A Day Representing Kenya

Yesterday was probably the best day embodying my time in Kenya that I can describe. The day started out well as a friend and I went to hike the Ngong Hills and then were to meet up with some other people to go camping.

Ngong Hills are these large hills/small mountains that are about 45 minutes outside of Nairobi. We got an early start and met up with a friend of ours, Sam, in Ngong town after a bus ride. Instead of taking boda bodas (motorbikes) from the city to the entrance of the hills, Sam decided we should walk. So we started our hike.

It took probably 20-30 minutes for us to get from the town to the entrance, uphill. As you transition out of Ngong into the hills, the countryside becomes hilly with small homes and lined rows of crops with the occasional tree. It is beautiful.

Upon coming upon the entrance, we had to pay an entry fee and guard payment as to make sure we were ok on our hike for 1700 shillings. Some things like this would not really be necessary in the States, but are necessary here. So we continued our hike up to the top of the first hill, and it was difficult.

According Wikipedia, the base of the hills starts at 6765 and the peak of the hills is 8070. When you climb to the top of the first hill there are a number of windmills and your first good view of Masailand. Here, I got my first view of a pine tree in Kenya, and the air smelled fresh and clean, a nice transition from Nairobi.

Over the next three hours, we hiked six of the seven hills. We stopped along the way at numerous points as the hills come in succession, so you climb one and go down the other side and then have to go up the next hill. Some of the hills were particularly steep and my body was not used to the elevation.

The views were absolutely beautiful. You could see out for miles and see more small mountains in the distance. On a clear day, you can see all the way to Kilimanjaro. Unfortunately, it was too cloudy, but the hike was wonderful for my soul. There’s something about hiking that makes you feel accomplished and appreciative of the world’s beauty.

On our way down, it started to rain. At first it was not a big deal as we stopped under some trees to stay under cover until it let up. In fact, the smell of the rain was an amazing scent as we stood and watched the storm go over the rolling tropical hills. The storm let up a little and we finished our hike into the outskirts of town when it started pouring again.

We are in Kenya, and that means improvising with something random. So we stopped at this large overhang of an old house that a man, some kids and a rooster were under. They were nice enough to let us stay until it stopped raining. When the rain let up a while again, we finished our hike into town on muddy trails.

Once we got into town, I realized the problem rain has on transportation in rural Kenya. Almost all of the roads in Ngong town are made of dirt, so when it rains and the roads aren’t flat, it creates a literal small river down the middle of the road. Everything was covered in mud and I almost fell numerous times. We stopped at a little restaurant for lunch, and the rain continued, creating a bigger river down the road.

One of the advisors for my program has a campground near his home, which was where we were supposed to go camping. Sam is his brother, so he called to let us know that we were going to cancel because of the rain. After lunch, we were bummed that we could not camp, so Sam suggested that we just go out to the camp site to see what we think.

From Ngong town we had two options of transportation: boda bodas or a tuk tuk. I do not actually know what tuk tuk stands for, but I’m pretty sure it means little vehicle of death. Imagine a golf cart propped a little higher off the ground with a bit more seating and a canvas roof, and you’ve got a tuk tuk. Because the roads were muddy from the rain, we decided it would be safer to take a tuk tuk.

We left and immediately, the tuk tuk just bounced over every little bump in the road. By no means was it comfortable. One of my friends who I was with was not feeling well to begin with, and this ride did not help as we were bouncing all over.

About two minutes from the campground, the tuk tuk then slid into a ditch because of the mud and got stuck. We then spent the next 10 minutes trying to push the tuk tuk out of the ditch and get it started. After finally getting it out and pushing it to a head start, the tuk tuk started.

We then rode to the campsite to find out that everyone else who was coming later in the day decided that they were not going to come at this point. Our advisor was there waiting for us, and luckily was able to call a tuk tuk to come pick us back up. While waiting for the ride, we got to sit in on a random birthday party where we drank some soda. We were filthy and smelly from hiking sitting there with people in nice clothes.

The second tuk tuk came to pick us up, and this one was meant for three passengers. At this point, it was just my friend Liana and I, so we fit fine. However, we did not realize we would be getting so many other passengers into the tuk tuk along the way. A vehicle meant to carry four at the most was now carrying seven. Let’s just say it was a little cramped and the bumps made everything uncomfortable.

After another bumpy ride we got back into town, caught a bus, and made our way back to Nairobi.

I think this day best wraps up my Kenya experience. We do something fun, something random, something not so fun and something unexpected. Basically very little goes to plan, and you always have to be ready for something new. O what a day….