Saturday, June 20, 2009

Hell’s Gate
















Near Lake Naivasha, Kenya
June 7th, 2009

I suppose it would surprise you to know that our next stop was another National Park. This time we went to Hell’s Gate, the only National Park where you are allowed to hike and cycle due to the absence of lion, elephant and rhino. It’s a stunning park filled with rocky hills and areas to go mountain climbing. It’s quite hot and humid in the area and fairly dusty. Calling our inner Indiana Jones we sported our safari hats, rented some bikes and headed off in the morning ready for adventure.

As we cycled we spotted zebra, buffalo, gazelle, baboons, and giraffe. Heading in the direction of the Lower Gorge, we arrived about an hour later. After eating our picnic lunch we opted for a guide and made our way down. It was crazy walking through the gorge. In places we had to scale the side of the gorge inching our way along by sliding our feet and clinging on to whatever ledge we could. Other places we had to climb up two metres using a strategically placed branch (later we needed to descend in the same manner). It was brilliant though and we were able to access the natural hot water springs where in areas the water is boiling (locals actually bring eggs to the water to cook them). Apparently parts of Tomb Raider II were filmed here.

After our two hour trek we hopped back onto our bikes and decided to access the gate via a different route- the Buffalo circuit. Off we went. The path started off okay, fairly level and not too rocky. This did not continue sadly. For forty five minutes we ascended, every time we thought we finally reached the highest point another turn we prove we indeed had not. Channelling our inner Kii strength we kept going, when we finally reached the top we enjoyed free cycling down whilst admiring amazing views of the nearby lake.

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