Hell's Gate National Park
Friday 5th October
Had the most amazing day with Kait and Destiny at Hell's Gate National Park. Bonny drove us and we picked up Peter en route and he was our tour guide and we spent the day with them. Peter is so knowledgeable and they're both fun and so kind, it was the super good.
We started our day at 5:15 as we were told we needed to be ready to go at 6....we didn't leave until 7:45 :| These Kenyans man! It didn't matter of course, we weren't on a booked schedule or anything, just meant we were later than planned...also meant we could've had an extra hour in bed!! But oh well, the driver person they expected to come pick us up just never showed so in the end Bonny drove us even though it's supposed to be his day off, and it's been great. Bonny is a gem of a human.
It was about a 2 hour drive - we drove past Mt Longonot too, a dormant volcano by the Park. It was so cool, you could see where the top turned into a massive crater, i think it's filled with forest and plants growing in there. Such a stunning landscape.
The day was split into three parts: a 5 mile bike ride, a 7 mile hike and a 2hr boat safari around Lake Naivasha - a Hell's Gate triathlon. It was A-MAY-ZING!!! I'm absolutely buzzing it's been the most incredible experience, the wildlife here is insane. I've said it before but I'll say it again, it's all just so surreal, I loved it!
On the bike ride we were riding right next to zebras and gazelles, at one point 3 warthogs were running alongside us! Pumbasssss! Peter was telling us about all the films that have been shot/set in the park too - we rode past Pride Rock, where Raifiki holds Simba and all the animals freak out, that one. (name the film!! That's an easy one 😄)...I don't think u realized that it was set in Kenya - the more you know!
It was a magical, the mountains and rocks were beautiful and the wild animals just made it, everywhere you looked was a picturesque moment. We saw 2 juvenile giraffes too! Everything was so close to us, it was insane.
Some we didn't want to get too close to though! We rounded a corner at one point and Peter yelled at us to stop because there were 2 wildebeest just stood in the road - and they were staring us out. Peter told us that wildebeest are very dangerous, they are the second biggest killer in Kenya after hippos, and had to whistle to Bonny to drive ahead of us to shoo them away, it was crazy. Apparently they're very blind though, so if you're ever in a situation where you're being stampeded by wildebeest, you need to take off your clothes and throw them one way and run the other way!! Peter said and just lie down but I'm not sure of that plan...!
You can just about see them in this one... Bloody tanks - like really muscly cows with big eff-off horns
Next was the hike through the valley - again, Peter in all his wisdom was explaining all about how Hell's Gate used to all be flat, but after Mt Longonot erupted aaaaages ago, it calved channels into the stone and since then, water has eroded it down to how it is now. He showed us the height it used to be 3 years ago and it's crazy how much it has already eroded since then in the flash floods they get.
So here you can see on the left the rim of where the ground was 3 years ago...crazy! Also, that's the rock where Mufasa died (right) - told you those wildebeest were bad news.
As we were walking to a section called "Devil's Bedroom" (geddit - Hell's Gate leads to the Devil's Bedroom..?! There are also bits called Devil's Kitchen and things, I appreciate those names!), Peter was showing us which sections were used to film scenes in Indiana Jones, and the Bedroom was used in the Tomb Raider film! Sooooo cool. It was absolutely gorgeous, and littered everywhere on the ground where shiny black rocks in all sizes - it was obsidian from the volcano! Peter was saying how the Maasai communities around used to use it as knives because when you smashed it, it's veryyyyy sharp (he showed us, can confirm - muy sharpness) and they also use it to make jewelry. Cool stuff.
Some we didn't want to get too close to though! We rounded a corner at one point and Peter yelled at us to stop because there were 2 wildebeest just stood in the road - and they were staring us out. Peter told us that wildebeest are very dangerous, they are the second biggest killer in Kenya after hippos, and had to whistle to Bonny to drive ahead of us to shoo them away, it was crazy. Apparently they're very blind though, so if you're ever in a situation where you're being stampeded by wildebeest, you need to take off your clothes and throw them one way and run the other way!! Peter said and just lie down but I'm not sure of that plan...!
Next was the hike through the valley - again, Peter in all his wisdom was explaining all about how Hell's Gate used to all be flat, but after Mt Longonot erupted aaaaages ago, it calved channels into the stone and since then, water has eroded it down to how it is now. He showed us the height it used to be 3 years ago and it's crazy how much it has already eroded since then in the flash floods they get.
As we were walking to a section called "Devil's Bedroom" (geddit - Hell's Gate leads to the Devil's Bedroom..?! There are also bits called Devil's Kitchen and things, I appreciate those names!), Peter was showing us which sections were used to film scenes in Indiana Jones, and the Bedroom was used in the Tomb Raider film! Sooooo cool. It was absolutely gorgeous, and littered everywhere on the ground where shiny black rocks in all sizes - it was obsidian from the volcano! Peter was saying how the Maasai communities around used to use it as knives because when you smashed it, it's veryyyyy sharp (he showed us, can confirm - muy sharpness) and they also use it to make jewelry. Cool stuff.
All the ground is dark sand too, not soil, ground down and washed about by the waters.
It was an amazing walk, so much natural beauty everywhere and Peter had so much interesting stuff to tell us. Climbing through all the rocks too and a few of the sections where we had to clamber up to a ledge to follow the path reminded me how much i love climbing, i need to start going out climbing more again!
There was a small Maasai Market at the end of the trail too, loads of stalls if handmade souvenirs by the Maasai women - used my battering skills to get myself some things with the limited funds i brought out with me! Still, 700 KSH is only $7 - the prices here are crazy, i feel like I'm spending loads of money but really it doesn't add up to that much in GB pounds! Everything is so different out here - I suppose it's all in relation to the price of goods and necessities and things but still, the people here live off so little - I do feel a little guilty haggling on prices when I think about it, this is the money they live off... I don't know, so many layers to life here.
Also, side note - I think we might be going to the big Maasai Market downtown tomorrow, I'm looking forward to that if we do go!!
Then we spent a bit of time chillin poolside at a lil place on the way back out of the Park - it was mega hot so I sat happily under my big umbrella while D and Kait soaked up some rays. We didn't stay too long, then it was time for a boat ride!
That was just incredible too - so many different types of birds to start with: white storks, yellow-billed storks, cormerants, grey herons, African spoonbills, some kind of pond dipper, kingfishers, and my favorite - the fish eagle. Their wingspan is about 77cm according to our boatman - he had a fish to get one to come fly close to us, he whistled a few times and threw it into the water. The first eagle wasn't hungry and did not oblige, but the second one we found swallows down right next us, maybe 2 metres away, it was amazing!!
(Video courtesy of Kait!)
We got to see 2 small herds if hippos too - from a safe distance of course - just sticking their massive heads out the water, puffing out of their noses and wiggling their ears. It was so so cool to be so close, the boatman was saying how dangerous they are too and that they attack without reason so we wouldn't be going any closer. I was ok with that! Just knowing how powerful and aggressive they are, my adrenaline was pumping so much!
The views from the lake were stunning as well, the silhouette of Mt Longonot to one side and to the other, mountains our guide said were called the Mua and the Eburu. Stun-ning.
There's an island in the center of the lake too called Crescent Island, the driver also told us that's where 'Out of Africa' was filmed. I spotted 2 girraffes on there first and then we also saw zebra, gazelles, water buck and another hippo as our boatman took us around the island, i just found it all so exciting! Destiny was saying do you think they were transplanted there, i laughed and said yeh probably for the movie, but we theorised that maybe before the lake was so big there was a way for them all the get across and then once the floods came they got stuck - as we set off the driver was saying how the dead trees are where the land used to be but the rain they got in April and March flooded it all so it wasn't a far fetched theory. But alas, he then told us all the animals were moved there for the film. We called it. Still, it was a sick experience!!
I absolutely loved it, every second. Photos can't do any of it justice (not for lack of trying!). I felt like a little kid at the fair all day! I had the best company - as we drove or walked between places, Peter was teaching us Swahili and we were teaching him some Spanish (Kait's go-to in stressful/uncomfortable situations) and just had fun joking around with them. A great day - Hell's Gate and the whole package is definitely a recommend!
And now, slightly burned, slightly dirty and very sweaty - it's time for a nice shower and a chilled evening before Destiny and Kait go home tomorrow night! Can't believe it, only known them a week but I'm gonna miss them so much!! :( I guess that's the volunteer life, that's the thing about off season here too - it might feel a bit quiet! I think all the others are staying all the time that I'm here tho, so I'll have them to get to know and chill/adventure too :)
(I wrote this on the car ride back - sorry for the essay! I'll try and cut back, there's just always so much going on I wanna share!! I forgot to say too, Kait was desperate to get back in time for tea coz Sophie had said she'd make chipatis for Kait and Destiny's last day, they didn't stop talking about it all day! We weren't sure we were gonna make it, but Bonny's top class driving skills and zero fear of RTAs meant we made it! And they were damnnnnnn good. Also, how could i forget these lil guys! Vavet monkeys ready to raid picnickers just before the hiking trail)
I'll stop now, that's all for today!
Love to everyone back home xxx
It was an amazing walk, so much natural beauty everywhere and Peter had so much interesting stuff to tell us. Climbing through all the rocks too and a few of the sections where we had to clamber up to a ledge to follow the path reminded me how much i love climbing, i need to start going out climbing more again!
There was a small Maasai Market at the end of the trail too, loads of stalls if handmade souvenirs by the Maasai women - used my battering skills to get myself some things with the limited funds i brought out with me! Still, 700 KSH is only $7 - the prices here are crazy, i feel like I'm spending loads of money but really it doesn't add up to that much in GB pounds! Everything is so different out here - I suppose it's all in relation to the price of goods and necessities and things but still, the people here live off so little - I do feel a little guilty haggling on prices when I think about it, this is the money they live off... I don't know, so many layers to life here.
Also, side note - I think we might be going to the big Maasai Market downtown tomorrow, I'm looking forward to that if we do go!!
Then we spent a bit of time chillin poolside at a lil place on the way back out of the Park - it was mega hot so I sat happily under my big umbrella while D and Kait soaked up some rays. We didn't stay too long, then it was time for a boat ride!
That was just incredible too - so many different types of birds to start with: white storks, yellow-billed storks, cormerants, grey herons, African spoonbills, some kind of pond dipper, kingfishers, and my favorite - the fish eagle. Their wingspan is about 77cm according to our boatman - he had a fish to get one to come fly close to us, he whistled a few times and threw it into the water. The first eagle wasn't hungry and did not oblige, but the second one we found swallows down right next us, maybe 2 metres away, it was amazing!!
We got to see 2 small herds if hippos too - from a safe distance of course - just sticking their massive heads out the water, puffing out of their noses and wiggling their ears. It was so so cool to be so close, the boatman was saying how dangerous they are too and that they attack without reason so we wouldn't be going any closer. I was ok with that! Just knowing how powerful and aggressive they are, my adrenaline was pumping so much!
There's an island in the center of the lake too called Crescent Island, the driver also told us that's where 'Out of Africa' was filmed. I spotted 2 girraffes on there first and then we also saw zebra, gazelles, water buck and another hippo as our boatman took us around the island, i just found it all so exciting! Destiny was saying do you think they were transplanted there, i laughed and said yeh probably for the movie, but we theorised that maybe before the lake was so big there was a way for them all the get across and then once the floods came they got stuck - as we set off the driver was saying how the dead trees are where the land used to be but the rain they got in April and March flooded it all so it wasn't a far fetched theory. But alas, he then told us all the animals were moved there for the film. We called it. Still, it was a sick experience!!
I absolutely loved it, every second. Photos can't do any of it justice (not for lack of trying!). I felt like a little kid at the fair all day! I had the best company - as we drove or walked between places, Peter was teaching us Swahili and we were teaching him some Spanish (Kait's go-to in stressful/uncomfortable situations) and just had fun joking around with them. A great day - Hell's Gate and the whole package is definitely a recommend!
And now, slightly burned, slightly dirty and very sweaty - it's time for a nice shower and a chilled evening before Destiny and Kait go home tomorrow night! Can't believe it, only known them a week but I'm gonna miss them so much!! :( I guess that's the volunteer life, that's the thing about off season here too - it might feel a bit quiet! I think all the others are staying all the time that I'm here tho, so I'll have them to get to know and chill/adventure too :)
(I wrote this on the car ride back - sorry for the essay! I'll try and cut back, there's just always so much going on I wanna share!! I forgot to say too, Kait was desperate to get back in time for tea coz Sophie had said she'd make chipatis for Kait and Destiny's last day, they didn't stop talking about it all day! We weren't sure we were gonna make it, but Bonny's top class driving skills and zero fear of RTAs meant we made it! And they were damnnnnnn good. Also, how could i forget these lil guys! Vavet monkeys ready to raid picnickers just before the hiking trail)
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| This was taken on Kait's phone...?! Her camera is insane! |
I'll stop now, that's all for today!
Love to everyone back home xxx
Hope you managed a good night's sleep after all that exercise and excitement! Love you x
ReplyDeleteSounds amazing! What wonderful pictures and you sound like a tour guide! Massive information retention - love the lil guy at the end, the Hippo and the giraffe- Poppy really likes them! Love you lets, hope you get some rest this weekend! xx
ReplyDelete