OOH weeee, all you folks who have ever been up a serious mountain, congratulations! After last week, I now know that mountain climbing is no easy task. Am still recovering from one of the longest treks Ive ever done. I also learnt that industrial boots are not equivalent to waterproof hiking boots. They are industrial boots
First things first, big thanks to my friend and tour guide David (Lastmile expeditions) and his one man army crew-Mathenge for taking us up, doing all that was necessary to ensure that we survived (cooking, organizing for camping, cooking equipment, transport and generally keeping us in high spirits. I tell you we couldnt have made it without them.
Big thanks also to Frank Omondi (finch travels) For the tent. It surely kept us safe from the buffalo that visited us at Chogoria campsite although with all our snoring, we must have managed to keep him at bay pretty much by ourselves. . . . I guess we will never know.
Have you ever heard of buffaloes opening taps to drink water? Yeah, that is what happened at Chogoria campsite. I wake up in the middle of the night to find the tap near our tent running. Thats some of us shy of sleeping in tents said that a buffalo had passed by, greeted us by mowing the lawn around our tent and proceeded to open the tap and drink to his fill. Ok, here is what happened.
And I swear it was the truth. I did not see it but I know. BELIEVE ME!
Mountains are for tough people, mind you. Never attempt to climb a big one without Consultation, planning and exercise. Despite our strength, we laid hands a few stones as some of our friends can attest. Laying of hands on mountains is the act of bending and placing your hands on a stone for resting purposes. It happens when due to heavy baggage, your back cannot rest adequately while standing straight, thus the need to bend forward (no illustrations necessary).
Another thing, since when did you ever hear of people climbing up in order to get down? can you explain that to a five year old, son we are going down so here is a col for you to climb. Well, thats Mt. Kenya for you man, check this out.
Here is how people start off climbing a mountain
Here is how they look because of climbing when going down. Note the haggard look.
And this was all before the buffalo. I tell you by the time we encountered him, we were something else. Our snoring! . . . . We rested for the last night in a tent by the bandas. Slept like babies, the buffalo came and took off, had he decided to destroy our tent, I think I would have begged him to go with the bags!
Our whole journey was marvelous, we didnt meet any wild animals on the road, though we saw elephants from afar (nice view). We had no hitches, and would consider doing this again, after a long long time. Cheers.
PS: My advice for first timers is please go slow. If youve never climbed a mountain, take your time, climb up slowly over many days, after all, mountains are very beautiful. Enjoy the hike, dont just climb a mountain for the sake of getting to the top, I mean so what you got to point Lenana and took photos, what did you learn about that mountain? Who did you meet? What did you see? Youd rather carry experiences than muscles.