Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Hell's Gate National Park

Yesterday we took a family trip to Hell's Gate which is a national park that's about 2 hours away from Nairobi by car and lies on the edge of lake Naivasha. I have always wanted to visit this national park so it was really special that I got to do it with my family and we had so much fun! there was an option to drive around the park or ride bikes but we opted to drive because the park is pretty big and it was hot and dusty, not a good combination. Entrance fee for Kenyan adults was Kshs. 300 ($3) and non citizens $26..........yeah! that is quite a difference.

Even though we were in a car we would stop at certain spots and get out to admire the scenery and take photos. We saw zebras, buffalos, baboons and gazelles which were all pretty harmless but of course we had to maintain a respectful distance because at the end of the day you are within their territory so you don't want to get too close and pose a threat that would elicit some sort of reaction.

We also got an opportunity to do some hiking which was so much fun albeit tiring but none of us was complaining because the scenery was too breathtaking. We had to get a guide to hike around the gorges because they advice to go with someone who knows their way around and in case of any accident they would be able to get you help as soon as possible, our guide was this really sweet older guy who was telling us the history of the land and made us appreciate our surroundings even more. 





Family........nothing quite like it.


Mummy dearest, she was a trooper throughout the hiking and you should have seen how energetic she was, even my husband was impressed. 





We came across a herd of buffalos and I had to take a picture before they freaked and stampeded away. Turns out its mating season so when a male would see a female it would run toward her and this would cause the rest of the herd to also run thinking there was danger because of the sudden movement.


That's it folks! at the end of our hike we had some lunch that we had brought with us then headed back to Nairobi. It was an all day trip and by the time we got to Nairobi it was around 9 pm, we had started our trip in the morning. Today is my last day in Nairobi before flying out, this trip has by far been my best trip of the year and I will definitely make more effort in visiting home more often.

Random Thoughts of The Day:

Kenya has so many natural resources and is full of potential, it's been so inspiring to see the entrepreneurship of people my age. This trip has really motivated me.

I always make a checklist of things I want to see or do during a trip and I am glad I got to check off so many things that were on my Kenya "to do list." It's not my last time here anyway so I will have another opportunity to finish items on that list and do even more.

It's funny how you take things for granted until much later when you realize what you had. There are so many things I took for granted when living in Kenya and its only when I left that I realized what I had been missing out on. 

I am glad that my husband really likes Kenya, during this trip I made sure I showed him many different places and exposed him to a lot of things so he can have several perspectives of the country. There is still a lot more that remains to be seen but at least with what he saw and experienced he got to really appreciate the country and the culture. There is always that stereotypical image that the west portrays of Africa as a whole so unless one travels and has an open mind, they have a very narrow and skewed vision of all African countries. That narrow minded and condescending narrative is very annoying but what I can do on my part is educate those around me, the impact may not be big but it's better than nothing.







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