Mt. Kenya pt. 1

It comes as no surprise to learn that the local Kikuyu community regard Mt. Kenya as the home of their God. They say "During ancient creation days, a dense cloud stood over the land as Ngai (the divider of the universe) descended to earth and made his dwelling upon the snow-capped peaks of Mt. Kenya." After having spent 5 days exploring the magnificence and beauty of this mountain I can easily understand why the Kikuyu hold it in such awe; and although I didn't find God up on Pt. Lenana (5000m high) I couldn't think of a more perfect place to make a divine dwelling. The variety of landscape and wildlife to be seen on this mountain defies believe; jungles, bamboo forests, heaths, moorlands, valleys, rock cliffs, beautiful lakes that perfectly mirror their surroundings when looked upon from any angle, and gorges reminiscent of the Grand Canyon are just a few examples of the terrain that can be encountered on this mountain. I experienced perhaps every emotion possible on this trek from awe at the mountainous features, elation at reaching the summit, anger at my camera being stolen and fear at a Mt. Kenyan Viper slithering just past my exposed shins... but more on that later on.

Since arriving at Olonana back in April I already had it in mind to scale the mountain and I was determined to see it come to fruition. After receiving permission to undertake this adventure I immediately set about trying to organize it. Fortunately luck was again on my side because a former free-lance guide at Mt. Kenya just so happens to be the head guide at Olonana. And so with his contacts and knowledge of the area, Abdul took it upon himself to organize the trip for me and he did a fantastic job.

On Saturday 11th June I bade a brief farewell to the workers at Olonana (since I was to return the next week) and set off for Nairobi to be picked up by Abdul and the A&K offices. As soon as he arrived we flagged down a Matatu that was traveling direct to Nanyuki, the town from which my hike would start. But before the trip even started I was already fearing a swift end because the heavens opened up and vomited an obscene amount of rain so dense that you couldn't see further than 5 meters in front of you. Normally I would have sat back and admired such a dramatic weather performance but when the driver is speeding at 60 kph and dodging cars at the last second whilst trying to avoid the rivers that were forming on the side of the motorway, it becomes difficult to think of anything apart from all those things that you promise yourself to do if you come out of the ordeal alive. After 40 minutes my knuckles had returned to their normal colour and the rain had cleared up in time to see the faint outline of the base of Mt. Kenya. The summit however was nowhere to be seen and if there's one thing that annoyed me on the trek it was stupid clouds ruining the spectacular landscape. Most of the time the summit remained elusively hidden from view. Thankful to be alive, we arrived in Nanyuki to meet my guide, Nicholas, who would prove himself to be indispensable to me and the chef, Francis, the name of which I took to be a good sign.

On the 12th my hike began at Sirimon gate 2650m above sea-level with the sun shining for a change. From the gate we followed the track as it winds uphill through the forest which becomes heath land after about 3 hrs, stopping on the way at the equator line to have some lunch at the exact mid-point of the Earth. Sadly the forest hid all of the game animals that were be seen on the mountain which included: elephants, leopards, antelope, zebras, and buffalo. But no matter... I'd already seen plenty of them beforehand. By mid-afternoon we had reached our first base to spend the night. It was the polar opposite of the luxury provided at Olonana; no heating, poorly made beds and dormitories that fit about 10 people. But at least it was a roof to sleep under and it would have been fine except that I had chosen to climb the mountain on the same day as an army of boisterous 13 year-old school children who were there on a trip... trying to sleep while 30 boys and girls were screaming about who fancies one-another and who kissed who was not a highlight of the trip. The next day Nicholas and I woke up early to avoid the mass exodus of school children, and we were greeted with our first breathtaking view of the distant summit as it stood proudly above us. With renewed vigour we set off on the 27 km ascent up to Shipton camp at 4200m above sea-level. The terrain was mainly grassy moorlands but as we climbed we reached some spectacular valleys that afforded tremendous views of the forests and towns that surround the mountain. Just after lunch-time, however, I had my first bit of really bad luck. Having been distracted after taking another photo I accidentally left the expensive camera that my mum had placed in my care next to the path-way and walked on (my fault, I know). But barely 3 minutes later after having discovered the camera's absence I quickly jogged back expecting to find it where I had left it, passing 7 porters along the way all of whom had said that they had not seen the camera. Needless to say the camera had disappeared at which point feelings of despair, anger, and frustration raged through me. After Nicholas and I had searched for 2 hours we came to the conclusion that one of the porters we had crossed must have lied and stolen it. With this knowledge Nicholas was determined to expose the culprit and was fully confident that the camera will be returned. I, on the other hand, was already trying to work out how best to tell my mum that her camera had been stolen. Needless to say this put a huge downer on the rest of the day, but at least I had my own small digital camera to take pictures with so at least I could still have photos of the experience. Having arrived last at Shipton's camp Nicholas immediately set about his investigation whilst I took some solice in gazing at the alien-like summit that was now looming directly over our heads.