African beauocracy meant that we almost got denied entry as our boarding cards had not been filled in correctly. I didn’t know the name or address of where we would be staying. The border staff looked unimpressed. Quick thinking saved the day and we gave them a fictious Hotel name in a town I knew we were going near. The passports got stamped and we were granted access. Had to keep the faith at Arrivals, as there was no one waiting to greet us. I sent a team to search outside and they returned with good news! The plan was working! 

These days the tarmac has made it all the way upto Aroumd. Previous, I’d had to hike up to this point!

My contact, (Mohamed), was there to greet us and walked us up to his Gite. The houses are perched on the hillsides amid a mass of boulders. Narrow, uneven paths divided the dwellings. Some were for animals other humans. No part of the path is flat for more than a metre. Bad skateboarding terrain, but plenty of room for horses, of which the driver age limit is very low!

Inside the gite all felt calm. Mint tea was served, as is customary here and then a nice pasta and veg lunch too. 

We were all tired from the early start, so took a gentle hike above and through the village to see the views, stretch legs and help acclimatise. 

We ate dinner around 18:30 which allowed us a reasonably early night, once the sun had set.