and crampons included), a guide to assist us to the highest point on the mountain that non-technical climbers can reach, and four ‘wageni’ (the name for ‘visitors’ in Kiswahili) set off having been dropped ten kilometres short of our first night’s stop. We ascended the mountain using the Chogoria route which initially takes one through the Montane Forest zone and then the Bamboo zone, before reaching Meru Bandas located in a grassy glade set amongst ancient Hagenia trees at 10 000 feet above sea level. The first day’s walk was particularly interesting as the diversity of birds in the forest was fascinating not to mention the presence of both elephant and buffalo as we frequently came upon fresh tracks and dung from both of them and nearly bumped into a group of elephant which we heard go crashing off through the forest. Whilst we didn’t see any buffalo or elephant, we had some great sightings of waterbuck and bushbuck and heard hyena during the night. Phew, those hyenas must have some seriously thick fur coats to brave cruising about the mountain at night! Having had a good night’s rest (warm showers and fireplaces provided) we departed the next morning for Lake Ellis where we would spend our second night. This was the lake in which it was rumoured that massive trout lurked and I was keen to get there as soon as possible. Our hike soon took us into the moorland and our beautiful sunny morning slowly became cloudier and cloudier until continuous drizzle set in for the last hour and a half of our walk. Surprisingly we continued to find evidence of elephant and buffalo in the moorland at 11 000 feet above sea level and the changing scenery and thoughts of big fish being not far away helped keep morale on a high. On arrival at the lake in the early afternoon after a stiff five hour hike we were pleased to find that the porters had pitched our tent and so had a well earned lunch out of the drizzle before unpacking my fly rod and getting back out. Fortunately a momentary break in the weather allowed me two hours’ or so of fishing before drizzle settled in for good. Hearing that Cabbage Whites (a type of butterfly common on the moorland) were a common food source for trout in Lake Ellis I initially tried a white fly that mimicked this food item and not having any success changed to a sinking line swapping between a Walker’s and Hamill’s Killer. Working a corner of the dam with a steep rocky dropoff into deepish water where I’d seen a few swirls on one of my retrievals I had a fish come in behind my fly that must have been between 10 and 12 lbs! Having never seen a trout anywhere near this size I got the shakes. I’m sure all keen fishermen