Mt Kenya. Returned
I think it is time to continue with my Mt Kenya story. But I am going to take a detour and talk about the last time I was there. You see this wasn't my first attempt at Mt Kenya, I'd tried about a year and a half before when I was in Kenya on holiday. Beware, this story contains bitter and unresolved feelings towards a certain Old Bat.
I'd come on holiday to Kenya for 3 weeks and I wanted to do everything including climbing the mountain. This meant we had little time. So we set off in the Range Rover, we were heading for our friend's house who works on a farm at the bottom of the mountain. We were in plenty of time to be there by dark and things were going swimmingly. I was feeling pretty pleased with everything, I'd spent the day before mending the fuel tank of the Range Rover with fiber glass and so I was feeling pretty clever that it was working. (never try to weld a fuel tank-fiber glass is so much better). Well we were nearly there when, quelle surprise, the bitch just stopped. We got under the bonnet, played with what I know know to be the fuel filter and we were off again... till the next hill. Surfice to say that this continued for the next 2 days. We'd go along happily for a little bit, come to a hill and nearly get to the top, I'd jump out and try to push it to the top so we could continue but generally we just stopped.
We had a lovely time in Nanuki eventually buying a hose pipe and fitting that between the fuel tank and the engine and then the damn thing went without problem. 2 days late. We had 1 day left before we had to be back in Nairobi so we decided to have a wee stroll up the mountain. We thought we'd drive to the first hut, have a bit of a climb the next day then go back to Nairobi for tea and medals (or baths). We were at the gate at about 5 in the evening and raring to go. The gate man decided that the Range Rover could get up to the hut despite the fact that the road was so bad. So we set off. We saw an elephant on our way up which was my first ever. We saw where eles had dug away at the banks on either side of the road to eat the salt in the earth. In general it was a fabulous evening, the views were stunning and it was so exciting.
We were going well but slowly the going was getting more difficult. Then we got stuck. This was were I first learned about digging a car out of mud. I've done it so many times in the snow, but that is simple, remove the snow from under and around the car and off you go. Mud doesn't shift like snow and it is far more of a menace. We didn't get the car out that night, it was bloody cold and dark. We cooked our curry in the back of the car, threw everything into the front, put the seats down and slept there.
In the morning it was all a bit simpler. With the aid of the light we were able to find the right branches, stones etc and get out. We left the car slightly further down the hill on a more solid bit and went for our walk taking our sandwiches. It really is a nice stroll, the first bit of the mountain, it's not too steep, the path is good, the air clear, fresh and cool. There are exotic birds and plants, and going up to the first hut you go through jungle type stuff and then on to more rocky terrain so there is plenty to look at
.
We dandered slowly up past the hut on to the weather station where we thought we'd have our picnic then ponder down again. The weather hut had a nice bit where we could sit and admire the view and so we took it easy for a while.
Now, we'd come for a nice day stroll, bringing only what we needed so we were a little unprepared for the hail storm that greeted us as we started down. We'd gone down a little way, the weather station was above us and the hut beneath and after trying unsucessfully to shelter under a knee-high bush, we legged it down. We'd of course come in shorts and tee shirts with no other clothes. It was a fairly long sprint down but we made it to the hut, drenched, shivering and laughing. There were some angels in the hut who were very surprised to see us but who handed out chocolate.
The problem was that the weather seemed to be settling in and we were in a good state to get hyperthermia really very quickly. So we set off again. I don't know but I seem to have sprinted down nearly as many mountains as I have climbed. It was again a long, slippery chilly sprint, I don't think my trainers were ever the same again. We did make it to the car though and the Old Bat took us down the mountain and back to Nairobi without mishap. I do have one word of praise for the Old Bissom, the gear box has no covering and so you've got your own little aga, not great on a hot day but occasionally perfect.
I'd come on holiday to Kenya for 3 weeks and I wanted to do everything including climbing the mountain. This meant we had little time. So we set off in the Range Rover, we were heading for our friend's house who works on a farm at the bottom of the mountain. We were in plenty of time to be there by dark and things were going swimmingly. I was feeling pretty pleased with everything, I'd spent the day before mending the fuel tank of the Range Rover with fiber glass and so I was feeling pretty clever that it was working. (never try to weld a fuel tank-fiber glass is so much better). Well we were nearly there when, quelle surprise, the bitch just stopped. We got under the bonnet, played with what I know know to be the fuel filter and we were off again... till the next hill. Surfice to say that this continued for the next 2 days. We'd go along happily for a little bit, come to a hill and nearly get to the top, I'd jump out and try to push it to the top so we could continue but generally we just stopped.
We had a lovely time in Nanuki eventually buying a hose pipe and fitting that between the fuel tank and the engine and then the damn thing went without problem. 2 days late. We had 1 day left before we had to be back in Nairobi so we decided to have a wee stroll up the mountain. We thought we'd drive to the first hut, have a bit of a climb the next day then go back to Nairobi for tea and medals (or baths). We were at the gate at about 5 in the evening and raring to go. The gate man decided that the Range Rover could get up to the hut despite the fact that the road was so bad. So we set off. We saw an elephant on our way up which was my first ever. We saw where eles had dug away at the banks on either side of the road to eat the salt in the earth. In general it was a fabulous evening, the views were stunning and it was so exciting.
We were going well but slowly the going was getting more difficult. Then we got stuck. This was were I first learned about digging a car out of mud. I've done it so many times in the snow, but that is simple, remove the snow from under and around the car and off you go. Mud doesn't shift like snow and it is far more of a menace. We didn't get the car out that night, it was bloody cold and dark. We cooked our curry in the back of the car, threw everything into the front, put the seats down and slept there.
In the morning it was all a bit simpler. With the aid of the light we were able to find the right branches, stones etc and get out. We left the car slightly further down the hill on a more solid bit and went for our walk taking our sandwiches. It really is a nice stroll, the first bit of the mountain, it's not too steep, the path is good, the air clear, fresh and cool. There are exotic birds and plants, and going up to the first hut you go through jungle type stuff and then on to more rocky terrain so there is plenty to look at
.
We dandered slowly up past the hut on to the weather station where we thought we'd have our picnic then ponder down again. The weather hut had a nice bit where we could sit and admire the view and so we took it easy for a while.
Now, we'd come for a nice day stroll, bringing only what we needed so we were a little unprepared for the hail storm that greeted us as we started down. We'd gone down a little way, the weather station was above us and the hut beneath and after trying unsucessfully to shelter under a knee-high bush, we legged it down. We'd of course come in shorts and tee shirts with no other clothes. It was a fairly long sprint down but we made it to the hut, drenched, shivering and laughing. There were some angels in the hut who were very surprised to see us but who handed out chocolate.
The problem was that the weather seemed to be settling in and we were in a good state to get hyperthermia really very quickly. So we set off again. I don't know but I seem to have sprinted down nearly as many mountains as I have climbed. It was again a long, slippery chilly sprint, I don't think my trainers were ever the same again. We did make it to the car though and the Old Bat took us down the mountain and back to Nairobi without mishap. I do have one word of praise for the Old Bissom, the gear box has no covering and so you've got your own little aga, not great on a hot day but occasionally perfect.
posted by Joanna @ 10:32 am
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home