Eleven volunteers atop Mt. Longonot with some random Kenyan woman who wanted to be in our picture
October 18, 2003
All in all, there were 10 of us that camped- Steve, Deb, me, Rachel, Katrin, Cheryl, Steph, Danny, Erik, and Lynnsie. Danny is our deal maker. He was able to get us a whole matatu to ourselves. We paid double the usual price, but it was comfortable and they took us right to the park entrance so we didn't have to walk the 30 minutes from town.
The entrance fee was another expense. 700 shillings per day to enter and camp! Granted, that's less than $10.00, but definitely not in our budget. We all had to cash American money. The camping area had "huts" which were just metal buildings with cement floors. Only 2 people had tents, so 5 of us chose to sleep out under the stars. No mosquito nets, and I still got fewer bites than I get at home.
In the morning, we waited around for other volunteers to show up. Mark made it around 10:00, but we'd already started climbing by the time Luke arrived. Maybe we were stupid, maybe we were just hung over. In any case, we didn't prepare well for the hike. We each brought 1 liter of water for a grueling four hours, and Mark was the only one with food.
This was not like American hiking. No sissy switchbacks or pansy trail maintenance. At times, we walked along a ridge with steep drops on both sides. At times, we were rock climbing. And the trail down was not so much hiking as it was sliding through layers of dust. I've never seen dust like this. Katrin and I discovered we are mouth breathers, and by the end, our teeth were black. I think we're nearing the end of the short rains now, because we've had little for the last week. I'm told that by March before the long rains begin, the dust is many times worse.
The views from the top were spectacular though. You could see Lake Naivasha, a few roads here and there, and lots of farm land. Other than the acacia tree, the landscape looks a lot like the southwest.
Most of the group decided to go to Fisherman's Camp tonight. Danny, Rachel, Debbie, and I decided we'd rather head into town for a good meal. We walked 30 minutes to the road and within a few minutes hitched a ride with the Flying Dutchmen, 7 very attractive KLM pilots from Holland. They were all involved in donating money to an orphanage in the area and were here to see if their money had been well spent. They drove us all the way to town for free and even stopped to have a Tusker with us at La Belle, the expensive tourist restaurant. Debbie talked to one of them, Danny to another, and Rachel, who's just cute as a button, took care of the other 5. I was more interested in my cheeseburger!
When we got safely
out of the van, Danny said, "Hey. Thanks for not robbing us and raping
our women." Perhaps you need to be here to appreciate such black
humor. I thought it was hysterical.
