Ngong Hills Hike #MtKenyaChallenge2017

Ngong hills

The last preparatory hike was Ngong hills now we were ready to take on the #MtKenyaChallenge2017 and the team had already firmed up. This was going to be a laid back affair since Ngong ni hapa tu…

As usual our meeting time was 5.30 so that we leave at 6.00am. I was in town about quarter to six and meet other members who were ready for the challenge. It looks like it might rain and Nnena our newest gang member needs to get a few items for the day that will be. Some random guy passes by with his rain cover, Brian the Magician swings into action and starts chatting him up to convince him to sell his rain cover since we’d be out there in the wild and Nnena would need one talk of team cohesion… The guy is adamant and refuses, it was a nice shot though, Nnena is in luck as Duncan has pochos and she gets sorted.

Everyone is finally assembled and Yvonne is not yet here, on calling her she is still at home, at 6.00!! Now it is playing delaying tactics to see how much time can be bought but long story short she caught up :-).

We get to Ngong town about 7.30 am and wait for Rachel who was to link up with us there. After refilling a second time with breakfast we start our hike. We get some armed escort for the hike and after warming up where Jeremy pulls an unforgettable toe stand move I should get a camera with quicker shutter speed to get some of these moments…

It is all foggy and you could not see more than a few metres ahead of you. I would hear lots of noises only to be told they were windmills. On getting closer is when you got to see them but with the fog that was there you could not paint a proper picture. What I liked about the Ngong hills was that there were so many people who were there hiking and especially older mature coupes, how beautiful is that? When you are probably in your sixties you take the love of your life out there to take a walk as you try to keep fit, life does not sync more than that does it?

Ngong hills has this amazing view that cuts across Kajiado and Narok Counties when the mist clears up you want to keep going round to take it all in and register those memories. One thing you get to notice is that it is very windy. And not just any wind, strong winds that will blow sand into your face that you actually feel pain, it is like someone stinging you with toothpicks, aha, this then explains why even Kengen decided to put up the wind powered generators.

The view coming down

Some clean energy here…

We have our lunch and get briefed about what to expect during the #MtKenyaChallenge2017. Thereafter we have a session of Zumba with Beatrice and Maryanne leading the team. People got turnt like real turnt, this team has just reached new levels of team cohesion… You can see the bush zumba video below. The #MtKenyaChallenge2017 continued….

 

The Ngong hills are absolutely amazing #Hiking #MtKenyaChallenge2017

A post shared by Mackel Tisa (@mackel9) on Apr 10, 2017 at 5:13am PDT

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There is a pot of gold at the end of every rainbow, and yours truly was searching for that pot… #MtKenyaChallenge2017 #xtrymadventures

A post shared by Mackel Tisa (@mackel9) on Apr 10, 2017 at 5:22am PDT

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Karura Forest #MtKenyaChallenge2017

After my first hike on Kiima Kiu in preparation for the #MtKenyaChallenge2017 I realized I was a mess. Let me take you back a bit, I don’t know if I mentioned this, but the real motivation behind hiking was, because, iwastiredoffatshaming, “you have grown so big”, “you should be having a family at this size” gosh is this you Kel?” “Naona maisha inakupeleka poa”… Something had to give and it had to be the fat. What I needed now was to do something I had never done before to shed weight like I had never shed before. It had become apparent what I used to do before was not taking me anywhere especially since I did not want to divorce some simple pleasures of my life like my daily dose of chapatti…  So I join the weight watchers club with my main activity being hiking at least once a month.

 

2017 we are dropping it like it’s hot. Maybe a potato; chips! Operation make the buckle visible again!

A post shared by Mackel Tisa (@mackel9) on Feb 26, 2017 at 9:13pm PST

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On top of nearing 90 kilos here I was not able to maneuver a small hill without panting like a donkey. I had got fed up of the mandatory wardrobe changes every four months. As we were coming back to Nairobi Yvonne mentioned Karura, I had heard about it but never had it occurred to me I should try it, so this time I jumped in on the idea. It was quite some distance from where I live but they say nothing easy comes easy right? Saturday and Sunday mornings would find me there either cycling or running my ass the longest track I could find. The bicycles provided me with the flexibility to change my route and take as many detours as opposed to running, you feel like you will drop dead when you thought you had finished your circuit only to realize you are on the Limuru gate and you need to get out of Kiambu road one, that is a cool 8km.

The struggle is real fam…. At least the moobs stopped vibrating as I run, that is good yes?

A post shared by Mackel Tisa (@mackel9) on Mar 4, 2017 at 1:28am PST

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So Sensei @b_kimtai is this good enough? Or with that time I should have done 40kms? Haha

A post shared by Mackel Tisa (@mackel9) on Mar 5, 2017 at 12:23am PST

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The magic started happening and I would take to my instagram page to brag about it. I am proud to say from nearing nineties at the beginning of the year, I managed to hit the seventies in three months and still get my chapos, I know I know had I dumped gluten I would have lost even more, but for now, I will have my cake and eat it. Each weekend the circuit felt easier and easier, I would push so hard that my knees would start squirming. In my mind this was only a sign I was getting ready for #MtKenyaChallenge2017 but only time would tell. At that point and time I needed to start working on a better method of running and landing to avoid more injury…

 

Another week another kilo. 28km done, 2 km short of target them I plateau….

A post shared by Mackel Tisa (@mackel9) on Mar 12, 2017 at 12:51am PST

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Elephant Hill Hike #MtKenyaChallenge2017

The #MtKenyaChallenge2017 started to take shape after Nathan and Kenton Hills, people start evaluating whether climbing Mt Kenya is something they want to pursue or let go, Elephant hill was what was going to tell you if your body was ready for a thrashing. I confirm the second time, after all I promised myself to take up on all challenges and take up all opportunities that pass my way this year. It is better to look back and say you tried something and it didn’t work out than think how you were too scared to even try, comfort zone is an ass…

Elephant Hill
Photo credits: @mackel9

The Mountain Gear Checklist is provided to all of us who were interested, and boy oh boy when I went to Nairobi Sportshouse it was costing a small fortune, my friend and colleague, Chris would joke I did not need to break a bank, I needed two banks to get all the gear! I created wishlists which I would cross out whenever I got cash. The beauty of Xtrym is they informed us where to get gear at affordable rates. For the frugal like me we were given Gikomba and Toi market options. We had a Gikomba date and I hopped in on the first call, last minute purchases have left me high and dry before and I would rather have enough time to weigh my options, I know you are seeing the planner in me STOP. In Gikomba we spent half day there and got much of our gear at 1/8 of the price, it was unbelievable. I got most of my gear and whatever remained was a few items that I could get from Chris of Tembo wear or Toi. Before I forget, if you do not know what to look for, Chris is your guy, he has everything you need under one roof.

Elephant hill stands at 3600m above sea level and this was what would tell you if you were ready or not for the #MtKenyaChallenge2017. Here is where you would get to dance with altitude sickness, the stories we were told were just scary. So we needed to have atleast our shoes and rainproof gear ready for this one.

The meeting time was 5.30am so I assumed we would leave at 6.00am in the morning as always, as my boss always says assumption makes an ass of you and me haha. I assumed bad. I had stayed up until 2 am which was not an excuse so when I leave the house at that 5.30 I get a call 15 minutes later from Duncan asking me where I am, I tell him Muthaiga he says I should have been there at 5.30am, utawachwa Kel tu. I laugh a nervous laugh because I have been stranded several times but on different and unrelated occasions. Anyway I make it 5 minutes to six on the nick of time just as the bus was about to leave. I board and find my seat next to Brian the Magician (I will explain this on a later post). As we talk he realizes I got late because I cannot leave the house without breakfast, he remembers he had packed his and shares his juice, free food fam fee food we don’t say no to free food, the coffee in my stomach has not settled and I add on that juice on top…

I fall asleep on our way to elephant hill, so to this day I cannot for the life of me tell you what direction it was. We arrive at the foot of the hill at around 8am, we had been given a target to make sure we summit the hill by 2pm. I have been praying hard for no rain for inasmuch I have the gear I do not find the idea of walking around drenched in mud very enticing.

The hill looks like an elephant and we are told that it is located on the migratory path for elephants and other wild animals and they had passed through about a week before we got there. We start at the rainforest which is pretty easy to walk through, next we go to bamboo where the steep climb begins. Geography classes come alive as we go alive as we cover more distance going up. We had been told that if we could not be able to make it to the point of despair by noon we would have to come back. The thought alone of not being able to finish was painful so I huffed and puffed panting like an overloaded donkey on that hill. The Flora changes beautifully the higher you go, I am in total awe and every so often I would stop look around and take it all in. It felt like therapy.

At approx 3300m asl at Elephant Hill. Beautiful panorama ey?
Photo credits: mackel9

Altitude sickness starts to hit at around 3300m asl Ivy gets affected and Dedan help out with her bags, we struggle slowly and finally we make to the summit of elephant hill, 3600m asl. It is 1.30pm and we take many pictures smiling which make Duncan mad, he feels we have cheated, the gods of favorable weather seem to be on our side and he wonders how, he wants a repeat, repeat HA! Never ever! Ask Floyd Mayweather if he would accept a repeat with Manny Pacquiao after he beat him… Not going to happen.

We have our lunch snacks and begin our descend, the toes bear the brunt of steep hill, they keep bumping the front of the shoe you just want to sit remove the shoes and throw them  away. I mean there were high school girls who we meet going up barefoot!!! Others were wearing bata ngomas. How do they manage that with those?!!! I have nothing but much respect for them.

When we get to the edge of the bamboo Ivy realizes she has dropped her phone. We stop and James our guide asks if we can go and start looking for it. I am beat but if she says yes we are going. She thinks for a moment and thinks through the hustle and decides it is too much work it can stay. Miriam offers her a phone until she gets hers as long as we don’t have to go back up. That is how gruesome the climb was. Luckily we meet Tsuma who works at KWS and he assures us that we would get it, since the hill is well secured.  With that assurance we continue our way down. Many a times Olive and I would wonder if we were on the right path because we never seemed to be getting back to the bus. After many many minutes maybe hours we got to the bus. Someone called Tsuma and told us that the schoolgirls we had met going up barefoot had found Ivy’s phone, what better news than that?

Elephant hill was real. Tick tock :-))))

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We begin our journey back to Nairobi, I sleep most of the way, I hope I was not farting in my sleep, we had been told burping and farting help you alleviate altitude sickness, so you should not hold it in. We get to Nairobi some minutes to Seven, it was a good day. Third preparatory hike, check, the #MtKenyaChallenge2017 continued…

 

 

Nathan and Kenton Hills Hike #MtKenyaChallenge2017

After Kiima Kiu I realized my fitness levels were pathetic and Karura forest became my friend every Saturday and Sunday, this was not going to be an option if I was to complete the #mtkenyachallenge2017. I would try to hit a minimum of 8km either cycling or running. Let me tell you every week I would shed a kilo or more, I was dropping weight like it was hot… haha.

The second preparatory hike would be the Kenton and Nathan hills, these are named after the early settlers in the Kijabe area. We are picked up early in the morning, Duncan the CEO of Xtrym has become synonymous with “The bus leaves with or without you” so I do not try my owlish habits the night before hikes…

Nathan Hills Photo credits: Ruskin Onyambu

We pick up other hikers along the way and head on our way to Kenton. We get a small break at the escarpments and get to take pictures with all smiley faces ‘the calm before the storm moments’. Our trip starts just before you get to Maai mahiu and boy oh boy is that hill steep.

I am wearing leather boots because in my head I am thinking they should be able to do the job, that’s what boots are for right? Wrong! Anyway I will tell you about them later. Our initial climb is gradual, since I know how crappy my fitness level is I am at peace sweeping guys from the back. The hill after the SGR gets very steep and thorny and just as you think you are about to get to the top you encounter another steep climb! The #MtKenyaChallenge2017 is not for the faint hearted, clearly!

SGR Railwayline, Kijabe. Photo credits: Ruskin Onyambu

This time I am already well acquainted with how Xtrym hikes go, and they do call for grit and resilience and in my head I have decided before I give up I would need to have fainted and totally immobile. I have fainted once when I skipped breakfast and lunch a long time ago and since that day I hardly play around with food, especially breakfast, let me get there late but I am not missing that, do not dare judge me!

We finally manage to get to the top of Nathan hill and we start to descend to start our ascend on Kenton hill, we meet a couple who have come to paraglide. The Wind seems strong enough to sustain a flight, we joke with them how they are crazy jumping off a cliff with that contraption, they retort how we are the crazy ones walking the whole day when you can fly and have all the view in 15 minutes *laughter*. We wish each other well and head on our way.

Going down the hill that is when I start bearing the brunt of my misplaced shoes. I curse myself for being so silly but then again, since choices have consequences I decide to carry my cross without bitching and whining about it. I don’t take “I told you so” very well…

We pass by Kijabe Mission Hospital and boy wouldn’t I love to work in such a serene environment, if I could make peace with needles I would become a doctor and find how I could get posted here. There are huge quarters with big windows on the balcony and living room which I presume must belong to guys working in the hospital.

Right after Kijabe town we begin a climb that takes us to our lunch point. When I have finished gobbling my snacks I pull my socks and fold them under my soles to get more padding. I can feel blisters forming and I don’t want them to start forming because at the end of the day I know I will get them.

The view is very scenic as we proceed the hike, we meet this old guy:

Him: Habari yenu?

Us: Mzuri sana!

Him: Mnaenda wapi?

Us: Tuko hike tunatembea

Him: Kutoka wapi?

Us: Kutoka huko Nathan hio barabara ya Narok sasa tunaenda huko ile pande ingine ya highway

Him: Na si mmechoka sana, mmekula? Kujeni mpewe ngwaci mpate nguvu kidogo.

Us: Asante sana, labda ile wakati ingine kama hatuna haraka. Bakia salama

Him: Pia nyinyi muende salama na muje kutusalimia tena.

Further up we meet a group of five to eight year olds, who look excited to see us and greet every single one of us. People out of Nairobi are really friendly, you need to reset your Nairobiness when you go out there, people are more trusting and friendly, which I find very refreshing every single time I go on a hike. The last climb must have been on a 70⁰ incline. I would take five steps then rest up, the residents would pass us and tell us how they are used to the hill by now, I think to myself how fit they must be. If I lived here and forgot something say like my wallet in the house which was down that hill, there would be no way I would go back for it, I would have to pass by Njoro’s shop and ask for a soft loan till I retrieve my wallet.

When we finish the climb my legs are screaming but then again the ego tells my mouth to shut up! The remaining part before we get to the bus is fairly level ground and I am thankful for that. We finish earlier than usual and I get home when there is still light. When I remove my shoes I swear never to wear the wrong shoe for a hike, I was a fool so that you can learn. Wear the appropriate shoes for the appropriate occasion… The #MountKenyaChallenge2017 continued…