Hiking and cycling in Hell’s Gate (Vacation Day 4)
on A Serendipitous Journey (Kenya), 14/Oct/2009 15:59, 34 days ago
Sep 18, 2009Before 7 am, we hopped on our rented bikes and set on our way to visit Hell’s Gate National Park, just several kilometres from Carnelley’s. As we cycled down the main road which leads to the gate, groups of little children cheerily greeted chanting “How are you? How are you? How are you?”After paying our park fees and greeting the rangers at the gate, we made our way down the bumpy dirt roads through the park towards the Gorge some 8 km away. We stopped numerous times along the path, taking photos of the beautiful rock formations, zebras, warthogs, and Thompson gazelles. And just as we approached the Gorge entrance a herd of antelopes gracefully but purposefully leaped across the road just metres in front of us, followed by 2 warthogs who were either following or chasing them– I’m not sure which!As we enjoyed a bitter lemon soda and some mixed nuts at the Gorge entrance, dominant male baboons fearlessly approached our picnic table, while the females with babies clinging to their bellies took a slightly more subtle approach circling around the table several metres away. Baboons are not endearing creatures by any stretch of the imagination, but during times of drought they are even more bold! (Back in May, I watched a male run fearlessly right up to a large group of people and take a Frisbee right out of a young girl’s hand.)After shooing the baboons away, our Maasai guide Jack took us through the volcanic gorge on what was supposed to be a 1-hour hike (but we took so many photos, it was much longer!) My parents were as much in awe of the high rock formations and the waterfalls warmed by volcanic activity as I was when I visited the park for the first time. They were great sports, fearlessly lowering themselves down rocks into the gorge, jumping through warm waterfalls and climbing out of the gorge up steep rock faces.The bike ride out of the park was a little trickier than the way into the park, with the wind (and therefore moon dust) and hills working against us. We were actually quite relieved when it started to rain as it was much preferable to the hot sun. By the time we got back to the camp ground at Carnelley’s after some 30 km of bicycling down bumpy roads everyone was very happy not to have to sit on a bike seat again but we all agreed it was another truly spectacular day!