Bananna Pancake Trek

1st Aug Today was the day which everyone pictured when they signed up for world challenge two years ago. The lights have just been switched off and the only noises are sounds of insects, birds and God knows what else lies in the jungle. Cliff's interesting songs are playing softly in the background (joking... they're great... honest :)) as we lie in our hammocks attempting to fall asleep. We woke up from our tents at 8 o'clock after a, for most, a restless nights sleep. People stumbled out to visit our home made toliet and began to pack away our equipment once again. Everyone was once again pleased by the content and quanties at breakfast, egg, toast, jam and hot drinks! After breakfast we began our first day of real trekking! It was challenging as walking up hill was tiring for obvious reasons and walking downhill was just as bad as you had to hold yourself from slipping and sliding. As the time went on, and people got bored of staring at the empty jungle or brown mud that caked our boots, our guides kept us well entertained. They made us bamboo walking sticks, bamboo guns, leaf hats and grass leaf shooters. When we got half way into our 'steep hill trek' one guide described the trail ahead as a bananna pancake - all lumpy and bumpy. As we pressed though the pouring rain and over the bananna pancake terrian we were delighted to see the end. We dumped our backpacks and had a very long sit down! We talked about our usual topic- what food we miss! Then lunch was served! Slices of bread with tuna, fresh tomatoes, carrots, crisps, cabbage and lots of salad cream. After lunch we spent a good two hours putting up hammocks. This was a challenging task and thoughout the time Cliff's name echoed around the camp, voiced by distresed girls confused about where to start, filled with worry about falling out in the night. After this Cliff set out to find a water source for our shower. We were all disappointed as he had been succesfu and had found a cold barrel of water 1.5 k away - most where not keen about having to walk 5 minutes for a cold bucket shower! After we were changed and dry we played cards or had a nap - partly an attempt to hide from the red ants and mosquitoes which have literally biten everyone everywhere! At 7 o'clock we gathered for supper. We had more broth, rice, pork and vegtables. We then played a mass game of sharads which was very amusing - espically when Mrs Wentworth was given Sex in the City! Sleeply we clambered into our hammocks - which is VERY difficult and took several attempts! Millie Fletcher