This weekend was full of hiking, camping, boating, and animal watching. Early Saturday morning we all boarded the bus to climb Mt. Longonot, an extinct volcano North of Nairobi. On the way there we stopped at an overlook for the most incredible view of the Rift Valley. The valley drops thousands of feet below and you can see for miles, we could even see the outline of Mt. Longonot looming in the distance.
At the mountain we began what was one of the hardest hikes I have ever done, except maybe the 14er I climbed this summer. There were practically no switchbacks and the trail led straight up the mountain on loose soil and gravel. Every time I turned around to take a breath I was overwhelmed with the beautiful view. Even though it was a bit of a struggle, we reached the summit of the rim in about an hour, far less time that we were told it would take. From there we could see the entire inside of the volcano and the other peaks around the rim. Looking out, we could see almost all of Lake Naivasha in the distance. We stopped for a quick break for snacks and pictures before deciding we wanted to try to hike all the way around the rim.
A group of us set out for what we thought would be a nice hike – only to be surprised that it was almost as hard as the first ascent we had done. There were parts we found ourselves scrambling up gravel that seemed straight up and there were others where we were hoisting ourselves up through crevices. Because of all the volcanic ash there was dirt and dust everywhere. By the time we reached the summit of the tallest peak we were coated. Standing on the peak was one of the most incredible moments, the accomplishment from the hike and the sheer beauty of the landscape around us. We were all so glad we decided to do the whole thing. We hung out a while, took pictures, and chatted with other hikers before continuing our trek.
The downhill part was almost even harder. Imagine all that loose dirt with a trail that led straight down with practically nothing to hold on to. Minus a few slips we all made it around down the front of the mountain in one piece. We hung out at the bottom for a while waiting for the last group to meet us playing charades, drinking lots of water, and chatting. By the end we were all so tired and knew we would definitely be sore the next day.
Back on the bus we headed to Naivasha where eight of us planned to camp at a place called fisherman’s village. We picked out a site right by the lake and they came to set up tents for us. By then it was almost dark and we were all starving so we headed over to the fisherman’s village restaurant for some dinner. Afterwards we bought some wood to build a fire at our campsite. Before we got the fire going, we just lay on the ground looking at the stars. There is only one other time I can remember when the stars were as amazing as they were this night. We could easily see the Milky Way and the millions of tiny dots that sprinkled the sky. It started getting chilly so we decided to start our fire. Even though we had a lot of fire pros, we were unable to get the wood to catch. After a lot of frustration we realized it was completely soaked, of course it wasn’t going to catch! Right about when we were about to give up a man on a motorbike showed up with a new bundle of wood. Since he didn’t speak any English and our Swahili is still pretty basic, there were a lot of communication struggles. Eventually, we got the wood and got a good fire going. We sat around talking and telling stories for hours until we had burned most of the wood and we were all nodding off.
Despite being so tired, I woke up periodically throughout the night because it was so cold. We each only had the one blanket they had given us and even though I wore my sweatshirt and raincoat too, it was still pretty chilly. By the time we woke up though, the sun was already beating down. A few people needed to get money from an ATM so we decided to walk to the nearest town. We didn’t end up finding an ATM but we stopped in this little hole in the wall restaurant for breakfast. We were definitely the only white people around the whole area. We got a few omelets, mandazis, and chai that were all surprisingly delicious and the total came out to only Ksh 540 – about $6 for all of us.
Back at the camp we decided to take a boat tour of Lake Naivasha. As we floated around the perimeter, our guide pointed out species on species of birds. Apparently, there are over 300 kinds of birds that live on the lake. Some of them we recognized from home but others were completely foreign. Some were so large we marveled at how they could possibly fly. Soon we came upon a pod of hippos resting in the water. They lay their heads on one another’s backs so they don’t sink while they are sleeping. We passed many more hippos, some on the bank some in the water. As we drove by they jumped into the water, which was pretty funny to see although it seemed like we were a little too close for comfort. At one point we got stuck on a sandbank in the river that was between a large pod of hippos and two other hippos. Our guide started saying, “Oh shit, oh shit… this is not safe…” which of course made us all freak out a little. He pulled off his shoes and jumped on to the sandbank quickly trying to push us away as the hippos started moving around us. Back in the boat he said, “were you guys scared?” in a joking way. We laughed and responded, “Mn noo we think it was you who was scared!” We finished our tour by speeding across the middle of the lake feeling the light breeze on our faces and enjoying the beautiful sites.
We grabbed lunch at the fisherman’s camp restaurant before our van driver picked us up to bring us back to Nairobi. Overall it was one of the most amazing weekends. Almost every weekend so far I’ve though that it was best weekend ever, only to be surprised that each one continues to be better and better.
At the mountain we began what was one of the hardest hikes I have ever done, except maybe the 14er I climbed this summer. There were practically no switchbacks and the trail led straight up the mountain on loose soil and gravel. Every time I turned around to take a breath I was overwhelmed with the beautiful view. Even though it was a bit of a struggle, we reached the summit of the rim in about an hour, far less time that we were told it would take. From there we could see the entire inside of the volcano and the other peaks around the rim. Looking out, we could see almost all of Lake Naivasha in the distance. We stopped for a quick break for snacks and pictures before deciding we wanted to try to hike all the way around the rim.
A group of us set out for what we thought would be a nice hike – only to be surprised that it was almost as hard as the first ascent we had done. There were parts we found ourselves scrambling up gravel that seemed straight up and there were others where we were hoisting ourselves up through crevices. Because of all the volcanic ash there was dirt and dust everywhere. By the time we reached the summit of the tallest peak we were coated. Standing on the peak was one of the most incredible moments, the accomplishment from the hike and the sheer beauty of the landscape around us. We were all so glad we decided to do the whole thing. We hung out a while, took pictures, and chatted with other hikers before continuing our trek.
The downhill part was almost even harder. Imagine all that loose dirt with a trail that led straight down with practically nothing to hold on to. Minus a few slips we all made it around down the front of the mountain in one piece. We hung out at the bottom for a while waiting for the last group to meet us playing charades, drinking lots of water, and chatting. By the end we were all so tired and knew we would definitely be sore the next day.
Back on the bus we headed to Naivasha where eight of us planned to camp at a place called fisherman’s village. We picked out a site right by the lake and they came to set up tents for us. By then it was almost dark and we were all starving so we headed over to the fisherman’s village restaurant for some dinner. Afterwards we bought some wood to build a fire at our campsite. Before we got the fire going, we just lay on the ground looking at the stars. There is only one other time I can remember when the stars were as amazing as they were this night. We could easily see the Milky Way and the millions of tiny dots that sprinkled the sky. It started getting chilly so we decided to start our fire. Even though we had a lot of fire pros, we were unable to get the wood to catch. After a lot of frustration we realized it was completely soaked, of course it wasn’t going to catch! Right about when we were about to give up a man on a motorbike showed up with a new bundle of wood. Since he didn’t speak any English and our Swahili is still pretty basic, there were a lot of communication struggles. Eventually, we got the wood and got a good fire going. We sat around talking and telling stories for hours until we had burned most of the wood and we were all nodding off.
Despite being so tired, I woke up periodically throughout the night because it was so cold. We each only had the one blanket they had given us and even though I wore my sweatshirt and raincoat too, it was still pretty chilly. By the time we woke up though, the sun was already beating down. A few people needed to get money from an ATM so we decided to walk to the nearest town. We didn’t end up finding an ATM but we stopped in this little hole in the wall restaurant for breakfast. We were definitely the only white people around the whole area. We got a few omelets, mandazis, and chai that were all surprisingly delicious and the total came out to only Ksh 540 – about $6 for all of us.
Back at the camp we decided to take a boat tour of Lake Naivasha. As we floated around the perimeter, our guide pointed out species on species of birds. Apparently, there are over 300 kinds of birds that live on the lake. Some of them we recognized from home but others were completely foreign. Some were so large we marveled at how they could possibly fly. Soon we came upon a pod of hippos resting in the water. They lay their heads on one another’s backs so they don’t sink while they are sleeping. We passed many more hippos, some on the bank some in the water. As we drove by they jumped into the water, which was pretty funny to see although it seemed like we were a little too close for comfort. At one point we got stuck on a sandbank in the river that was between a large pod of hippos and two other hippos. Our guide started saying, “Oh shit, oh shit… this is not safe…” which of course made us all freak out a little. He pulled off his shoes and jumped on to the sandbank quickly trying to push us away as the hippos started moving around us. Back in the boat he said, “were you guys scared?” in a joking way. We laughed and responded, “Mn noo we think it was you who was scared!” We finished our tour by speeding across the middle of the lake feeling the light breeze on our faces and enjoying the beautiful sites.
We grabbed lunch at the fisherman’s camp restaurant before our van driver picked us up to bring us back to Nairobi. Overall it was one of the most amazing weekends. Almost every weekend so far I’ve though that it was best weekend ever, only to be surprised that each one continues to be better and better.