we were alloted four days this past weekend to prepare for our independent study project. obviously, I was not all interested in preparing to do research or work, so I opted to go hiking instead. I talked ceaselessly about it for a good two weeks and finally had a few other students convinced that instead of work we should get lost in a national park.
I'd read about Mt. Elgon National Park, which hosts the second highest peak in Kenya (second to Mt. Kenya) and yet receives next to none of the human traffic. we took a bus from nairobi to kitale (near the ugandan border) which they predict takes six hours and invariably takes nine. you do get to see some beautiful country though. we drove across the equator and saw the rift valley. the rift valley escarpment is really something else. so we arrived late in kitale and didn't have time to make the park before night feel. we found the shadiest hotel we could, the bongo lodge. we asked the reception guy about the best way to get to the park in the morning and he said he'd look into it for us. we went and had dinner (they had nothing on the menu, because they never do, why they have menus is beyond me...) and when we arrived back at our room two men claiming to be from KWS (kenya wildlife service) were waiting for us. they invited themselves into our room and proceeded to bombard us with information. it was helpful and yet insanely creepy. after navigating through the information and piecing together what we could use they left and we passed out, five people in two double beds.
the next morning we took a taxi to the gate of the national park. mt. elgon national park clearly receives very few visitors. they seemed surprised to see us. we paid our park fews and declined a guide/ranger. according to everything I've read, and the signs posted at the park entrance a ranger (with crazy giant elephant shotgun) is mandatory. UNLESS you sign your life away at the gate, which we happily did. five american students in a foreign national park, with crazy animals and none of the right gear ... what could possibly go wrong? right?
prior to this trip I'd tried to go to the mountain club of kenya to get advice on the trip. but of course they are only open one night a week, after dark and unless I take a taxi I can't leave my house after dark because its too dangerous. so it's not like I tried to do this hike blindly, its just kind of the way it turned out. anyways, we bought some really terrible maps (the official maps look like a toddler drew them) at the entrance and sort of hoped for the best.
so the first day we hiked probably twenty miles. I'm not sure my fellow hikers were prepared for how hard I wanted to push, haha, but I wanted to see everything and we only had a few days. but they were troopers. we made it almost all the way to the end of the 4WD road. oh yeah, turns out you can drive all the way to back of the park if you have your own vehicle which cuts out like two days of walking. so when everything I read said a two day trip, turns out they meant if you drive almost the entire way. but that's just not how I do things, driving shmiving, plus I don't have a car here.
we hiked until dusk, around 5:30 (we started at around 9:30) and got the tents up just as it started to rain. I should also mention we bought tent at the kenyan equivalent of walmart for $26 each. it was completely up in the air wether or not they would be waterproof or windproof at all. luckily they turned out to be pretty rainproof (we brought tarps as well, just in case.) the first night we camped around 9,000 ft. it was cold as hell! a sleeping pad would have been lovely, but we didn't freeze. we used the tarps to catch rain water for drinking. in the middle of the night john got up to use the bathroom and swore he saw eyes in the darkness staring at him (he claimed they were 5 inches apart.) needless to say between the eyes in the darkness and cold none of us slept very well.
the second day of hiking we made it the road's end and began to climb up towards Lower Elgon and Mt. Koitoboss. we hiked through brush, on what I'm convinced was a game trail (the hoof marks gave it away) and through an obscene amount of mud. my feet were soaked. we stopped for lunch, my guess is 2,000 ft. from the summit, and the weather started coming in fast. stupid elevation. it makes the going slow and the weather unpredictable. as we were up around 12,000 ft. and it looked like rain and we were tired and we wanted time to get down and find a camp we opted not to summit. I was definitely bummed. when we arrived back at the end of the road rain and fog had completely engulfed the summit but also our lunch spot. definitely made a good choice in turning around. it would have been miserable and dangerous up there.
it wasn't raining lower on the slopes so we opted to hike out a ways before camping. we passed out first night's camp and continued on. we had a good camping spot in mind that we'd seen the day before. but as we neared our desired spot the trail was thrashed. there were giant gashes in the forest and mud everywhere. huge trails led through the bamboo forest. and there were giant piles of dung. oh yeah, and the biggest footprints I've ever seen. we'd been commenting the whole way how much this place reminded us of jurassic park. this really felt like it. only instead of looking out for t-rex we were looking out for elephants. FREAKING ELEPHANTS!
mt. elgon national park used to be known for elephants. they were poached heavily and roughly 400 remain but people in kitale and at the park entrance (and my guidebook) said they were rarely sighted. of course, the wreckage was everywhere so we were wary. we turned a corner and I looked down into the valley below and there was a giant brown mass ... pulled out the binocs (thanks Dad!) and low and behold ... ELEPHANT! right there, in the wild, staring straight up at us. this was of course maybe the greatest thing ever to happen. except that now we couldn't camp anywhere near there and had to keep walking ... and we were exhausted. poor lindsay, she had at least 12 blisters. but we powered on until there was no more elephant wreckage and then we pushed further just to be sure.
we camped the second night it what can ONLY be described as middle earth. it was the most amazing old growth forest, moss, and lush vegetation. it was so beautiful. we had a illegal mini-fire and slept like rocks.
on our last day in the park we hiked out most of the way to the most amazing caves I've ever seen. they were so badass! one is known to have elephants in it at night carving the walls with their tusks looking for salt. the second has a waterfall in front and is amazingly picturesque.
after that we stumbled out of the park and taxied out to kitale.
it was one of the best trips ever! everything worked out so well. we had enough water (thank you rain and water filters) and food (although if I never see peanut butter again it'll be too soon) and the tents held up. everyone powered through with the help of lots of Ibuprofen. we saw elephants, black and white colobus monkeys, baboons, blue monkeys, bushbucks, waterbucks, duikers, giants senecios, bats and so much other amazing stuff!
thanks to lindsay, greta, denis and john for coming along and being such good sports, blisters, rain, animals and all!
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