Day Tripping in Nairobi - Mara posting

Our friend Madison arranged several day trip tours for us from Nairobi. He took us to Mount Longonot and Lake Navasha on Saturday.  Mount Longonot is about an hour and a half from Nairobi. After passing through the city and surrounding towns, the road drops into the rift valley. There are several lookout platforms and souvenir shops on the descent, although you may want to stay on the pavement. 

It was a cloudless day. We left Nairobi at 7:30 and started hiking around 10 (we had a few stops in Nairobi along the way).  The hike climbs steeply up to the crater rim (the sign indicate it is 8 km from the gate).  You can continue the walk around the rim, up to the summit (another 10 km round trip from the crater rim).  There are views the entire way: zebras off in the distance, the endless rift valley, Lake Navasha, and miles of glittering greenhouses (Kenya is one of the biggest rose producers in the world). 

Parts of the trail are incredibly steep and dusty, but that doesn’t seem to deter hundreds of people of all ages and dozens of Kenyan runners who breeze past, barely out of breath.  At one point, as I withered in the sun, desperately looking for shade on the descent, hundreds of school children came flying down the path at full speed, raising plumes of dust: a herd of mini wildebeasts and gazelles migrating.  There were even a few stragglers who opted to pick their way down the path instead of running (and they were still twice as fast as me!).  I would have definitely been the lion’s prey.
The entire hike took us about 4-5 hours total – sandy, dusty, and in equatorial sun – and cost $20 for nonresident park fee.  Bring LOTS of water and sunscreen! The ranger may try to convince you to hire a guide, but it is completely unnecessary.

 Hungry and thirsty, we drove half an hour to Navasha Lake and stopped at Fisherman’s Camp – a campsite underneath giant acacia trees, with an electric fence to keep the hippos out and two monkeys scheming to steal food.  We plopped down on the bar patio, as “Let’s have a party” blared on repeat.  Our blue cheese bacon mushroom burgers weren’t nearly as tasty as the name implies, but after a steep 10 mile hike, they did the trick, with the help of some Fanta, tuskers, savannah cider, and several bottles of water. 

Our adventure continued on the ride back up the rift valley. Frank, our driver suddenly showed signs of a severe vision impairment, as we bumped, swerved, braked, and passed trucks while the sun descended.  Quite a memorable day!