The Adventures of Mt. Suswa

On Saturday we had the opportuniy to head out to the Rift Valley with some of Kim’s friends to hike Mt. Suswa. As we drove North from Nairobi we were greated with some spectacular views from the road as the whole valley opened up before us.

The rest of the drive to the “trailhead” was pretty intense as we had to off road in a mini van through some wild back roads. It was a little bumpy and we had to employ two Masai women to help us find the right track through the bush. It felt like we were riding a bull at times but our driver Scott did a great job getting us to where we needed to go. In the end, the condition of the roads were so bad that we had to stop well short of where we needed, but we decided to give it a go anyway.

The rest of the day we spent hiking through the bush enjoying some wonderful scenary, the company of new friends, the occasional exotic animal (at least for us Oregonians) and several Masai who thought the wazungu (white people) were a little crazy and needed a guide. Overall it was a great experience even though we were well short of the summit of Mt. Suswa. It gave us the opportunity to be out, enjoy the country side and as Kim called it, have a truly Kenyan experience.