Karichota - At the toe of God's foot

The car skids on the slippery road to the ranch and the driver tells everybody to hold on tight as he maneuvers through the short but muddy drive. After a long drought no one is complaining. The driver is our guide and says that the mountain is slowly coming back to life. In a few minutes, we get to another junction and the driver says,' welcome  toKarichota: we can see nothing but trees but before long, a wooden gate comes into view. Simple, wide open, welcoming. The houses in the compound blend well with the forest. They are just in place as the trees, the flowers, the fishponds, the masks and carvings, everything.

Meet the caretaker, who welcomes us with our very first lesson on the forest's vegetation. 'We call this mukinyei'. He says pointing directly to the tree in front of us. The tree next to it is the podo. That's our first lesson and its time to get into the house. There are actually two main houses on the ranch. One is the original house and Lawrence the care taker lives in that house, the other is the guest house where we are going to stay for the next four days. Just at the entrance is the fire place which is cool for now but will soon have a fire roaring. The interior is amazing, you expect an interior as simple as the exterior but that is not to be. The inside is quite warm with a sitting room that is comfortably furnished and an open kitchen. Soon the kitchen cabinets are full as we stock them with enough food for two weeks. Everybody is shown to their bedrooms and its time for a bite. We savour the deliciousness of the sandwiches prepared by the host as we take in the elegance of the house.

For those who like to read the book shelves are not lacking as the house is also not lacking  in optical nourishment. A framed list of resident birds, hangs on the wall. Some patterned cloth work is hanging from the ceiling. A flower pot is hanging like a chandelier and complimented by a flywhisk, a map of Naromoru and the Mt Kenya forest. Not to be missed is a framed article from RupiMangat's column on her visit to Karichota that was published in the Nation.

Soon we are done with the tea and sandwiches and the host promises tomorrow we will have real meal. The prospect is mouth-watering. We now move to the fire place where Lawrence has a fire going on. The host offers to give some chess lessons to anybody inerested. From time to time, the host will shush everyone and ask them to listen to the sound of the forest. A hyrax can be heard crying out loudly but that is just but one inhabitant of the forest. The night is one of the most enjoyable and one by one everyone retires to sleep.

The next day starts beautifully. After a jog with Pharo, Vale, Vicke and Vero we stretch then its time for yoga. The host leads us to the fishpond behind the house and we take our positions round it. It is a rejuvenating session after which we have a nice, healthy breakfast.

What follows is one of the most memorable moments in Karichota. The forest starts right outside the house and today we will have a working tour of the forest, we get to see a salt lick that was apparently dug out by elephants a few days ago. We have already crossed the Karichota stream and now we get to the Burguret river, we cant believe that what is flowing right under our eyes is fresh water that you can drink from the source. We can’t move without taking a dip in the cold water and it is at that moment that I get to understand why the boys and girls undergoing circumcision used to go to the river. The cold is numbing. The host reminds us that we have to get moving so we get deeper and deeper into the forest and at one point he stands still and gestures for the whole team to do so. He then instructs us to close our eyes and take in the smell of the forests. Soon, you can hear nothing but the sounds of the forests and your own heartbeat. When we open our eyes we walk on into the heart of the forest. From a distance  we see a white colobus monkey hanging from a tree. A tree has fallen across the river and  created a bridge. The most adventurous of us decide to cross the river via the tree. When everybody is safely across, we do some exercises using long sticks that we had carried from home. Its time to get back to the house and as we go, singing and dancing we fail to notice how time has flown.

We get back to the house and Juliet, one of the best cooks we have ever known, had prepared a hot delicious lunch. We sample all the delicacies and its time for a rehearsal session after which we get back to the stream to digest everything. After sometime, we get back to the house where we retire for the night after some good supper

The third day. Today we are not doing yoga, so after a  sumptuous breakfast we get into a van for a two hour drive to Mt Kenya national park. After paying at the entrance, Keith says we have two hours for a hike after which we have to get back. 'No one walks before Lawrence and no one stays behind me', he says. It is a nice hike and on the way we pass serious mountain climbers. In two hours time, we are almost within a half km of camp Old Moses. We take photos with the table mountain providing a beautiful background. It is quite chilly up here and after a brief rest its time to start the decent. The decent is shorter. We get back to the van and off we go to Karichota. On our way, we stop in Nanyuki town to shop then we get back for a rehearsal, a game of chess, stories and we retire for the night.

Thursday is our final day here. We have a very beautiful view of the mountain and we enjoy it as we jog through the forest. After the road work, its time for a tai chi session. After the session, we have break fast the n clean up as we pack all set to go. We have our final rehearsal in Karichota and its time to say goodbye.

It has been a great adventurous, amazing, awesome, rejuvenating experience. Being in Karichota, a great place with great people is an experience one would not like to forget. Keith Pearson has been the host, driver, forest guide, yoga instructor and of course the director of The Theatre Company. Assisting him is Rogers Otieno. we also have the pleasure of working with a songbird, composer, dreadlocked Valentine Njoroge who plays mum in  EXCESS. With us too is the strong man, guitarist, talkative and jovial Melvin Alusa who plays the Rogue producer. We can’t forget the beautiful rapper and an actress Veronica Wacheke who plays Excess in EXCESS. Pharrel Wafubwa, the man with a thousand songs is the funny dreadlocked guy who is Mnati and the care taker in the play. Lawrence Maina is the man in charge of Karichota. He is  a florist, gardener, mountain guide and  master of the forest. Cas is the tail chi instructor who is also a yoga practitioner. Of course Juliet is the best cook in the house and finally, the random, abstract, ME.

Truly it has been an experience that I would like to relive. Karichota in Kirinyaga, Kirimara, Mt Kenya, Gods mountain. Those were the best days we ever had right there at the toe of the foot of God's mountain.

BY TASH GITAU