2007 – AN AFRICAN EPIC

Hinckley Ramblers Jean Davies and Tony Negus embarked on an African adventure holiday, to celebrate Tony's 70th birthday.  Arriving in Kenya at Nairobi airport, they met the other 5 members of the British party, Kikuyu guide Elijah, driver Samuel and Patrick the cook, and the rest of the African crew who would look after them for the next 17 days.

The first two days were spent on game drives in the Maasai Mara, staying in a tented camp at Mara Springs in the Sekanini valley, where they saw lion, elephant, hyena, zebra, rhino, buffalo, giraffe, and a huge variety of exotic birds.

The next four days were spent camping in Maasai villages, meeting local people, and learning about the culture of these proud, independent people. Escorted by Maasai guides,  resplendent in their colourful blankets, carrying spears and clubs, they walked from camp to camp, learning about traditional herbs and medicinal plants, and traditional skills such as how to make fires, and throw spears.

One evening they saw traditional dances, while another was spent bathing in hot mud pools.  They felt very safe at night, knowing that their Maasai "askari," or guards, were sitting round the campfire, to frighten off any wild animals which ventured near.

A drive along dusty, potholed roads took them to a camp at Lake Naivasha, well known for its resident hippos.  Early on Christmas morning, they set off on a stiff five hour climb to the summit of  Mt. Longonot, one of the many freestanding volcanoes in the Rift Valley.  Reaching the top, they circled the jagged  rim, peering down into the crater, where fumaroles sent up wisps of steam, before heading down through dusty, volcanic ash. 

Droppings and spoor showed that buffalo, leopard and hyena had all passed along their route, but they descended safely without any problems.

A Christmas afternoon boat trip on Lake Naivasha gave them spectacular sightings of hippos, pelicans, little egrets, sacred ibis, pied kingfishers and bushbuck, before they returned to camp for dinner.  A special meal, wine and cake, all eaten on the veranda of a thatched rondavel, surrounded by the sounds of the African bush, made this a Christmas to remember for Jean and Tony.

Boxing Day saw the group travelling along the hot dusty Mombasa Highway, to cross the Equator near the spectacular Thompson Falls, for two days of relaxation and comparative luxury at the Mountain Rock Hotel, on the lower slopes of Mt. Kenya, its grounds alive with monkeys, birds, butterflies and beautiful tropical plants.  Here they walked in the rainforest to see the caves where the Mau Mau hid in the 1950's, and to learn about the fascinating medicinal plants of the jungle.  They picked twigs from the "toothbrush tree," fraying the ends to clean their teeth, and testing the leaves of a bush which has deodorant properties.

Next day, they headed for the Simiron Gate, to start their ascent of Mount Kenya.

Trekking permits, porters, equipment, all had to be organised before they set off, climbing steadily through dense rainforest, then bamboo forest and giant heathers, emerging onto high, open moorland.  The temperature dropped rapidly as they settled into their first hut, basic accommodation for climbers of all nationalities.  Next day's tough route took them up through the beautiful Mackinder Valley, with vegetation dwindling as they climbed, until they reached a surreal rocky landscape of mosses, lichens and giant groundsel and lobelia, unique to the high mountains of Africa.  Two days at Shipton's Camp, with this strange, almost lunar atmosphere, allowed them to acclimatise at 4, 236m., while they enjoyed some good walking and easy scrambles below the summit glaciers.

An early night, then 2.30 a.m on New Year's Eve saw Jean and Tony outside the hut, shivering in the bitterly cold, frosty starlight, with the rest of the group. 

Their head torches picked out the rocky route, as they set off, towards the summit. Plodding slowly upwards, icy rock crunching below their feet, hour after hour through the darkness, gasping for breath in the thin air, until at last the sky began to lighten, and they could make out the forbidding rocky cliffs below the summit.

A short, tough scramble, which took their last reserves of energy, then they emerged on the rocky outcrop of Point Lenana, at 4985m.  They had made it!

The sun rose over the horizon, as they sat enthralled in this icy, forbidding place.  The climbers peaks of Bation and Nelion loomed over them, as they enjoyed stunning views over the African plains far below.  Snow sparkled on the distant summit of    Mt. Kilimanjaro, and the slightly lower Mt. Meru, two more of this chain of Rift Valley  volcanoes. 

Reluctantly leaving this fascinating scene, they started the long, two day trek via the Chogoria route, down the other side of the mountain, through the spectacular Gorges valley with its waterfalls and chasms, to reach the Mount Kenya bandas by the exit gate, where they would spend their last night on the mountain. 

Here they would meet their vehicle, and return to civilisation. A short visit to a giraffe sanctuary then they left Nairobi, with a wealth of memories, and some stunning photographs.

A wonderful and exhilarating start to Tony's 71st year.

Written by Wendy Martin.