For $19,500 Kenyan Shillings, we got a Prada 4WD for two days. While driving to Naivasha, we stopped momentarily to take pictures at a beautiful view point. I say "momentarily" because it was a tourist stop with many merchants and we had no interest in buying anything.
Here's a shot of the shops that line the view area. Vendors aren't shy. They start heading your way as soon as you park the car.
We got to Hell's Gate and as usual, the entry fee was more at the gate then what we found online. Theresa and I weren't able to get a student discount but that didn't stop us.We say lots of people with rented bikes, which seemd like a great idea until we saw the clouds of dust they had to deal with every time cars and trucks came down the road.
I wasn't expecting to see animals, but there they were! Right by the side of the road! Zebras, buffalo, giraffes, warthogs, gazelles, and lots of fearless baboons.
Here's my friend Peter feeling brave enough to jump out of the car to be photographed.
Check out these big baboons running right alongside the road with us. Sorry the view isn't exactly great from behind...
We got to the picnic area for lunch and elected to eat our packed lunches from the car where we could be entertained by a group of women outside at a picnic table nearby. The baboons descended upon then numerous times to steal their lunch items right out of their hands. These guys were huge and came extremely close to our car.
Peter almost left to arrange a local guide for us without leaving us the keys to roll up the windows if necessary! The baboons were on top of the truck next to us in no time at all and we even witnessed the trapping of one for identification purposes. Our guide Jackson later told us that the largest animals become too dangerous and are usually destroyed to protect the visitors to the park. Sad by necessary I suppose.Hell's gate has only been a national park since the 1980s. There were Maasai living there, but they were displaced when the Kenyan government took the land and burned down all the villages. It's a terrible story. Now, community members are hired as guides which help the local people earn a little extra money from tourists.
The walk through the gorge was spectacular. It went on forever, but we didn't go in very far. There were too many scrambling parts for dear Theresa, but some day I'll come back and trek the entire gorge. You can see here that it starts out as a trickle...
...and quickly deepens into a spectacular gorge.
With so many river crossings, it was easier to walk around bare foot. The bottom of the gorge is mostly soft and silty.
We also found the most amazing hot springs. They weren't pools like back home, but more like hot waterfalls. Not too hot, just perfect. In fact, it was a lot warmer with much more water pressure than Peter's shower back in Nairobi! Here I am under the warm falls with Jackson our guide smiling in the background.
The only unfortunate aspect of the trek was a large group of disrespectful Korean kids (teens to early 20's) that were making all kinds of noise. Their behavior was really embarrassing. We stayed behind with our guide Jackson to put some space between us and them.Near the end of the walk, Theresa bought some bracelets from the Maasi women, and I got out picture taken with Jackson in front of the gate.
As we drove out, we saw many animals and striking geological features before leaving the park to find lodging.
We also so a crowd of rock climbers bravely ascending this steep rock:
Peter called his friend Magdalen from GBS to get a recommendation on lodging in the area. She recommended a place called the Lake Naivasha Country Club & Hotel where she has taken many tourists. She gave us the name of the manager she works with and Peter and I were able to negotiate a fantastic deal even though Magdalen's contact was not in.For 10,870 shillings, we shared an amazing bungalow with three beds under mosquito nets.
The price also included three meals that were served buffet style and they even packed up our lunch picnic style since we were checking out in the morning. The food was so delicious. The whole experience was such an amazing deal at one of the most beautiful places I've ever stayed for roughly $140 USD.
This place was spectacular. The acacia trees were so beautiful but you'll have to wait until tomorrow's post to see them since we arrived when it was too dark to get an acceptable photograph.We tried to get to sleep early so we could get up at dawn to see the hippos and go on a bird walk before breakfast. After all the driving, it was easy to fall asleep quickly. Here you can see Peter nearly asleep in the chair before finally dragging himself to be bed.
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