Another day

Supply-Camp — 2000-08-01

We spend the day fastening the saddle bags that Jo has sewn, onto the saddles. These last few weeks, Jo has been working almost non-stop on her sewing machine, making a further ten of the special bags out of strong tent linen for us. Without these bags we would be unable to stow all of our supplies on our animals. Until now we’ve not reached our load limit on this expedition, but from this camp onwards our camels will be subject to carrying ca. 1000kg of equipment, food and water. Tanja and I are nervous, we’re worried that something else is going to happen after the long rest and altered load distribution. So far, our animals have reacted badly in such situations, however we have no choice but to wait and see what happens.

After eight hours of hard work, tying the bags onto the saddles with hemp line, I have only succeeded in completing three of the four saddles. I had not reckoned with having to retie the old bags as well as the new ones, the old knots were weak and the rings had wandered. As if that isn’t enough, I am dismayed to discover that the 30 metres of hemp rope that Jo and Tom brought with them, is too short to tie all of the eighteen bags onto the saddle frames. I have no choice but to cut our mountain climbing rope into pieces, something that we had actually brought along for emergencies only. Our departure is postponed yet another day, as has so often been the case on this expedition.