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| A view of the Ngong Hills - the four distinctive hill peaks resembling knuckles of a hand. |
The Ngong township itself is a bustling and thriving hub, full of local markets, shops, many churches of all denominations, a few mosques (not many muslims live in this part of Kenya), and small, ramshackle, dilapidated homes - the poorer ones are constructed from a combination of plaster, mud and straw for their exterior walls and sticks for their rooves and the more prosperous ones are constructed of bricks for their exterior walls and corrugated iron for their rooves - they come in all shapes and sizes and repair or disrepair!
We could see, from the distance, the four distinctive summits which resemble the knuckles of a giant whose fate is the subject of several Masai legends and myths. We were to begin our trek at an altitude of 1,961 metres asl, which is the altitude of Ngong township, and walk to the highest summit of 2,460 metres asl.
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| Karen von Blitzen's house at the foot of the Ngong Hills |
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| Self explanatory! |
From her house, there's a landscape view of the Ngong Hills.
Anyway, now back to our trek. We arrived at the Kenyan Wildlife Ngong Station and left Seth to order our two guides at the office. Ray and I were enjoying the surroundings when two military guys turned up dressed in army fatigues and armed with rifles. They were our guides for the afternoon. I wanted to take a photo but they refused saying they weren't allowed and that was that!
They told us that, as part of their prerequisite training as guides for the Kenyan Wild Life Service, they had to camp out in the remote bush area for eight days, carrying a twenty kgs pack, cooking their own food and with no contact from anyone. During this time, they walked ten kilometres per day - no mean feat with a twenty kgs pack on your back! Anyway, these guides were very fit and although we were huffing and puffing, they were walking along at a leisurely pace, waiting for us intermittently. Apparently, Kenyan athletic teams train by running up these Hills daily in one hour, 45 minutes. Also, if climbers are anticipating climbing Mts Kenya or Kilamanjaro they quite often use these Hills are their pre-training exercise.
Some days they have accompanied trekkers up to the Hills twice or three times per day, averaging three hours per trip, depending on the client's fitness. Their fee was K Sh 1,500 per guide, totalling K Sh 3,000 for the two of them. To be sure, our guides probably wouldn't receive anything like this amount for our trek - probably within the region of K Sh 400 or 500 per trip. Most of our fee would go straight back into the Kenyan Wild Life Service, after deducting the guides' wages, admin costs etc. I have heard that the Kenyan Wild Life Service is mostly financed through tourists' fees. They also told us that some trekkers only reach the first peak, before retreating down the hill again.
As is often the case when trekking in high altitudes, our fast-paced start to the walk soon slowed down to a slower pace. Our hearts were pumping, thumping and jumping out of our chests. The summit of each peak was very steep and strenuous but we made it! Peak after blessed peak - I thought it would never end! A couple of the peaks were so steep that we had to hold the bush stems, branches and roots to pull ourselves up. The guides told us they thought we'd take four hours to trek to the end (because we were old!!?), but we completed it in two and a half hours. The actual distance was around eight kilometres up and down the four steep peaks.
We started our ascent on the northern end of the Hills where there were twenty or so wind turbines, and finished at the southern end at a place called "Kona Baridi", meaning cold corner. The trek itself covers the crest of the ridge and there were sheer drops either side in some parts.
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| Looking eastward towards Nairobi National Park game reserve and Nairobi City in the background |
View looking down towards the eastward side of the Hills in the foreground lies the valley of green Nairobi National Park game reserve, silhouetted by Nairobi City in the background. This side has luscious vegetation, and is very fertile farming land.
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| Looking westwards over the Great Rift Valley, Loita Hills and Tanzania in the background |
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| Masai sheep and goats - Ray felt very nostalgic looking at the sheep! |
These Hills are part of Masai land and many tribesmen can be seen shepherding their livestock over the rolling grassy slopes and dotted shrubbery in order to provide food for their animals. The plains of the Great Rift Valley are semi-arid desert and during the dry season (November to April) or in drought the livestock are bought up to greener pastures to feed. Apparently, goats and sheep look very similar but the difference is that the goats have their tails pointing upwards and sheep have their tails pointing downwards!
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| Here we are at the highest point of the Hills and I'd just commented that we should call for a helicopter to be transported down |
In this photo over, we were at the
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Masaii shepherd overseeing his flock. The view below shows the main southern road to Tanzania |
Our guides mentioned to us that they were impressed with our persistence and strength at climbing these Hills. They told us afterwards they thought we wouldn't make it this far!
We were told that we should be very careful as there are many wild animals living up here, such as buffalo, snakes and cheetahs. We were both thankful that our guides had their rifles.
In the photo you can see the Masai shepherd looking over his flock. During the dry season or in drought, the Masai herdsmen travel huge distances, sometimes walking their herds down to Tanzania, in search of feed for his animals.
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| Seth, our driver, from Swedken, taken at the beginning of our trip |
There was a long, sloping walk downward to "kona baridi" corner - cold corner - which is where our driver, Seth, was waiting for us. It was indeed very much cooler on this southern side of the Hills. The wind blew vigorously.
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| This photo of Ray was taken at the beginning of our trip. |
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| And afterwards we wobbled our way into the Rusty Nail in Karen for imbibing |
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| Coconut shell bird feeder at Rusty Nail at Karen, Kenya |
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| Beautiful gardens at Rusty Nail restaurant, Karen, Kenya |
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| Hanging flower baskets in trees, Rusty Nail restaurant in Karen, Kenya |
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| Terraced dining at Rusty Nail restaurant, Karen, Kenya |
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| More greenery at Rusty Nail restaurant, Karen, Kenya |
We returned home at around 4pm and although exhausted, weak and unable to walk, we had thoroughly enjoyed our day. Not that I could repeat the exercise tomorrow or next Sunday, for that matter!!
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| At the end of our trip, Ray has a much deserved beer at the Rusty Nail restaurant, Karen, Kenya |
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