Chapter 57: The Expedition Team

Chapter 57: The Expedition Team

January 12, 1867.

Namanga, a small place on the border between Kenya and Tanzania.

An expedition team is heading north within Namanga. The leader of the expedition team is Henriette, a self-taught explorer from the German region. Henriette had always enjoyed listening to the adventurous stories from the elders in his hometown and longed to be like the heroes in those stories, traveling the world in search of excitement and novelty. So, after growing up, he decided to seek adventure across the globe.

Henriette's first destination was Africa, as it was the most mysterious place to Europeans at that time. Unfortunately, Henriette had no money and couldn't afford a ticket to Africa. Fortunately, Ernst was recruiting people in the German region for an expedition to the East African colonies, so Henriette signed up.

Henriette, like Captain Yarman, was one of the earliest members of the East African colony's mercenary team. He traveled with the mercenary group, crossing the Baltic Sea, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Indian Ocean, arriving in East Africa. Upon arrival, the mercenary team was not familiar with the interior environment of East Africa, so several expedition teams were formed to scout the inland areas. These teams were selected from the initial group of over 2,000 Germans in the East African colony.

Henriette, as the first to sign up, was appointed as the leader of a small team. He led a group of about a dozen explorers westward, reaching the vicinity of Lake Solen (Tanganyika Lake). This time, Henriette was leading the team to survey Kenya's territory, traveling from the East African colony northward into Kenya.

At the same time, another small team was dispatched from Mwanza, the capital of the Great Lakes region (Lake Victoria). This team was also exploring the northern edge of the Great Lakes region, on the eastern shores.

A few days ago, Henriette's group set off from Karatu, heading east to the Arusha base, then turning north from Arusha. Today, they arrived at Namanga.

Namanga was a small town at the border between what would later be Tanzania and Kenya, about 70 kilometers from Mount Kilimanjaro to the east. Since the Sultanate of Zanzibar controlled much of the eastern part of Kenya, the East African colony avoided starting their exploration from the eastern part to prevent trouble. Instead, they chose to explore from the relatively central northern plateau of the East African colony toward the central-western parts of Kenya.

Henriette's team would need to travel about 150 kilometers north from Namanga to reach Nairobi, the future capital of Kenya. The central-western part of Kenya was considered the heart of the country, as shown in Kenya's administrative maps, where the southwestern regions had smaller administrative units but more of them, while the three provinces in the east occupied half of the land area. The population of Kenya was concentrated around the western plateau and the Great Lakes area, with the southeast coastal cities like Mombasa having relatively more people.

The Sultanate of Zanzibar's rule over Kenya was much stronger than over Tanzania, with most of eastern Kenya under Zanzibar's control. Therefore, the colony decided to approach the land between Uganda and Zanzibar from the middle-western part of Kenya.

Henriette, wearing a conical hat made of banana leaves, leaned on a stick shaped like a crutch and, under the harsh sun of the East African plateau, walked with a team of dozens, carefully observing the changes in the landscape and recording the sights along the way.

"Captain, can we take a break? This bad road and the hot sun are too much!" one of the members suggested to Henriette.

Henriette wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve, took a deep breath, and checked the surroundings. He took out his compass and looked at the direction. It was just after noon, the sun at its peak, baking the earth with waves of heat. Henriette pulled out a simple map from his backpack and checked off Mount Ngong from the list. From the team's location, they could already see a hill ahead. This was Mount Ngong, as described by the Arab traders.

"Let's push on a little longer," Henriette said, pointing at the mountain. "We must reach the foot of the mountain today. It's not far; just another ten miles or so. We can rest once we get there."

Upon hearing they only had ten miles left to go, the team calmed down. For those used to traveling long distances, ten miles was nothing; it was just a warm-up.

The team continued on for about another hour and a half. As the sun began to set, they reached the foot of Mount Ngong. The environment here was good, with lush vegetation and many trees. They started setting up camp, and before long, several tents were pitched.

Henriette sat in one of the tents, taking out his notes from the journey and began to refine and update the map. The journey from Arusha to Namanga had mostly been flat terrain with mild elevation changes, but the farther they went north, the drier the climate became, although there was still greenery along the way, with occasional encounters with forests. This situation continued until they reached Mount Ngong, where the vegetation increased significantly, and there were many trees and rivers, comparable to the Arusha area.

Henriette carefully read through his notes, marking the landmarks and features he had observed on the map with a pencil. He continued working until it was completely dark, filling the map with annotations and symbols.

"Captain Henriette, it's time to eat!" a team member called from outside the tent.

The temperature in East Africa dropped quickly at night. The team members gathered some wood to start a campfire, warming themselves and heating their food. While Henriette worked, they had hunted a serval cat. After skinning it and removing the entrails, they skewered it with a sharpened stick, seasoning it with spices and salt, and began roasting it over the fire.

The team had brought some dry rations, mainly rice from the colony. They had learned how to cook rice from the Chinese, though the German members of the team preferred bread. Unfortunately, the colony's current conditions didn't allow for bread-making, as kneading and baking were complicated processes not suited for the wilderness. The more pressing issue was that the team members were all inexperienced in cooking, so they had only learned simple methods like roasting meat and cooking rice.

They used aluminum meal boxes, filled them with rice and water, and threw them onto the coals to cook. The serval cat meat sizzled and oozed oil as it roasted, and with some wild vegetables they had gathered along the way, they managed to make a decent meal. The rice was long-grain, the type commonly found in South Asia, while the wild vegetables were ones they had learned about from the local natives. The serval meat tasted decent, but it wasn't particularly appetizing, probably due to unfamiliar dietary habits.

After eating, the team members rested. Two people took turns standing guard through the night to prevent wild animals from attacking the camp. In the dark, the flames danced in the open space, and the sounds of insects filled the air. It felt like there were pairs of glowing eyes watching the expedition team from the nearby forests. The guards fed the fire with more wood while keeping a tight grip on their guns, staying alert.

The next day, after a peaceful night, the team packed up their supplies and continued their journey to Kenya. They were about to cross Mount Ngong, which would bring them into Kenya's territory.

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