While the climbers were getting the preliminary work done on the wall; Saba, Nic and I went off for a week to get animal footage. Before we left the States, John Wilcox, the owner of the company who sent us to Kenya (American Adventure Productions) said "Animals, animals, animals...". We loaded our gear into Saba's trusty Land Rover and traveled to a place that she has come to know very well, the Save the Elephants Camp in the Samburu Reserve. Although only about 125 miles from Poi, it took us nearly 14 hours to make the trip. Often driving in the dry riverbeds that make up most of the "roads" in this part of Kenya. Here we spent a week with the elephants and other animals in this sanctioned area safe from the greedy eyes of poachers. We would go out with Saba and the other researchers in the camp, Anesmus and Henrick, and spend the day looking for animals who are all but concerned with our personal agendas. Before we got there, Saba told me I would be seeing elephants unlike I ever had before, and since I had only seen one up close on a commercial shoot for the circus a few years back, that wouldn't be hard. My time with the ele's was one of the most rewarding experiences of my travels so far. At times they would walk right up to the truck only a few feet away, and look you right in the eye. Sitting there staring at this incredibly strong, but gentle, creature I felt an understanding in it's hypnotic gaze. The researchers have come to know the ele's well, and have a name for each one, and there are hundreds of them! Nic and I were constantly amazed when they would say "Oh look, there's Mandella, my, he sure is looking well today". As well as the elephants we captured great footage of baboons, crocodiles, leopards, lions, giraffe, klipspringers, monkeys, snakes, scorpions and birds to name a few. Before we knew it the week was up and it was time to head back to Poi and get to work shooting the climbers. The members of the camp threw a party the day before we left and a goat was slaughtered and eaten in our honor. When we got back to Poi we started shooting right away. It was now Christmas, and this is when Paul got the leg infection I mentioned earlier. The climbers had made much progress while we were gone and were already about half way up the wall. The days fell into a routine now, we would wait out the sun at the ridge camp and then head onto the wall. The rock was extremely fragile in areas, and if anyone was above you, the threat of rockfall was more than present. There were huge flakes that were just screaming for you to touch them with your foot so they could make the long dive to the ground and take out anything in it's path. Todd took some chalk and scribed "Death Flake"and "No, No!"on two of the more precariously placed ones. One day while Steve and I were at the base having just rappelled off, we heard that terrible word being screamed from above:"ROCK!!!" We could hear the humming of the object propelling toward us at breakneck speed and all we could do was huddle in a ball and wonder where it would hit. There are few more helpless feelings I can think of at this time. The rock, about the size of a football, came crashing through the trees about 20 yards away. We made our way to a feature we named The Third Eye. It was a huge hole in the wall about 2/3 of the way up the route. It was spotted from the ground and believed to be large enough for a somewhat comfortable wall camp; it turned out to be better than comfortable. About 30 feet deep and 50 feet high with a sloping floor, it was a great place to get out of the sun and take a respite from the strictly vertical world. The portaledges were deployed on the back wall of the cave and a cache of water was stocked. If it ever rained here this time of year, it would be the worlds most perfect place for a bivouac. Unfortunately, any mountain located where it does rain often, would never have one as plush as this. Evidently we caused quite a stir in the valley on the occasions in which we slept up in The Third Eye. The villagers below were quite amazed by the lights (our headlamps) moving around high up on a mountain they have lived under all of their lives. On one interview with a Morani warrior, I asked him if he had anything to ask us. With Saba translating, he asked "Why do you come so far to climb Poi, what is it that you are looking for up there?" I could not give him an answer he could understand. At first the villagers were skeptical of us, especially the photo team. We intimidated them with our cameras, and many would not let us point them in their direction. After a while, after spending time with them, they grew more comfortable with us and even enjoyed looking through the cameras. As if looking for the answer to what it was we were doing there. About 500 feet above The Third Eye was another terrific ledge system for us to venture onto. About 40 feet wide and a couple hundred feet long it served as our high camp on the wall. As in the third eye, we were the first humans to ever set foot on this lofty shelf. This one was named the "Mzuri Sauna Ledge". In Swahili, mzuri sana means 'very good', and is a common reply. Someone will say "habari yako"(how are you ), you reply "mzuri sana, asanti sana", 'very good, thank you'. In the sun the ledge was as hot as a sauna. From this ledge the summit was only a couple hundred feet up, although there was still some tricky climbing to get there. As it started getting less vertical near the top, there were more and more bushes and clumps of grass. As Paul made his way up the last pitch, he was climbing grass and dirt more than rocks. The summit of Poi is unlike any other mountain I have stood atop. It has these green rolling hills, and huge trees sparsely spaced. Where you might expect a chossy pile of rocks and boulders, there are very few to speak of. We arrived at sunset and the golden hour of light was upon us. With time only to shoot a few photos and some video footage, we rappelled down to the mzuri sauna ledge, pulling the ropes behind us. We spent the next few days stripping the wall of gear and getting shots that were missing for the story. Before we knew it, it was time to leave Poi, load up the trucks and start the long drive back to Nairobi. We didn't have the pilot come back for us, because when he dropped us off, he said that the runway was too short to take off with all of our gear. "But I'll give it a shot" he said with a grin. Having been off for so long, we opted to stay on the ground....this time.

to read more about this trip visit the links below

paulpiana.com toddskinner.com

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