The Sleeping Warrior

The morning of March 7, 2020 had me stoked to the core! I decided to join a group of hikers on a long awaited trip to Nakuru - one of the richest Kenyan counties when talking tourist attraction sites including but not limited to national parks, lakes - both fresh & salty, presence of hundreds of bird species, pre-historic sites and the immense Menengai Crater, to name but a few. My body, in its entirety - soul & spirit, picks up an almost out-of-body vibe anytime I get a chance to do anything involving nature. I have a thing for trees and a cool breeze, give me that over anything - anyday! Here's how the day panned out.

We left the capital an hour late and unfortunately got caught up in traffic just before we got to the Great Rift Valley viewpoint - to pay homage to the gods of the land; the one unspoken ritual travellers are known to perform on that spot just before proceeding to their destination. You cannot just drive past that place without feeling drawn towards the beauty and craftsmanship that is the Rift Valley. It's freakin' breathtaking! Being there, standing on the somehow fragile wooden steps, looking beyond the valley into the horizon make you feel like you're staring right into its creators eyes! A Viking would say Odin & Freyja did an impressive job and would toast to this by chanting 'Skol'.

After few bathroom stops we finally got to our journey's end. The folk in charge gave a short brief about the expedition ahead, some quick body stretching was done then we embarked on a trek so exciting, I'd redo it over and over. Two tour guides were assigned to us - one with the group that are forever psyched up to be at the forefront of the war and another at the back with the keen and careful lot. If you've read the part of this blog where I describe who I am, then you already know which group I joined. Our guide was so well informed it was crazy - a walking encyclopedia! The guy knew so much about the place; the hills, the lakes, the bird species & the stories behind their names! Ahhh - that is one smart man! The history class recap was awesome - especially for someone like me who loathed history classes back in the days when we were young, haha.

Just before we got to the foot of the Sleeping Warrior hill we stopped briefly at one end of Lake Elementaita, derived from the Maasai word 'Olmuteita' - 'place of dust'. Again, I'll keep saying that large water bodies and anything nature related makes me feel like I'm in the presence of a power that's above humanity. As expected, we took some photos & videos to document the moment then proceeded to the hill which was a joy to hike! I credit my not-so-consistent weekend morning runs because if it were not for them I'd not have have had enough body strength to tackle that hill. The plan was to hike both hills, Ugali hill being the 2nd but time wasn't on our side. A personal challenge through this whole experience was coming down the hill. Some would think that's crazy because coming downhill is always considered the easy part. The hill was quite steep and there were very few steady twigs to hold on to. Here's where the adventure intensified for me - I found my way out though. I'm here writing this, ain't I?

To close off the Tarzan inspired day we went 'Dufo mpararo-ring' at Kariandusi Hot Springs, a few minutes drive from Elementaita. In my mind I'd expected it to be this huge open place with a great view but on getting there my face dropped (like it's hot ...lol). The hot spring wasn't as huge and there wasn't any breathtaking view - but our bodies ached for some water loving so we jumped in regardless. Dufo mpararo slaps different when you're older, no lie. Nyama choma at Kikopey closed off our day. 

Click here to watch the video I made for this trip = WE WENT HIKING (SLEEPING WARRIOR & UGALI HILLS)

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The trip was organised by my friend Kago from Kalbo Adventures and Ted from Tedwats Expeditions Africa who did an exceptional job!