I think the rest of the story is best
told in pictures:
Mt. Longonot National Park is what
remains of a volcano that erupted sometime around the turn of the century. As
we were driving to the park’s gate and snapping photographs of the donkeys
grazing at the base of the giant crater, it didn’t occur to us that what Elke
had described as “a little hike” would involve us climbing straight up the side
of a mountain.
Ashley (a friend from Tulane) and I made
it up the mountain in about 2 hours. Two sweaty, sun-drenched, exhausting
hours. Expecting “a little hike,” I was wearing sandals and SPF 15 sunscreen,
and only carrying half a liter of water. We were also ill-prepared for the
delightful combination of 30 mph winds and lots of fine volcanic dust, which
literally made our teeth muddy. It was rough.
People coming down the mountain, who had
already made it to the top and around the crater, kept telling us it was worth
it so we forged on. And they were right!
Inside the crater was a completely
separate ecosystem, which you could see from the top. (You have to repel to get
into the crater, and I wasn’t about to do that…) There are little lakes covered
in some sort of bright green vegetation, and lots and lots of birds I couldn’t
identify.
After about an hour up top, we headed back down the steep, steep mountain to the base gate and found some much deserved cold beer and cookies. It was really difficult not to slide down the dusty path, but I managed to make it down without falling down once! (And, judging by the dust on everyone else’s butts, I think I was the only one who didn’t fall down.)
The next morning (on my birthday!),
after some much needed R&R and a GIANT buffet dinner at Lake Naivasha’s
Fish Eagle Inn, we took a matatu to Hell’s Gate National Park. In the heart of
Masaai land, Hell’s Gate was supposedly named such after the eruption of Mt.
Longonot created a massive cloud of ash that suffocated plants and animals and
rendered the area uninhabitable.
Today, it’s a giant gorge full of
baboons (which we didn’t see) and baboon poop (which we tried our best to
avoid).
At the main gate, a group of about 8 of
us rented dilapidated bikes (for $4 a day) and biked the 8km (4 miles) to the
beginning of the hike. (There were no helmets for rent. I asked and they
thought I was crazy.)
The road took us through a game reserve, past herds of
zebras, water buffaloes, wildebeest, and a variety of DLCs (deer-like
creatures). We biked through pits of volcanic soil, which was so dense and soft
that our wheels wouldn’t turn and our bikes would abruptly stop and tip to one
side or another. We saw families of eagles who nest high on the rock formation
in the park, and heard a Masaai folk tale about the pillars of stone that were
once women who were upset about being married off and were turned to stone by
the gods for looking back towards their villages as they walked away.
At Hell’s Gate gorge, we took a 2-ish
hour hike with a guide whose name I forget. He told us stories of growing up in
a Masaai village, about being shunned from his family for letting a cow eat
poisonous leaves one day when he was in charge of the herd. As punishment, he
was sent to a boarding school, which ended up being the best thing that could
have happened to him. When he was 13, he returned to his village for a
traditional Masaai right of passage to manhood, where he was trained as a warrior
(Moran) and sent with a group of 40 age-mates, all boys, to find and kill a
lion. He told us that he threw his spear first and hit the lion’s elbow, so the
lion attacked him. He pulled up his pants legs and showed us giant bite and
claw marks that he said were from the lion, and told us how the other boys
attacked and killed the lion while the lion was busy trying to eat him. He
survived and because he was the first to throw his spear, he got to keep the
lion’s mane and, when choosing wives from all the eligible ladies in the
village, he got to choose first. I’m not sure how much of his story was true,
but it was certainly interesting.
Also, Hell’s Gate gorge was apparently
the inspiration for the landscape in The Lion King, so we quoted the movie and
sang songs all afternoon. It was the best hiking trip ever.
The next morning we hired a boat and
boat driver to take us hippo- and bird-watching on Lake Naivasha. We learned
about the invasive water hyacinth and Louisiana crawfish that, combined with
the massive Italian and Dutch flower plantations, are wrecking the ecosystem in
Naivasha.
We saw kingfishers, storks, herons, and
a bunch of other birds I can’t identify. We interrupted a hippo family’s morning
nap. We watched our friends' boat almost capsize when their driver ran them into a bunch of mangrove trees. A fun time was had by all.
In the afternoon, before heading back to
Nairobi, we stopped at Crater Lake National Park, another volcanic area with a
variety of wildlife. Members of our group who had gone the previous weekend
(before class began) described it as very Jurassic Park-like, and they were
absolutely right. We took an hour-long walking safari through the savannah,
where we confused zebras, witnessed a duel between male impalas fighting for
control of a herd of females, and chased a giraffe through the trees to get a
good picture.
Dehydrated, sunburned, and generally
exhausted, in the late afternoon we headed back to Nairobi in our private
matatu (minibus). We were supposed to stop at the Rift Valley Overlook to take
photos, but by the time we got there I was the only person still awake so we
continued on back to the hotel. I managed to stay awake long enough to shower
and tuck myself into bed before it even got dark out. It was an awesome little
vacation, a much needed break from our intense course back in Nairobi, and a great
way to spend my 26th birthday.
Now we’re busy conducting and compiling
research about water access in Kibera, so sometime this week I’ll update you
all about actual school-related things. On the 18th, I’m headed to
South Africa/Swaziland to visit some Peace Corps friends, Pasture Valley
Children’s Home, and my Swazi family. I’ll keep you posted.
Love!
(PS I know this blog post is late, but it's taken me several days to get to internet! I'll update more later, as I'm now done with my project and have moved on to Swaziland!)
(PS I know this blog post is late, but it's taken me several days to get to internet! I'll update more later, as I'm now done with my project and have moved on to Swaziland!)