It must have been a couple of hours later when a deep rumbling sound echoed around the crater. At first I thought a plane was landing... but an enormous fork of lightening lit up the inside of the tent quickly followed by rain. And rain it did. Proper African rain. So loud against the canvas that conversation was impossible. We could make out the faint shriek, easily identified as Ms Stone, as the water infiltrated her tent. Chaos ensued as a storm of Biblical proportions saturated some tents and combined with a gusty wind, partially collapsed others. Some people ran for the 4x4's, others for the dinner huts. Those that ran to the toilets quickly ran back when they saw the wildlife that had moved in.

At about 0200 the sound of thunder slowly faded into the distance, the rain eased off and eventually after there was silence. This was quickly punctuated by hysterical laughter from Ms Clancy and Ms Stone and then sound of Caitlin singing very loudly in Spanish... (random?) much to everyones amusement. Not even this epic deluge seemed to dampen the spirits.

We woke at about 0530 in order to descend into the crater as the sun came up. The first thing Mr Clarke said to me was "did you hear the rain last night..." as if it might have been possible not too!

Luckily, I was on hand with a camera to record the moment as everyone emerged from their tents. Unfortunately, Eli and I were too startled to capture Maria's exit as she left her tent as though shot from a cannon... stumbling 5 yards and managing to stay upright. Those that were witness gave Maria a round of applause as, now completely awake, she could fully appreciate the funny side of the moment.