HIKING THE ELEPHANT HILL

From my previous posts, (This one especially) you'll notice that I have a thing for the outdoors. Outdoors and I go way back, our love keeps getting deeper and more real. I actually set goals to go for adventures in a year, that's how serious this love is to me. In 2021 the plan is to do a major hike/adventure every two months. Elephant Hill was the first of many to come and boy, do I have a story to tell?! 

Preparations | My first trip to the Aberdare:

It just occurred to me as I'm writing this that in high school our dorms had mountain names. We had Elgon, Kilimanjaro, Kenya and Aberdare dorms and I was a proud Aberdarian. They probably had a vision that I'd one day hike it and saw it best to put me there 😎. 

After successfully hiking Mt. Longonot last year we opted for a more challenging hike and settled on Rurimeria. Now, when we went to Longonot the weather was really good to us we only complained about the dust while going round the crater. It was only right for us to then not overdress on the next hike, right? Wrong. The aberdare weather is only good when you're starting off the hike because things go from zero to 100 real quick! The altitude rises gradually as you progress, exhaustion kicks in, chances of rain (read, hailstorm) are 98.88%, etc. Those were some of the reasons why I didn't summit it. Akina Mr. Duodenum summited...this guy should be stopped!! One day I shall summit Rurimeria, mark my words!

So after that first trip to the ranges I of course went back home with lessons. I knew the Dos and Don'ts. I took my time and prepared my body (and mind) for it. One needs to be reasonably fit to hike the Elephant hill and it's wise to note at this point that this particular hike isn't a recreational hike like Ngong Hills, for example. You really have to prepare for it; from exercising, hydrating, researching about it, carrying the right snacks & water, having proper hiking gear (don't forget your gloves!), raincoat, a change of clothes, etc  

Morning of the hike | Arrival:

"... aki the plan was for you to pick us all by 4.30am and I was ready by then 😒. I don't understand why we're now leaving an hour later! Who knows, maybe the rest of the team already left us! Why can't we just always keep time (and our word?😞)..It's Elephant Hill!! Hamjaskia venye huwa tough?!.." 

That was a rehearsed series of complaints I had in my mind and was gonna dish 'em to Denno, our chauffeur for the day after he told me on phone that he'd be a little late. Fortunately, I didn't get to say any of that when he arrived for 4 reasons. 

1. While waiting I decided to take a quick nap with my phone close by for when he'd call and when he did, my usual happy spirits were back in play so none of that mattered. 
2. I'd been preparing for this since November, I wasn't gonna let anything come between me and the already built up psyche to conquer this hill😂
3. You just don't go around complaining kwa gari ya wenyewe nani! Hio si PSV bro😂
4.  He was extremely apologetic, he'd had an event the previous night and was quite exhausted. The events of the morning turned out so well for us; he made sure we got to our meeting & destination points on time. Goes to show how sometimes it's very wise to hold your thoughts and practise patience! It works out in the end. 

The Hike:

On arrival we did some kidogo stretching and off we went! Oh the excitement! All those videos of people we'd watched advising against hiking this hill tulikuwa tumetupilia mbali sana but soon after understood why they said what they said. Mby-The-Wei I don't know why they haven't given it a plural (hills) because it's a range of hills that eventually get you to the summit of the Elephant Hill, usidanganywe nani.

Some may call it just a mere hike, I am calling it an extreme test of physical & mental endurance, grit and risk taking! I have never in my entire life done something so thrilling in a weird way but also super nerve-wracking, no middle ground! This was the toughest climb I've done (yet!) 

The terrain was extremely breathtaking you guy! It's true what they say about the best views coming after a hard climb! It makes it all worth it. We started with a long, moderate 1 hour hike of about 3-3.5kms to the Starting Point. When I saw this mark some strength left my body. I couldn't believe that I hadn't started hiking!!!!! Yaaani, sijui what the people who put these up were thinking. 

We rested a bit then proceeded to the Bamboo Zone (add about 1.5kms from starting point). Ladies and gentle people, at this point I kept asking myself why I love these things. "Is this really worth it?" "Yaani Mercy unaamka tu 3am kukuja kukufia huku?", "Kuwanga serious sometimes hata weweee!" The bamboo zone bamboozled us! (😎😜) Hapo kwa bamboo hata watu hawaongei😂, people were probably thinking about the life decisions that led them there, lol. Wale tulikuwa na psyche iliisha hapo but once we got to the Point of  Despair, bruuuh kanguvu kalirudi ghafla bin vuu - you feel so proud of your small win! Stories are told of most people finishing their hike at that point but our team decided to re-write history 💪! If we die, we die! Kakaenda kue? kuenda....

Dear readers, have you once in your life made a decision to do something and while you're deep in it realize that it wasn't gonna bring the results you thought it'd bring? Like buying a Form 1 teenager a a phone in this TikTok era? The hike to the Tail of the Elephant almost made me cry a little. 😐😐Lakini mbona niwadanganye? Ati a little....karibu nilie ya ukwelo!!! 2021 tunasema ukweli 😂😂. If it were not for our kind guide, Mr. California's constant encouraging words, THAT would've been my return point. "Enda tu pole pole na pace yako, usikimbie...hatuko karibu lakini wewe endelea tu!". "Ati hatuko karibu?" Why would he even say that surely?!?! 😪😤😣 After the tail things got a little easier because the ground wasn't as elevated as the ground we'd already covered. We were snacking on the way pia so we had renewed energy. We met some hikers coming back who would congratulate us, excitedly telling us we were nearing the summit. Let me tell you Maina, when you see the summit your body just gets lighter! BREAKING NEWS - This one Kangsy summited! (See video evidence HERE on my YouTube) 😇😎

I will not talk much about descending the hill(s) nani!!!!! Usiulize kenye ilifanyika huko. Omera it rained, rain goyod us a gudu one. Pale bamboo tulifika unaingia tu ndani ya matope, trail imekuwa slippery sema kuanguka! Kuna time nilipita wasee flani sasa I was alone mbele natembea tu. Hapo nilikuwa nasema 'this is where I meet my maker!' I was trying to wait for the rest to join me but it was raining so the best option was to keep moving to get to the ones that had gone ahead of me. Hao pia ni kama walikuwa wanakimbia coz the faster I moved, the further they seemed! OJ na Kogei sijui shida yenyu huwa gani 😓😆. Ama siri ni viatu? 😂😆 Descending the Aberdare is very very tricky, I didn't like that part at all! 

Lakini lemme tell you....while up the hill, I'd said I would never attempt such a hike again, but looking back at these captured moments and memories, of course I'm gonna go baaaaaaaaack!!! Mnanijua kweli ama mnaniskianga tu? 😂😂

All in all, I am glad I did this. Showed me what my body can endure both physically and mentally. It's largely mental than physical because at some point the body refuses but your mind is still activated telling you to press on! Anywayz Bartholomew, si tupatane next advenja?