casually glances at my journal and asks what language I'm writing in! I tell him it's English and make out a few sentences for him. I tell him it's not him. I don't write for anyone in my journal and it can be quite messy, with my friends at home even having a hard time deciphering the seemingly clandestine language. I'm getting hungry around 6pm and Fred boils some water for my dinner. Fred and Francis come back shortly after I finished eating. They said they were on top of the cave trying to get a signal for their radioes. They don't work in the cave. They began to cook their dinner of leaves they picked in the forest, beans and posho, the maize flour. I sat around with them by the fire while they ate and tried some of Fred's dinner. It wasn't bad at all, if I ate all 3 items in every bite and its certainly the cheapest meal available, that's why they eat it. I was hoping for an epic dispersal of bats at dusk but was severely disappointed. Only a few bats circled around the entrance. Fred said they usually swarm out in numbers at dusk but not tonight. I went into the cave to investigate. All the bats were still where I saw them earlier in the afternoon. More were active but they were just flying around, none were leaving. I was staying up for the bat show but with no show I went to bed at 8 and read and listened to music. During the night I heard strange sounds and things close to my tent. Not sure what they were but I did have my best sleep of the trek so far.