Snow in Kenya - Mount Kenya Climb

Left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot again as I stepped through ice and snow. I concentrated on not falling off the cliff to the right, or at least what I thought was a cliff. With my small head torch in the pitch black of night I could not tell if the darkness to my left was a cliff or just a huge rock. My fingers hurt from the cold, despite the snow gloves I wore. My heart pounded against my chest and my breathing was heavy as I tried to obtain the little oxygen in the air. I was wearing two socks, thermal leggings under snow pants, two jackets and a hat yet I was still cold. I found it hard to believe that I was still in Kenya.

Old Moses Lodge

Before arriving to Kenya I never expected to be walking through snow shivering from the cold. On Wednesday I began my trek to the third highest peak of Mount Kenya at 4,985 meters (16,355 ft). My group loaded into a colorful matatu (small Kenyan bus/van) and headed down a dirt road to the Sirimon trail head. We had a quick lunch and walked 9km on a dirt/paved road to Old Moses Lodge at 3,400 metres (11,155 ft). Here we ate a hearty meal of fried fish, soup, rice and veggies. We turned into our sleeping bags in the room full of bunk beds.

Fun with Lobelia telekii

Next morning we woke to walk 14 km to Shipton's Lodge at the base of the three highest Mount Kenya peaks. Along the way we crossed many bridges, became familiar with the mount kenya flora and fauna and ate butter and ham (or some unknown meat) sandwich looking over a beautiful canyon. We reached Shipton's Lodge at 4,200 meters, just as it began to hail. We enjoyed a plate of popcorn and a couple games of hearts before turning in for another cold night of sleep in a room full of bunk beds.

Shipton's Camp with Mount Kenya in the Background

We woke up on Friday for our acclimation hike. We headed up a trail to a ridge just below the tallest Mount Kenya peaks: Batian and Nelion. We watched as the clouds rolled into the valley on the other side of the ridge. Above us loomed the daunting rock faces of the two tallest peaks, which are only scalable with rock climbing equipment. We headed back for more fresh popcorn and card games. It began to snow as we sheltered in the small lodge making friends with the other hikers. We formed a small united nations as we sat and chatted with the Chilean, French, Italian, British, Canadian, and Kenyan climbers. We went to bed early knowing that the following day would be the most challenging.

Enjoying the view for breakfast

Our guide knocked on our door at 2:30 AM signalling it was time to get up and get ready to summit. We put on all our layers, turned on our headlights and started for the trail that would take us up to Peak Lenana. It was nice that we could not see more than 20 feet in front of us, it was less daunting not to see the looming mountain above us as we climbed. We concentrated on the trail under our feet stopping every hour for a short snack and pee break. We continued to climb as the earth began to brighten around us. Soon we realized how precarious the trail was. Shimmying around rock ledges, we began to scramble up boulders, climb ladders and tread through fresh snow. The peak came into view, the small Kenyan flag and wood signs marking the summit gave us a boost of energy to finish the long trail.

Our team at the Peak

We made it up just in time to watch the sun rise and transform the sky into a rainbow. After many pictures we headed down the Chogoria Trail to complete the rest of the long day ahead. The summit day consisted of a 5 km assent of over 750 meters to Peak Lenana a 3km descent to breakfast with a view of the Gorges Valley at Minto's Hut. We then proceed to Mt Kenya Bandas for dinner visiting a beautiful waterfall and stopping for many pictures of the Gorges Valley. We walked a total of 29 km from Shipton's Lodge to Mt Kenya Bandas, but the amazing views around us kept us moving closer to the end.

Minto's Hut

We spent the night in luxorious bandas with a warm shower, a wood burning stove and a small dining room. The next morning we headed down a small dirt road in a old jeep to Chogoria Town. From here we were loaded into a matatu and then a taxi for a 9 hour drive back to Eldoret for some much needed rest.

View of Gorges Valley from the trail

Overall Mount Kenya was an amazing trek. Its a little known gem of Kenya. People in our group who had hiked both Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya said that Mount Kenya was hands down a more beautiful and less touristy trek. Not to mention its almost 1/10 the price.

I would like to thank our guides, porters, and cooks from Equatorial Star Adventure Safaris who made this trip possible for a student friendly budget. Find them at www.equitorialstar.com

What to Pack:
1. Warm sleeping bag (rated to below freezing)
2. Small backpack to carry water, snacks, rain clothes, camera
3. Large backpack for the porter to carry your other equipment
4. Good waterproof hiking boots
5. Rain top and Pants or a parka
6. Thermal top and bottom
7. Fleece or light jacket
8. Warm parka or down jacket
9. Three wool socks and 1-2 sock liners
10. Hiking pants and one long sleeve and short sleeve top
11. Warm hat
12. Warm gloves - snow-gloves are the best for the top
13. Walking sticks if that's your thing
14. Snacks and two 1L water bottles
15. Powerpack for charging camera/phone (there is no power in the lodges)
16. Camera
17. Roll of toilet paper
18. Toiletries

Off Roading in Mount Elgon National Park

This weekend I visited Mount Elgon with my friend Dainel. We pack up our camping equipment in his 4 wheel drive and headed off to this beautiful Kenyan National Park in Western Kenya. 

View from inside the caves

A bit about Mount Elgon National Park. It's over 1000 square kilometers and is shared by both Uganda and Kenya. The park boasts the second highest mountain in Kenya at 14,177 ft (4,321 meters) and is home to antelope, black-and-white colobus, blue monkeys, zebras and the famous salt mining elephants. 

View from our campsite

The first day in the park Daniel and I headed to the caves where elephants walk up to 200 meters in the dark bat infested caves to mine salt. Of course Daniel and I outfitted with our head torch walked deep into Kitum Cave, the largest and most famous of the caves. I was a little nervous of the thousands of bats flying over my head, but you only live once. We headed deep into the cave looking for the salty elephants. Although no elephants were in the cave, we did find where they use their tusks to dig out the salt. I wonder what food they are flavoring with all that salt, I guess I will never find out since I did not bump into any elephants to ask.

Selfi-stick

Next Daniel and I scoped out a camping place, of course we were told to parking in the designated camping spots, but who follows rules anyways, and in Kenya they never check. We drove our 4 wheel drive up the steep muddy roads to the Endless Bluff. This 2563 m (8408 ft) boasts spectacular views of the surrounding valley, and the views really are endless. We popped out the tent on the roof of the truck, cooked our dinner on the small gas stove, sat by a small fire and turned in for a good night sleep. We woke to a spectacular view and a wonderful breakfast of french toast. 

That mountain in the back, that's Mt Elgon, I was at the top. 

Saturday morning we woke up early and headed off to climb Mount Kenya. Of course instead of taking the normal path straight up the valley we decided to follow animal tracks and our human compass skills taking the long way around the edge of the valley and up Mount Elgon. I was exhausted but very happy when I saw the sign Koitobos peak at 4,222 meters. 

At Koitoboss Peak

After a quick snack we headed back down the valley to our car. It was beautiful hiking along the crystal clear river running through the green valley covered in a colorful array of wildflowers. It was also great stepping not once but twice into hidden holes filled with muddy water. I arrived back at the truck with both my legs covered in mud, wet up to my knees, go figure. 

As we headed back to the main campsite it began to rain, which Daniel got excited about because he wanted to return home with a muddy car. We started a fire in a small banda and hug all our wet close to dry (ie my pants, socks and shoes). We made dinner and again got cozy in our pop-out rooftop tent. 

The next day we awoke to the view of a group of Defassa waterbuck and zebras grazing outside our tent. We sat eating eggs and potatos (that Daniel grew on his farm, I know he would get mad if I did not include that) as we watched the grazing animals (more like they watched us the whole time). We packed up and took a drive around the last remaining roads we had yet to travel looking for other wildlife. 

Overall Mount Elgon is definitely worth the trip, it was beautiful, not very touristy, actually we saw no one the whole time, and full of amazing views and interesting wildlife. I am looking forward to visiting again. 

About Me

My name is Adrienne, I was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area but I have always felt like I was a citizen of the world. My mother immigrated from Chile to find the American Dream, if I am that dream she found it. I studied molecular and cellular biology at University of California, Berkeley. After graduating I worked for a little over a year at an international biofuel research laboratory. I wore a crazy white coat and genetically engineered bacteria. How cool! You can say I was a little bit of a mad scientist.  At the age of 22 I quit my job and dropped everything to backpack solo around South America, India and Nepal.

It felt freeing to be alone and make my own itinerary, and mainly be spontaneous. I would take a train to a new place without a reservation for where I was going to sleep. I would walk aimlessly yet with a purpose to discover something new and interesting. I had some rough stints getting sick and almost dying in Peru and getting harassed more than anticipated. I learned to be confident, self -reliant and adaptable. I evolved so much from the person I use to be. I remember thinking of the geeky shy girl I used to be, I am still geeky but the shy has been replaced by a confident and adventurous woman.

I fell in love with traveling at the same time as I learned I was accepted to medical school. I began to merge my two passions healthcare and traveling. I spent a summer volunteering in the Sacred Valley Peru and every break I get I jump on a plane to discover someplace new, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Canada, Jordan, Israel and Netherlands. Currently I am spending one year abroad in Kenya doing HIV research with kids. I love helping were I can, and love to learn about new cultures and traditions. I love to try new foods, dance to different beats, and do anything that sounds dangerous and adventurous. With this blog I hope to inspire others to travel, volunteer and learn about what the world has to offer. To all the wanderlust people of the world keep traveling and never stop moving.

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Thank You Adrienne