A Weekend of Hiking and Biking

Each weekend I seem to transform from a student and resident of Nairobi into an American tourist!  Though I am becoming more accustomed to living in Nairobi each day, it’s still a lot of fun to get out of the chaotic city and soak in the clean air, sun, and beautiful scenery in Kenya!  Last weekend we took a two separate day trips to Mount Longonot and Hell’s Gate, which are both about an hour from Nairobi by bus. 

Mt. Longonot 

Mt. Longonot is an extinct volcano located just 90 km outside of Nairobi.  With fresh legs and full water bottles, we were all ready to conquer Mt. Longonot at about 10 AM on Saturday.  The hike started off great as the trail leading up to the crater rim was relatively easy.  The last ten or fifteen minutes were pretty steep, but we thought for sure that would be the worst of the hike for the whole day so we pushed through it.   

After reaching the top, we decided to eat our packed lunches under an acacia tree (the trees most people think of in the Lion King or an African safari).  Following lunch we were looking forward to a nice stroll around the rim of the crater.  Though we knew it’d take three or fours hours to make it around the whole crater, we didn’t think there would be much intense hiking.  We couldn’t have been more wrong! We have learned that Kenyans and Americans have very definitions of the word “hike.”  To us a hike is a trail with some moderate inclines.  Here a hike is a trail path with steep inclines and some moderate rock climbing.  For an example, our two Kenyan bus drivers came with us on the hike and I don’t think they sweat or breathed hard for one moment of the hike.  They also only shared a half a bottle of water the whole day!  We all definitely felt incompetent in comparison as we were dripping in sweat and had about three water bottles each!

Exhibit A of Climbing Skills: 
Using every limb I have

Our leisurely stroll around the crater quickly turned into quite the hike.  The crater itself is 2150 meters above sea level and the highest peak along the rim is 2776 meters.  The hardest part about the hike to the top was the areas of ash and loose rocks.  We seemed to be slipping and sliding everywhere!  I was on all fours most of the time! And I’m not going to lie…I did not look graceful or the least bit athletic! 




It was definitely all worth it though once we reached the top.  The view was breathtaking!  After reaching the peak, there was a lot of downhill terrain in the same ash and uneven rocks.  This was my least favorite of the hike! I’ve always known that I don’t like downhill hiking (or running), but this brought my dislike to a whole new level! My two friends, Maggie and Jenni, and I were always pretty far behind the rest of the group as we carefully tried to maneuver the downhill terrain without falling off or down the crater! At one point, we were hysterically laughing as we realized how ridiculous we looked scooting down the rocks on our butts or walking so gingerly between and around rocks that we looked like grandmas walking with walkers.  After three hours, we finally made it around the crater and started to make our way down the crater.

Exhibit B of Climbing Skills:  At this moment I was stuck with my legs in a split still deciding what to do next. 

On our way down, we saw the neck of a giraffe off in the distance snacking on some of the tree leaves.  It was such a surreal moment as we weren’t expecting to see a giraffe.  Shortly after the giraffe sighting, we finally made it to the main gate.  I had never been so happy to see flat land, water to clean off all the ash on my legs/feet/hands, and pop and tomato chips (they have these delicious chips that are tomato flavored…it sounds gross, but they are so good, especially after a six hour hike!).  Though the hike was a lot more difficult than we expected, it was a beautiful day and I wouldn’t have wanted to be doing anything else.

Hell’s Gate

Hell’s Gate is a national park not far from Mt. Longonot outside of Nairobi.  The park was actually the inspiration of the setting in The Lion King!  Crew members for the film were even sent to the park to gain a sense of the environment for the movie.  It is home to zebras, giraffes, water buffalo, warthogs, impalas, and baboons amongst others!  Most people go to Hell’s Gate to see the beautiful wildlife or go rock climbing.  Many people rent bikes to ride through the park to see the wildlife.  I had been looking forward to this day ever since I had heard a previous MSID student talk about it this fall.  I definitely was not disappointed!   

The moment I started riding my bike in the beautiful park, I couldn’t help but smile from ear to ear!  The weather was absolutely perfect, sunny with a little breeze and it was a lot of fun being back on a bike again!  Along our 8 km ride through the park, I saw zebras, giraffes, water buffalo, and impalas.  The zebras were so close I felt like I could reach out and touch them!  At the end of the 8 km I was so disappointed because I could’ve ridden that bike all day!  At the end of the trail, we ate lunch under a picnic area at the park.  About two minutes into our lunch, we noticed there were baboons hanging around the picnic tables.  They looked and acted a lot like the ones at Lake Nakuru.  All of the sudden, my friend Matt was pointing and said, “Jenna! Look out, behind you!”  Within a split second, before any of us could react, a baboon jumped onto the picnic table and stole my friend Maggie’s mango right off of the table! Oh my goodness!   

We didn’t know if we should be mortified or laugh at the absurdity of what had just happened.  After lunch, we were led on a two-hour hike in the gorge.  Hell’s Gate Gorge is said to be the home of the devil!  Throughout the tour we were shown the devil’s kitchen, bedroom, and shower.  His shower comes from hot springs flowing down the rocks.  The water was so hot the rocks were actually steaming.  Walking in the gorge with the rocks towering on either side was gorgeous!  This hike was a lot less strenuous than Mt. Longonot, but we did rock climb a little because what’s a Kenyan hike without some rock climbing?!  After a short stay in the devil’s home, we climbed up a gorgeous viewpoint overlooking the park and were painted (paint=water and orange dirt) in the Maasai traditional fashion (like Simba in the Lion King!).  My pictures can’t completely capture the breath taking scenery.

Moments like standing on the highest peak of Mt. Longonot soaking in the sun or riding through Hell’s Gate with the wind against my face make me feel especially thankful and blessed to be having such an amazing, once in a life time experience.  I am so lucky to not only be learning from living and studying in Nairobi, but also to have the opportunity to travel and experience all the beautiful places in Kenya.