Mount Kenya
Mount Kenya is the most beautiful place in Kenya. One week was way too short, funny how that works. We climbed through the lowland forest, home to the giant 'Tembo' or elephants. Their foot prints in the sand and mud, crossing our trail, crushing the banks, told the early morning story. The jungle excepted them with broken tree trunks, mangled brush, a tunnel sized opening in the greenery. There were banana trees as tall as houses and strange straggley conifers mixed in with the acacia.
Next we passed through a place that reminded me of the Scottish moor, barren yet fertile, low lying grasses with rock outcroppings and wind. The hyraxe bathed in the sun and scurried alongside the creek we stopped near for lunch. We joked about how much he looked like the Dr. Suess character the Lorax. High - rax Low - rax?!?! Could he have spent time here in Kenya? As we tramped upward we entered the world of Suess. Everything seemed to be straight from his books. The funny fuzzy plants, the funny fuzzy creatures the rolling valleys and ridges. Yes he must have been here. We dressed one up in dark glasses and shook hands.... altitude sickness? No.... just fun.
Upwards we started getting amazing views, the valley floor went on forever.... I guess because the next closest mountain is in Tanzania, Kilimanjaro. The serengeti, so beautiful.
We reached our camp around 4:30pm in the first moments of a three hour hail storm. The hail piled up in drifts dry and fluffy. Our guide fed us ogali and goat stew and told us that tomorrow we would start a 2:00am to reach the summit by sunrise. Well that didn't really go over too well and a new start time was agreed upon, 4:30am. Our tents were stiff with ice but we shook them dry and folded them away in the light of our head lamps. Altitude sickness is a real intruder and caught one of us that day. Thao would stay behind and rest before ascending any further.
Each step is an effort, breathing and super hydration are key. The peak was glorious and the views dramatic. I didn't see Kilimanjaro but they say some days its possible. I did see our new route down.... long.
The descent was challenging in its own way, we all know how our poor knees and feet suffer, but then add a continuous hard rain for five of the nine hours. Luckily it wasn't cold at all, quite pleasant really, I love walking in the rain. We were in the swamp area and trail turned into rivulets which turned into small creeks right beneath our feet. Well at least we were all going in the same direction.... down... hopping from one giant tuff of grass to another. This area had burned four months earlier but that only increased the view. It was obviously recovering quite quickly.
Nearer to the bottom was my favorite terrain, more elephant lands, and the bamboo forest. That night we rose to the challenge of starting a fire with very little soggy rotting wood, to dry our boots outs. After hours of diligence and determination a roaring fire crackled in a filthy cement walled tin roofed shelter, meant for ... I really don't know what. But we strung it full of line and hung every piece of clothing we owned to be smoked and dryad by morning.
During the night I heard the weird whistling hoots of the hyena. There must have been at least two for they seemed to be calling to each other for hours, one on this side of my tent and one on the other side. When something sniffed at my tent visions of that goofy looking animal with their magnificently strong jaws dragging me out into the night overwhelmed me into peeking. Unzipping a tiny slit, just enough for my eye and headlamp. To my surprise, and the buffaloes too I suppose, there was a whole herd of water buffaloes mowing the campsite lawn. They stared, then dashed, thundering off for moment before settling down again.
In the morning we began early again, which is a shame because this truly was the most beautiful part of our journey. One of the only daytime creatures I saw was the dog sized deer called the dikdik, they are territorial and mate for life, thought I'd throw in a little national geographic. With sore knees and toes we began another 32K walk down a gentle slope this time through three more different flora belts. What a wonderful day.... and adventure. Only regret, didn't actually get to see the largest land mammal in its natural habitat, only his giant scat, oh well still have a chance.
Next we passed through a place that reminded me of the Scottish moor, barren yet fertile, low lying grasses with rock outcroppings and wind. The hyraxe bathed in the sun and scurried alongside the creek we stopped near for lunch. We joked about how much he looked like the Dr. Suess character the Lorax. High - rax Low - rax?!?! Could he have spent time here in Kenya? As we tramped upward we entered the world of Suess. Everything seemed to be straight from his books. The funny fuzzy plants, the funny fuzzy creatures the rolling valleys and ridges. Yes he must have been here. We dressed one up in dark glasses and shook hands.... altitude sickness? No.... just fun.
Upwards we started getting amazing views, the valley floor went on forever.... I guess because the next closest mountain is in Tanzania, Kilimanjaro. The serengeti, so beautiful.
We reached our camp around 4:30pm in the first moments of a three hour hail storm. The hail piled up in drifts dry and fluffy. Our guide fed us ogali and goat stew and told us that tomorrow we would start a 2:00am to reach the summit by sunrise. Well that didn't really go over too well and a new start time was agreed upon, 4:30am. Our tents were stiff with ice but we shook them dry and folded them away in the light of our head lamps. Altitude sickness is a real intruder and caught one of us that day. Thao would stay behind and rest before ascending any further.
Each step is an effort, breathing and super hydration are key. The peak was glorious and the views dramatic. I didn't see Kilimanjaro but they say some days its possible. I did see our new route down.... long.
The descent was challenging in its own way, we all know how our poor knees and feet suffer, but then add a continuous hard rain for five of the nine hours. Luckily it wasn't cold at all, quite pleasant really, I love walking in the rain. We were in the swamp area and trail turned into rivulets which turned into small creeks right beneath our feet. Well at least we were all going in the same direction.... down... hopping from one giant tuff of grass to another. This area had burned four months earlier but that only increased the view. It was obviously recovering quite quickly.
Nearer to the bottom was my favorite terrain, more elephant lands, and the bamboo forest. That night we rose to the challenge of starting a fire with very little soggy rotting wood, to dry our boots outs. After hours of diligence and determination a roaring fire crackled in a filthy cement walled tin roofed shelter, meant for ... I really don't know what. But we strung it full of line and hung every piece of clothing we owned to be smoked and dryad by morning.
During the night I heard the weird whistling hoots of the hyena. There must have been at least two for they seemed to be calling to each other for hours, one on this side of my tent and one on the other side. When something sniffed at my tent visions of that goofy looking animal with their magnificently strong jaws dragging me out into the night overwhelmed me into peeking. Unzipping a tiny slit, just enough for my eye and headlamp. To my surprise, and the buffaloes too I suppose, there was a whole herd of water buffaloes mowing the campsite lawn. They stared, then dashed, thundering off for moment before settling down again.
In the morning we began early again, which is a shame because this truly was the most beautiful part of our journey. One of the only daytime creatures I saw was the dog sized deer called the dikdik, they are territorial and mate for life, thought I'd throw in a little national geographic. With sore knees and toes we began another 32K walk down a gentle slope this time through three more different flora belts. What a wonderful day.... and adventure. Only regret, didn't actually get to see the largest land mammal in its natural habitat, only his giant scat, oh well still have a chance.
posted by gypsysista at 1:11 AM
1 Comments:
WOW a comment! this is the most exciting thing I've experienced since starting this bog. In response: I didn't get to see much in the dark mostly dark shadows and green eyes, but yes I have heard they are the most likely to charge you at close proximity. I'm watching out.
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