The walk around the lakes

We took Cecily and the boys on the walk around the lakes. We walked down towards lake 1 and then through the forest over towards the lake crossing. The grass is quite thorn- like so we suffered some scratches on the legs.The road was thick with hippo shit and the day was mild. We crossed between lake 1 and 2 and it was almost shoulder depth with the possibility of hippos, but none were spotted(we had to carry Ralph but Louis swam in his life jacket). We then walked through shallow, crystal clear water towards the path that leads over the forest- covered dunes to the sea. This is a very beutiful walk and is in a mangrove swamp with bright red coloured crabs and millions of stranded sea shells. We walked over the forested dune in a narrow path and saw hornbills with their very specific crying and flying method.
We finally reached the coast and had a dip in the sea. Ceri burnt her stomach(yes, very red) and we continued the round trip to the mouth. In order to finish the last leg of the walk we needed to cross through the mouth of the river(or turn around and walk back).
But the mouth was higher than ever. We crossed in the way the cabbage, the goat and the lion crossed...
I walked with Cecily , Louis and some of the equipment -we had to swim the last few metres in the strong current. Cecily waited on the other side with Louis and I went back to fetch Ralph. Ralph then also stayed with Cecily and I went back for Ceri and the rucksacks. It is quite tricky to swim with the rucksacks on your head in a strong tide. Ceri managed to keep her rucksack dry! This was quite a nerve racking experience.
the last leg was up the sand forest path back to the car. Cecily and Louis seemed to get more energy as the walk progressed and Ralph was weighing on Ceri and my shoulders.
We did well on this walk, but 2 soldiers developed complications 10 days later...