I had to call everyone four times this morning (the fourth time in a slightly more reproachful tone than the previous times) before anyone was willing to get up. But there was a good reason. Last night we finished off with a bit of a commando mission, forcing our way through the infamous tall grass to reach our camp. We were also worried about the crossing of this meadow, which looked like it would be the same as last night. Another reason why we weren’t motivated was that our feet were all burning and painful.

The first stage slowed us down enormously this morning: the preparation of each other’s wounds. Knowing that we’d only be walking for 2 hours, I suggested that we cover the fungal burns – which meant almost all the feet for some of us – with stretchy plasters to prevent the foot rubbing directly against the shoe. It’s not crazy, but it does delay the pain a little. It took us about 1 hour to do all this.

The GPS couldn’t find its way under the forest cover, so I had to use a compass to find my bearings. When you don’t know where you are at the starting point, it’s not easy, but we got through it all the same, and by turning around we found just the right exit.

Once out of the forest, we found ourselves in a meadow, which wasn’t as easy as the day before but only lasted 50m. Then we came across an area that had been burnt, the grass was much lower and it was easier. We have seen enclosures put up by deer hunters. There are two groups, one on the side of the river we went down the other day, and another on the side of the Lasolo river, where we are tonight. That’s how they divide up the hunting ground. There are 4 on one side, 6 on the other.

We saw a guy in the distance, moving very fast, we even thought he was on a motorbike. But when they hunt here, they usually run. They don’t kill the animals, they don’t have guns, they just have a little string that they pull behind them, in a circle to stop the animals escaping, and they direct them to a point on the edge of the forest where they have set traps. They have set out around a hundred traps in the forest and know exactly where they are.

Two people joined us, we chatted to them for a while, they explained how they did things and right in front of us two hinds sprang up from the meadow, they sprang up just as quickly to chase them, but they were already well placed to escape. It was quite funny to see how fast they were going. In any case, it’s a pretty interesting capture technique, I’ve never heard or seen anything like it before.

These famous hunters showed us a small path that saved us a little time to cross the last small area of forest, and then we found ourselves on the last unburnt meadow, which was again difficult to cross, in the tall grass, with no marked path. Then we found the end of this meadow, the Lasolo river. So happy to have finally arrived at this famous camp!

We descended for 5m, which was a bit rough, but which allowed us to get our footing on a slab of rock. We inflated a boat to make the crossing because the real camp was on the other side, and we came across some small wooden structures showing that some people settle here from time to time.

Imé got lost at the very end, and we went straight on without waiting for him for the last 100 metres because we were so keen to put our bags down and get into the water. Unfortunately he lost sight of us and I had to go back and call him. He couldn’t hear because he was standing next to a rapid. I suspected he’d gone straight down. So I went to check, shouted and he was actually there, he’d made a fire, unpacked his bag as if we were going to join him, whereas we’d been on the other side waiting for him for 1 hour.

Then we arrived around 1pm, quite happy, we spread everything out, washed a few things, slept a bit, sent messages, tried to fish but it didn’t work. This evening, we made a fire and ate some small fish that we’d picked up from the deer hunters on the other side. It took Bagus and I a little while, because the ground had been completely ploughed, probably by the babis, and covered with a very pungent plant, a sort of tuber that looks like a sweet potato. According to Bagus, you can eat it but it’s toxic, so you have to boil it for a long time before it’s edible. But it’s a kind of climbing liana that clings to everything. And there were also herbs with little prickles, like hooked teeth, that cut very easily when you put your hand over them.

Then we set up camp, and it’s really nice! We’ve got the hammock, the two tents, we’re in exactly the right place, we’re under a tree that gives us a nice bit of shade, so tomorrow, even if it’s very sunny, it should be bearable.

Tonight it’s rumbling behind us and the storm is getting worse. Tomorrow’s a rest day, because we’ve really got muddy feet, so we really need to take some time to treat the fungus, especially as we’ve run out of cream, and there’s still some powder left, but not enough for several days. So we need to find a way to heal through dryness, sunshine, simply by not being in the water any more.

I’ve had an allergy to a bee sting for a few days now, on the inside of my wrist, and it’s made my left arm swell up like a balloon, until this evening, it itches and itches, it’s awful. It’s a small detail, but it’s the kind of thing that makes us sensitive to everything that happens to us, to the slightest hitch, to the smallest plant. And contrary to what I usually say about the Makay, for example, here the forest is not very docile, you can’t move around easily, walking between the trees like in Amazonia where it’s still quite open, it’s not ultra dense. It’s really dense here, with lots of things cutting everywhere, and wounds all over, on our arms, legs and hands.

It’s 9pm, time for bed!