Blair, Pascale and I decided to get out of town for a couple days and we went to Lake Naivasha, which is about an hour and a half bus ride from Nairobi. What a trip! We arrived at Fisherman's Camp, which is a campsite right on the lake with a few bandas (a small hut with basic accommodation) and tents to rent. We rented a banda, went out on the dock to see the lake, and then went to the on-site restaurant/bar. We had dinner and watched the sun go down. We met some foreigners, and chatted with drinking coffee out on the patio. Velvet monkeys danced among the woven tree branches that swayed with their weight. There were many birds, which were distinguishable mostly by sound. Their calls were very unique, many sounded more like instruments than animals. Piano keys, trumpets, flutes... it was soothing to experience silence and cacophony at the same time. In the lawn, you could see hippos grazing that had come ashore under the protection of night fall. The noise they make is exotic; somewhere between a cow's moo, fog horn, and growling stomach.
The next day we went to Hell's Gate National Park for a day in the great outdoors. We got an awesome guide, Marcus, and rented bikes to ride through the park. I miss my pretty white swiss villager with baskets and a bell, and the rickety old mountain bike took some getting used to! But it was invigorating to be on a bicycle next to zebras, giraffes, gazelle, and huge rock cliffs. The scenery was gorgeous and sculpted by centuries of volcanic activity. The sand glittered with black pieces of obsidian (volcanic rock). After 8kms biking, we stopped for a picnic lunch at the top of the gorge. While we sat, a huge baboon (seriously weighted as much as I do) sauntered up to our picnic table. Our guide chased it away (apparently they are dangerous) but it approached us like we were just animals, not threatening to him in the least. Of course that is true, and all I could get out was "Stick... BABOON ... MARCUS ...STICK!"
We walked into the gorge and found ourselves between two rock faces over 60 feet high. The gorge was mostly unaltered by humans, and in some parts we had to shimmy up logs, leap, climb and contort to get through it. We had a blast. At one point where the hot springs had water running down the rocks there was a little shower of spring water. We stripped down and showered in the spring, which was the perfect temperature. Apparently the sulfur in the spring is really good for you, and we all felt a little bit younger :)
Next we climbed to the view point, which overlooked the whole gorge. And to be cheesy, it was gorge-ous. We sat there to take it all in, and then walked back to our bikes. It was a full days exercise, but felt great and was breath-taking. We got home, had dinner and a beer and fell asleep with ease.
The next morning I woke up early to see the sunrise on the lake. I jumped the electric fence (making sure there were no hippos first) and sat out on the dock with some local fisherman. The sky and water was pink and purple from the glow of the sun behind the mountains. There were flocks of pelicans costing above the water as though they were ice-skating and the water was frozen. I could hear the birds, monkeys, and hippos and got a sliver of solitude for the first time since I have been in Africa. Being on the water is so cleansing for me, and after our trip I truly felt invigorated. After spending two months battling sexism, poverty, smog, harassment, and choking back natural anger and frustration in Nairobi, this peace was priceless.
all my love,
alisa
Next we climbed to the view point, which overlooked the whole gorge. And to be cheesy, it was gorge-ous. We sat there to take it all in, and then walked back to our bikes. It was a full days exercise, but felt great and was breath-taking. We got home, had dinner and a beer and fell asleep with ease.
The next morning I woke up early to see the sunrise on the lake. I jumped the electric fence (making sure there were no hippos first) and sat out on the dock with some local fisherman. The sky and water was pink and purple from the glow of the sun behind the mountains. There were flocks of pelicans costing above the water as though they were ice-skating and the water was frozen. I could hear the birds, monkeys, and hippos and got a sliver of solitude for the first time since I have been in Africa. Being on the water is so cleansing for me, and after our trip I truly felt invigorated. After spending two months battling sexism, poverty, smog, harassment, and choking back natural anger and frustration in Nairobi, this peace was priceless.
all my love,
alisa
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