Cher

Yesterday was our first Saturday in Kenya. Tommy, Peter, and I woke up at 5:30 to begin our trip to Hell's Gate national park. Tommy's 22nd birthday is today and he wanted to go there to celebrate. In order to get there we had to take a matatu from our house to Nairobi, take a 3 hour matatu ride from Nairobi to Lake Naivasha, and then take a cab from there to Hell's gate. It was all worth it.

This was our first time being in Nairobi. Although we were only there for 20 minutes while we went to an ATM and transfered matatus, I got a pretty good feel for the city. There were many buildings, although none as tall and as big as the ones in Chicago. Many parts of the city were very nice and would not look much different from parts of Chicago. There were people everywhere. Cars seemed to drive wherever they wanted. It was hectic.

The matatu ride from Nairobi to Lake Naivasha took so long because we stopped at every town to see if people wanted to get in, and if they didnt our worker seemed to nearly push them in. At one town there was a crazy struggle involving 4 or 5 men and a women. I think the men all wanted her to take their matatus and she was very indecisive. It was strange.

The ride was full of beautiful views. We had to drive up a mountain and then back down. The weather got increasingly cold and the fog got thicker and thicker. At the top of the mountain you could look down and see the Great Rift Valley. It was incredible because you could see for literally miles and miles. Goats, Donkeys, cows, and other farm animals lined the road and every mile showed a new village with a completely different personality.

When we arrived in Lake Naivasha we got a cab right away and took it to the place we would stay. On the way we saw a nice place which we went in to look at. It was a resort that had zebras and giraffes walking around right outside your hotel room. This place was well out of our budget but it was cool enough just to see it.

The place we did stay at was called Crayfish. It was a very cool campground looking place that also had rooms with bathrooms in them. We checked in and immediately grabbed lunch as we were starving. We had sausages, lamb, chicken, and cumcumbers. It was delicious and cheap.

After eating we reserved our bikes for our ride to Hell's Gate, if you are still reading you will be glad because this is where it gets interesting. We got our bikes and headed for Hells Gate. The ride to the gate was 4km. 2 km were on a road through a village and the second 2 kms were down a sandy, rocky road. Halfway down this horrendous road my bike literally fell apart as I was riding it. I am not kidding the thing self destructed. This was our first taste of why this place is called "Hell's Gate." At this point Tommy's bike also became recognizably worthless. We walked our bike about a mile to the gate. On the way we saw some baboons climbing up the mountain about 100 yards away. It was awesome.

When we arrrived to the gate our plan was to leave the bad bikes, get new ones, and call the hotel to tell them to get their bikes. Unfortunately we did not have enough money on us because to buy two new bikes would be another 1000 shillings. Things were quickly becoming more and more horrible. haha. We had to devise a new plan.

I got a ride back to Crayfish alone while Tommy and Peter waited at the gate. I told them that their bikes crapped out on us and asked for my money back so I could go back and we could get new bikes. The manager told me he would bring me back with two new bikes. After 45 minutes I was finally in a car with some guy and 2 new bikes. I got to the gate and from here life was good.

We entered the park and I immediately felt like I was in Jurassic Park. There were clans of baboons to our right, 10 yards away, and herds of zebra to the left, 30 yards away. It was like nothing I had seen before. We continued to bike through the park and saw impala, antelope, warthogs, gazelle and cows. The landscape around us was almost as amazing as the animals.

After biking for another 5 km or so we saw the coolest thing I have ever seen, 4 giraffes on the side of the road, literally 5 yards off of the path we were biking on. Seeing them in the wild was so strange as we grow up seeing them in zoos, almost thinking of them as fictional beings beyond that setting.

We took some pictures with the giraffes and continued on.

Another 2 km later we were at the gorge. We payed a 17 year old massai kid to take us through the gorge. This was my favorite part so far. We climbed, jumped, ducked and weaved our way through a natural obstacle course. After a bit we came upon a waterfull. We also found a hot stream of water. The water was probably around 105 degrees. Then we entered a canyon area. Our guide told us this was where they filmed Tomb Raider 2. Awesome.

We climbed more and then headed back. All and all this was exhausting. The massai was hardly out of breath. The massai told us there are cheetahs and leopards in the park but they are only out at night and in the morning. It was so crazy to think we were biking through an area inhabited by those kinds of animals. Also, apparently in the existance of the park they claim that elephants have been seen "at least 3 times." The park is huge so you would have to bike forever to get far enough into it to see elephants.

The bike ride back was still beautiful but we were exhausted. We stopped a few times to walk and rest. We finally made it back after biking about 15 miles through some tough paths.

Back at the resort we had dinner which came with our room. Then we took an hour nap... We were so so tired. Our bodies were also used to us going to bed at 8 so that did not help.

We woke up at 10 and headed to a pub within the campground. At midnight we toasted to Tommy's birthday and then headed to a disco (Also within the campground).

The disco was very very cool. Locals came within the campground to go to this dico. There were probably 200 people, Tommy and I were 2 of the only 3 mizungus (white people) in the disco.

They played a lot of raggae, but also a lot of American music. The DJ made an announcement saying happy birthday to Tommy.

Dancing with Kenyans is easily the most tiring thing I have ever done. We danced for about 3 hours straight and much of it requires jumping up and down.

My favorite part of the time in the Disco was when I danced in a circle with 7 Kenyans I had met. We all put our arms around each others shoulders and danced in a circle singing Believe by Cher. I know this probably sounds ridiculous but it all happened and the crazy vision you may have in your head of me dacining with 7 Kenyans to Cher ACTUALLY happened last night. Weird and crazy things come true in Kenya.

One thing I definitely have going for me here in Kenya is my knowledge of soccer. Many people, including those I danced with immediately loved me because I knew about the players and teams from Europe.

At about 3am we went to bed beyond exhausted. We woke up today, had our breakfast and headed back to Kahawa West.

Yesterday might be the coolest day of my life. If I had to leave today I would be satisfied.

After getting home I headed here with Tommy to update our blogs and check up on our emails and such.

Tomorrow we are back to work. I am excited to go to school tomorrow, I love it there.

Have a good Sunday everyone.

-Kevin

Hells Gate National Park from google images search