Journal:
The day was a
total wipe-out. In retrospect, the unexpected
feelings of fatigue I had yesterday were the first
signs of some kind of virus. I woke about 4am
to the sounds of torrential rain and to a splitting
headache. At 7am it was still squally outside
and I felt even worse, so postponed a decision on
the day's activity to 10am, the latest I could
probably get up and still reach the next scheduled
campsite.
At 10am I still felt terrible
and, as showers were passing through frequently, it
seemed sensible to stay put rather than pack up camp
in the wet and then find out I was too ill to go far
and have to set up camp again. This is the
first day I can ever remember getting ill on one of
my treks.
So,
the whole day was spent sleeping in the hope that I
could shake off whatever it was. I wasn't up
to reading or even listening to the radio. I
just wanted to sleep and get rid of the headache and
associated nausea. I don't think it was food
poisoning because I didn't have one of the "classic
symptoms" but I didn't feel hungry and didn't eat at
all for 36 hours. The whole time was just a
blur of tossing and turning and passing rainstorms
and squalls.