LONGONOT: THE MOUNTAIN ALWAYS WIN!

I fear climbing Mt. Longonot, given horror stories that keep coming out of this mountain. The young  men who fell into the crater after being chased by bees, now that was scary.  I guess that is what horror movies are made off. 

Now the first time I called Longonot was last year in October and it was torturous. I was not prepared, my mind was not prepared, my body was not prepared, I was simply not prepared.

Notice how I had no hat, a nice hiker had assisted me with sun screen, I had no proper shoes, yes that is me with casual sandals. I had rubbers but they did not assist as much. So with no hat and in Longonot, the higher you go, the closer you get to the sun, I struggled with the first two hills to get to the crater. I mean every time I turned around it was beautiful but when I turned go up it was so difficult. My back was bent that I felt like it was the only way I could go up. Yes, I need a hiking stick.

Then we started going round the rim and I was like to the guys I was walking with 'yeah, you go ahead.' I could only for a couple of steps before stopping, sadly around the rim there is no shade just a series of hills and the soil was white and since it was sunny and I had no sun glasses, it kept making feel dizzy and every time I looked at the soil I thought I was going to fall. I was beat. I had soil in my eyes, it did kind of injure my eye, my clothes were soaked in some sort of volcanic ash and then it was windy and I was scared at getting too close to the edge. I could not go back because I was half way down and it mean going up the same hills again,  but I pushed myself and I did it. 

I made a promise to myself that I would be back and I would conquer this beast. 

I needed to change my shoes

So, this year I went back to Longonot I was scared still, I did not have enough snacks, but I made sure I had a hat, and sun  glasses and I also bought hiking boots. I put the sun on notice.

Sun be warned

Going up this time was not as bad as it had been the first time. It was interesting. There was this Cameroonian guy who kept telling us how snake is a delicacy in his country, he was a pretty good hiker.  He said they particularly loved viper (which he said in a French accent) and python. He also added laughing that only rich people can afford snake meat, well if I ever get myself in Cameroon, I hope to be very poor.

I did not carry a lot of snacks but either hikers are the kindest people on earth or its the Kenyan spirit. Yes, I believe in the Kenyan Spirit but I think this time its something to about hikers, they are just the most generous people on earth, I say that because they are always different nationalities in these hikes. I ate more snacks than I had carried. I always seem to eat more than I carry in most hikes.

That said  I miss hiking and I haven't been on top on my mountains because I am so broke. I need money so that I can hike. 

So what happened in this hike: -

1. I made new friends, I hope to hike with her in future.

2. The board fell on my head. Like seriously.

3. Going down there were some girls without water, high school girls and I thought that was weird, I gave them some. I am not sure its possible to scale Longonot without water

4. A group of girls thought they should have gone swimming instead of Longonot and I agree. Hiking is for people who want to see the view at the top. If I was a school girl I would want to go swimming as well.

5. I was still soaked in soil

6. I was scared going down that I would fall, the soil was so loose, but a guy actually told me I was just being scared and he held my hand a bit and we run down and yes I guess I was being afraid.  I am going to be honest, I love hiking with my whole heart but I am afraid of heights. How do these two go together, I do not know. All I know is that I cannot stop hiking but I still fear heights.

7. I had so much fun.

This was my favourite part, did I tell you I love rock climbing.

8. This was the scariest point. I see a guy taking a photo and I thought, wow that is pretty and when I got to that point, I realised that it was the edge of a very sharp cliff and if I fell, there would be no surviving, so I crawled, I told you I fear heights and my legs felt wobbly.

In conclusion I am yet to concur Longonot and so I will be back and maybe I will not be so afraid of Longonot.

Just wait and see!

THE HILL CALLED 'ELEPHANT'

Elephant Hill

The first thing that I learnt about Elephant Hill is that it is shaped as an elephant, hence the name Elephant hill. It did not seem as much and truthfully I had not been sore in a really long time when hiking. Still, I had heard a lot about Elephant hill, and everybody kept saying how tough it was, and so I was very scared, what if I could not do it.

As were being brief, they talked about a point called despair where some people turned back, and i thought 'if I have to crawl there I will.' I really wanted to finish this hike. Also I had been hearing a lot about Elephant Hill and it was on top of my to hike list.

So we started, I am usually slow then starting because I need to pick my rhythm and I am not as fit as I thought I was.  So this what happened:-

1. The bamboo stretch really worked on my patient, it was so long that by the time I got to the Despair Point it came as a relief. This stretch was very cold.

Bamboo stretch

2. Before the stretch there was the walk through some potato plantations. I was advised to wear water proof shoes (off course I did not) because it rains a lot and because the area is forested the ground tends to be very wet. 

I love potatoes

3. The whole time I alternated being putting my jacket on and taking it off. You know when you are going uphill your body temperature rises but when you stop and rest for a bit, you suddenly realise that you its a very cold place.

Its so cold

Its cold but I feel warm

5. There were several hills not just one: -

Going round one of the hills

6. I needed a stick going up, I realised that the walking stick helps so that when I am going up, I do not have to bend so much and I am able to raise my feet when climbing over higher surfaces.

7. There was a lot of fog.

on top of another hill

8. The view from the top was beautiful: -

9. At point despair you still want to go on and on: -



10. The feeling at the top is beautiful: -

When you get to the top and you still have the energy

The day that followed, I was sore. I could not walk properly for a couple of days, but I kept smiling.

The day after

Was Elephant Hill tough than any other hill I have ever climbed? Yes. But tough also means it was the best hike yet, I would gladly do it again. This time I hope it rains and I get rained on and its muddy because when they speak about Elephant Hill, they talk about how it rained and it was muddy and how the weather is uncertain and all I have is, it cold and it was hot at some point. 

That said, do not climb Elephant Hill as your first hike, try others first and then Elephant Hill will come later. If you want to test your endurance, do it! If you are a seasoned hiker and you have never climbed Elephant hill 'what are you waiting for?'

Hiked with: Kereita Wilderness

Next Hike: Mt. Longonot

WILLIAMS HILL; WHY I AM NEVER PREPARED

On Jan 23rd I was supposed to hike Williams Hill. I was not as prepared as I thought I would be. I had enough water and that is all that mattered. So I took a Star Bus at around 6:10am. The good news is that I was in town by 6:40am. On the way my mom did call to ask if I had showered, that is the story for another day.

My first view was this: -

Nairobi, the most beautiful city on earth

The other day I was seated in Mat and this cheap guy was trying to hit me up and when we approached this section, my mind drifted. I cannot get over how beautiful Nairobi looks, from this angle it is the green city in the sun. Maybe its because Nairobi is hope, the place that I was born.

One and a half hours later, we started the journey and I saw this: -

the Great Rift Valley View Point

Every single time I pass near this place, I am amazed by its beauty. I have been able to stop there once when I was headed to the International Day for Persons with Disabilities in Lari.

View point

It took two and half hours to get to the base of William's Hill from the Old Italian church. This church is beautiful. I will not get into the history but near it there was a shop that sold pretty good looking pancakes for 30 shillings. Well, I would be interested in knowing its association with the Italians, shouldn't it be in Malindi?

Old Italian Church

William a white man, a guess one of those referred to as colonial settler who lived in Kenya for a really long time after independence.

Does he still live there?

Is he old and married to a young African woman young enough to be his great grand daughter?

I should have asked those probably asked those questions.

Facing William's Hill

There was a hotel at the base, I would assume the main attraction would be peace and serenity and the Hill off course. Also the hotel in nicely built in the shape of traditional African huts, but the hotel had no cold water.

How?

Behind me, one of the rooms in the hotel

The whole week I had been reminding myself to buy a hat and sun glasses because one of the greatest enemies of hiking is the SUN, it so easy to suffer a heat stroke, but I did not buy one. I did not get the time and so I had to improvise.

Fighting the sun

Feeling the burn

I have learnt to enjoy the view, because no matter how bad my week was when I stop at look at how beautiful nature is, nothing matters any more.

A well deserved rest

The view at the top was amazing! I used to sing the song 'I may never climb a mountain to see the world from there,' when I was younger, but I was wrong, noting beats the view from the top.

What I learnt about William's Hill.
1. It's not strenuous for seasoned hikers, we were done by around 4pm.
2. Carry enough water
3. The sun is always your enemy as a hiker

I enjoyed the hike but that means I started the year on a lighter note.

Next hill: Elephant Hill