The day before heading out on our 6 day Mt. Kenya trip, we left the comfort and quiet of the Rock House and decided to check into something a bit closer to the city center. Luckily, the Classic Guest House lived up to it’s slogan of, “A home away from home.” Complete with furniture and decor straight out of the 80‘s, the Classic ended up being super comfortable and a bargain at the same time. As much as I’d like to take the credit for finding the place, the tour company that we booked the trip with, Sana Highland Trekking, actually recommended the place to us. In terms of what to expect from this company, this simple guesthouse recommendation gave us confidence in our choice, but in the end turned out to be one of the few highlights.
When we first met with Sana, they were very professional and very thorough in going over all the details regarding the trip. After about an hour, we had no issues in booking with them. We were excited! However, we booked the climb prior to heading out on our amazing IntoAfrica safari. After that week, we were secretly doubting our choice to cheap out on the Mount Kenya excursion. (Sana was significantly less expensive than doing the climb through IntoAfrica) Now, it’s not that we weren’t still keeping an open mind regarding Sana, but I think both Jen and I were wondering if there was any way this company could compare. It probably didn’t help things when just before we left the Rock House, Patrick, the director of IntoAfrica in Kenya, gave us a “warning” of sorts regarding Sana. He said that in the past, their reputation had not been the best and to be wary of our guide changing promised arrangements once away from the office. Although we tried to pass this off as simple “trash talking” the competition, it did worry us a little. But after a good night’s sleep and a hearty breakfast at the Classic, we starting to feel good regarding our choice once again. (Although seeing our big 6’3 driver stand idle while Jen and I loaded our many bags into the jeep did start me worrying again, but I digress).
Day One
We met our guide Dancan (pronounced “Duncan”) at the Sana office and just as quickly as we met we were off to find our ride to Nanyuki. (We were actually happy to have Dancan as our guide, as we’d read great comments about him in the evaluation forms they showed us the day we’d booked.) I say “find our ride” because unlike our previous tour where all of our transportation was provided by the company (I know, I have to let it go and move on), we were going to rely on taking the matatus, public mini-buses that only leave when they’re full. (This was fine of course, as we had expected the trip to be a bit more “budget”.) After about an hour and a half of waiting and numerous attempts of stuffing what I’m sure was a car windshield at our feet, we were off. Although I could barely feel my ass cheeks after the 4 hour ride, the trip was fairly uneventful and we arrived at our stop for the night. Nanyuki has a few things going for it in terms of tourism; it’s the jumping point for the Sirimon route on Mt. Kenya (Sirimon was our route up, Chogoria our route down.), it’s at around 2,000 plus meters above sea level so most people stay the night to acclimatize, and it happens to be situated right on the equator. I’ll spare the “exciting” details of straddling the equator but check out our photo gallery for the obligatory photos.
Having arrived in Nanyuki around midday, we had plenty of time to check out the town. Unfortunately, all the extra time also provided Dancan with ample opportunities to show us his sketchy side. Now, it’s not that he wasn’t a nice guy. In fact, our first impression of him was very good. But as the day unfolded we could see why Patrick warned us to be on guard. One of the main reasons we decided to go with Sana is because they don’t pair up random people together for the fact that different people hike at different paces, react differently to high altitudes, etc. The last thing that Jen and I wanted was to feel rushed on the mountain. As we sat in the courtyard of our guesthouse drinking some tea, Dancan came by and said that one of his friends was dropping by and that he was also a guide. “Okay”, I think I said. Then as he was walking away, he muttered something about his friend bringing a couple of customers with him. At this point, we’re still trying to give him the benefit of the doubt. We both figured that we’d be “buddying” up of sorts with this other guide and his group for meals, etc. No big deal. Well, as it turns out Dancan’s “friend” was not a guide. In fact, he was bringing this additional pair to join our tour. Although it was a bit awkward, we quickly and firmly squashed that idea. The worst part was having to watch the two people show up and listen as Dancan’s friend explained that we didn’t want them to join us. Oh well, we thought, it’s a big mountain and we’ll probably never see them again . . . (Actually, they did find another guide and we saw them everyday of the trip.)
Day Two
That night, in the hotel in Nanyuki, I didn’t have a very good sleep. Maybe it was the excitement of starting the trip. Or maybe, just maybe, it was the persistent bass-thumping coming from a nearby bar till the wee hours of the morning, which was followed very shortly by sunrise “call to prayer” from the nearby mosque. I’m not quite sure, but thankfully for me, the first day on the mountain would be an easy one. The actual trekking didn’t start until around noon. At around 11am or so, after seeing the very exciting equator sign, we took off from our guesthouse and headed to Sirimon Gate. It was here that we met the rest of our crew. In addition to Dancan, we would be joined by the super friendly Simon, a porter, our amazing cook James, and Kate, Dancan’s sister who would be the second porter (We had actually met Kate briefly the day earlier). Because Kate is much smaller than Dancan, and any other person functioning as a porter, the arrangement was to be that she’d carry Dancan’s small bag, and he would carry Jen’s. No problem, as we understood his urge to give Kate the work. (I think at this point Jen was happy as long as she didn’t have to carry it.) After some quick rearranging of gear, we set off for Old Moses Camp where we’d spend the first night. The 3 hour trek was a steady, gradual ascent and we arrived at camp with plenty of daylight to spare.
At around 3,200 meters elevation, Old Moses Camp was pretty much what we expected. Housed in essentially a large wooden shack, there were 5 separate rooms each with 6 sets of bunk-beds, meaning at capacity, the camp could sleep around 60 trekkers. Luckily for us, the place was not even close to being full because while you could definitely sleep that many, there was nowhere even close to enough tables and chairs in the dining area. As a bonus, Jen and I actually had our own room that night. Although our guide told us that the first day was going to be relatively easy, both Jen and I were feeling pretty content with ourselves and excited for the days to come as we had our “afternoon tea” at camp. (Yep, English “afternoon tea” everyday, even on the mountain. Did I mention our cook was fabulous?) Going into something like this, we’d had no idea what to expect. I mean, the two of us have both done our share of hiking in the Rockies back home, but for some reason, I was feeling a bit intimidated about the whole thing. Anyways, after the first day I realized a few things.
First off, I knew that we would be fine in terms of the hiking. Secondly, although mostly out of our control, I realized that in terms of packing we were very ill equipped for the conditions. Before arriving in Kenya, we knew that trekking on Mt Kenya would be cold and potentially very wet. However, coming from Thailand we’d had very few options in terms of cold-weather gear. (And there was no way that we were going to carry all that warm clothing around for 6 months, even if we had “planned” enough to realize we’d need it). Ignoring the fact that we’ve been in 30+ degrees weather for the last half-year, we figured we were Canadians and if there’s one thing that we’re good at, it’s living in the cold weather. Our plan was simple. Where others would rely on appropriate gear such as 0 to -20 C sleeping bags or down jackets, we would rely on layers. Many, many layers. The first night at Old Moses, we put the plan in action. That night I wore 2 long-sleeve shirts, 4 t-shirts, underwear, leggings, shorts, a tuque, and two pairs of socks. Jen wore pretty much the same. Shockingly, we were still a bit cold. Not a good sign considering that it was only going to get colder as we gained altitude, but at this point we figured we still had fleeces and some additional shirts to add to the mix.
Thirdly, I realized just how lucky I was that Simon was the one carrying my bag. Ever since we began researching the trip, we knew that we wouldn’t be carrying our own bags. Perfect we thought. What luxury! What never crossed our mind was that our bags would essentially be like sponges, soaking up the sweat of our porters. For Jen’s bag, this was quite evident. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that we weren’t appreciative of our guides and porters. I mean, here they are carrying our 15 kg bags (well, hopefully they were a little lighter, but that is the regulation max weight) of clothes, food, etc. up a mountain for us. Of course, we would normally never complain or even notice the fact that they were sweating on our bags. The problem is that when, even before you start to climb you notice someone has a fairly strong body odor, you know that your bag is in trouble. I could see the writing on the wall about half way up the trail as Dancan was sweating up a storm and Jen’s bag was started to show definitive sweat stains. As we reached camp, Jen gave me a look that made me realize she also noticed her bag becoming two-toned. Inside our room and out of the fresh air, we finally got a whiff of the damage. The smell can best be described as simply, “unhealthy”. For all of you who know Jen, you can imagine how she felt about this.
Day Three
Despite the cold and some plumbing issues (the camp’s, not mine), we both ended up having decent sleeps at Old Moses. After packing up our stuff and eating a hearty breakfast (I kind of still miss James . . .), we were ready to tackle the full day of hiking that would take us from Old Moses to Shipton camp. Although I’m not sure of the distance, the trek to Shipton would be our longest on the way up, about 9 hours, and maybe the most scenic. The best way to describe the trail is a series of smaller ups and downs that eventually bring you to Mackinder’s valley, the biggest on Mt Kenya. Reaching Mackinder’s at about noon, the traverse from this point on is where the majority of the 1000 meters of elevation would be gained. It also provided us with our first clear glimpse of the ultimate goal. At 4985 meters, Point Lenana was finally visible and it was an amazing sight. (Check out the photo gallery to see what I mean).
We arrived at Shipton’s around 4:30 and while we weren’t exhausted, we definitely were glad to be done for the day. Shipton’s camp sat at just under 4200 meters of elevation and in terms of amenities, it was pretty much the same as the previous night’s camp except for one thing, the view. Sitting on wooden benches and enjoying a hot cup of tea, we had a front row seat to Point Lenana and the twin peaks of Batian (5199m) & Nelion (5188m). (Lenana, while not the highest peak on Mt Kenya, is the highest peak accessible without technical climbing.) Our schedule was to spend two nights at Shipton, with the extra day being used to acclimatize ourselves before attempting the summit. In addition to providing the best chance for trekkers to reach the peak, the extra day gives people the option to hike the summit circuit. When this extra day was originally sold to us, the lady at the Sana office talked of the circuit as if it were a leisurely stroll which provided some additional gorgeous views of the mountain. We were keen to do it. I guess we shouldn’t have been too surprised when Dancan approached us and asked us if we wanted to skip the circuit and instead summit the next day. This would knock a day off our time on the mountain, which we had of course already paid for. His reasoning was that he didn’t think we could do the circuit and have enough strength left over to reach the peak. (Thanks for the encouraging confidence . . .)
I don’t know much about being a mountain trekking guide and all, but I would think that it’s not too common to repeatedly tell your clients that you don’t think they can make it. I mean, I would understand his concerns if Jen and I were the slowest of all the groups and were incessantly asking him, “Are we there yet?”, but honestly this was not the case. I’m not trying to toot my own horn, but despite being the last group to leave the Old Moses camp (Dancan slept in), we ended up being the second group to reach Shipton and not once did we complain about the difficulty of the trail. For this reason, both Jen and I were skeptical of Dancan’s “concerns”. I hate that my instinct was not to trust him, but he hadn’t exactly proven to consistently have our best interests at heart. We declined his offer and decided to stick to the schedule.
That night, we definitely felt the difference in temperature at the higher altitude and as such, decided that we needed to add some additional layers from the previous night. I’ve been carrying around a fleece for the last 6 months and hadn’t found one opportunity to use it. I’d even thought of sending it home a couple of times but at this moment I was happy to have it. Looking like a couple dressed in those inflatable sumo costumes at halloween, Jen and I got into our sleeping bags and went to sleep. For me though, tried to sleep would be more accurate. After a tiring day, we were both exhausted and went to bed at around 9:00 pm. While I did manage to fall asleep initially, I woke up after what I thought was a long, deep sleep. I was shocked when I looked at my ipod and saw that it was only 11:30pm. From that point on, I really started to feel the cold and was in and out of sleep for the rest of the night. It didn’t help that some of the groups sharing our room were waking up at 2:30 a.m. in order to reach the peak before sunrise, something we would be doing the following day.
Day Four
The second it hit 6:30 a.m. on my ipod, our wake up time for the day, I rolled over and immediately started making noises in the hopes of waking up Jen. Just enough noise to wake her up gently but not so much that it would appear I was waking her up intentionally. (I have become expert at this in the past months to avoid the wrath of “morning Jen” . . .) At this point, I’d been up for almost 3 hours and was so bored and cold that I couldn’t wait to get out of bed and hopefully warm up, and of course, I wanted her to join me. This day it didn’t take much to wake Jen as it turns out she had a fairly restless sleep as well. With the usual hot tea and warm porridge, both Jen and I warmed up quite nicely and after finishing breakfast we were ready for the day.
We started off around 8 am that morning and this time, because we were spending two nights at this camp, we didn’t need anything but our day packs. As such, James and Kate took a well deserved day off, but Simon decided to join in on the hike. At this point, Jen and I hadn’t really noticed any effects from the altitude and seeing that we were already at 4,200 meters, we didn’t think it would be an issue going forward. Well, within the first 30 minutes of the hike, we finally started to realize just how thin the air was. For the remainder of the first uphill of the day, we were taking quite a few breaks to catch our breaths. As the day went on though, we both started to acclimatize and soon we were feeling pretty good. The circuit is essentially a series of ups and downs that takes you around the peaks of Mt Kenya. From the onset, we could see that not only was the trail very scenic, but at the same time it was fairly challenging. (Dancan had been accurate about that . . . oops) After a few hours, Dancan finally explained to us why he had suggested the change in itinerary. Although we had already hiked about 5 km, to do the full circuit would be an additional 21 km! With some fairly significant inclines and declines. YIKES! So, knowing that we really didn’t have it in us, we listened to the alternatives. One option was going back the way we came, which didn’t really appeal to us, or we could take a “shortcut”. Perhaps we should have listened to his advice initially . . .
Maybe something was lost in translation, but I would never classify the hike that followed as a “shortcut”. As Dancan explained it to us, we would continue on with the circuit trail for about another hour or two and then instead of continuing on around the peak, we would go over Point Lenana. Sounds great. Wait a second. Did you say that the shortcut consists of going over the peak? So much for using the extra day to acclimatize. But really, what choice did we have? Arriving at the “Austrian Hut” (about 100m below Pt. Lenana) pretty much on schedule, we stopped for a short lunch break before heading to the top. In addition to being a fairly steep climb, the way to the top was a cold and windy affair. I have to admit, there were some pretty sketchy sections that had me concerned, where a simple misstep would mean sliding down a cliff, but we continued on and eventually made it to Point Lenana. Being the late afternoon, the peak was covered in clouds so other than the Kenyan flag marking the point, we really couldn’t see much else. Still, we were proud of ourselves. We had done it! We had reached our goal, and a day early.
Returning back to camp, Jen and I were feeling pretty good. Yeah, we didn’t complete the summit circuit, but we had a full day of hiking and reached the top as a bonus. Enjoying our late afternoon tea, there wasn’t much that could spoil the moment, although Dancan definitely gave it his best shot. When Dancan arrived at our table, we were expecting to go over the logistics of tomorrow’s climb. We were pretty shocked when once again he tried to change the plan by suggesting that we skip the sunrise climb, which was to provide the gorgeous views meant to make all this effort worthwhile, and instead simply start our descent. His reasoning, once again, was that he didn’t think we had it in us to reach the peak twice in one trip, let alone two days in a row. Granted that he might have been right in suggesting we not complete the summit circuit, there is simply no way that we were not going to do the sunrise summit. I mean, other than hiking Mt Kenya itself, catching the sunrise on the peak was one of the main reasons for doing the trek at all. Suffice it say, we once again kindly declined his suggestion and we made a plan to set off at 3:00 a.m. the next day.
If you think I’m being overly harsh on Dancan, what happened next finalized our conclusions regarding the type of guy he was. While we were discussing the plan for tomorrow, one of the other guides said something to Dancan which he apparently did not appreciate. After a heated discussion (they were speaking Swahili, but you can tell when an argument is going on in any language) and some finger pointing, Dancan pushed the other guide from behind and then threw a wild looping punch that missed badly. Before the rest of the camp knew what was going on, tables and chairs were flying all over and Dancan was on his back still swinging wildly. Fortunately, some of the other guides and porters jumped in and broke up the fight. It was actually quite funny, especially when word got out to the other hikers that it was our guide that started the brawl. The whole thing was ridiculous. The ridiculousness was especially evident when Dancan explained to us the incident started because the other guide wanted to serve his own guests tea at the table where we were sitting. In order to prevent a fist fight, I think we would have moved to another table. Maybe.
Later on, once calmed down, Dancan asked us not to mention his temper flare up in our comments to Sana, and could we also not tell any of the other guides or porters his “English” name! The guides and porters use their Swahili names with each other so the others didn’t know him as Duncan. However, the name “Dancan” would be the only way to identify him to his company, should the others want to snitch. Fist-fighting in front of clients on the mountain is certainly cause for dismissal. However, while we didn’t really appreciate the drama, we didn’t have the heart to decline his request. Especially since we also knew that Dancan’s dismissal would mean James’s, Kate’s, and Simon’s as well. I guess that is where all of those other “great” comments we’d read in the office came from as well. Guilt.
Day Five
Having already experienced a couple of cold and sleepless nights, Jen and I knew that we had to have a decent sleep if we were to be ready for the hike the next day. In addition to reaching the summit, we also had to make our way down to Chogoria Gate, which sits at around 3000 meters. The last day of hiking would be a tough one. Heading off to bed at around 8:30 that evening, Jen and I proceeded to put on basically everything in our packs. Honestly, in terms of clothing, all that remained in our backpacks was our extra underwear. We figured that not only would this approach keep us warm at night, it was essentially what we’d be wearing on our hike so we could literally roll out of bed and start the day. Normally, waking up at 2:30 in the morning to go hiking in the dark, and in -10 degree weather, would be at the bottom of my “to do” list. It turned out to be one of the most enjoyable hiking experiences of my life.
Stepping out of the camp at 3 that morning, it was darker outside than I thought it would be. Even with our flashlights and headlamps on, the path continuously surprised us with its varying terrain. In addition, the cold was more of a factor than Jen and I had expected it would be. At about the midway point, the wind started to bite and for the first time in about 7 months, Jen and I remembered what Calgary winters felt like. The cold wasn’t so much an issue as long as we kept moving. The problem was that we were actually making such good time that we had to break for longer and longer periods to avoid reaching the summit prior to sunrise, at which point we would feel the cold even more. Hiking at night, you pretty much keep your eyes fixed on the light and your next couple of steps, so the breaks were nice in that they were an opportunity for us to check out the view. For the first couple of hours, seeing nothing but the stars was absolutely amazing. In all my life, I’ve never seen so many in the sky. The Orion constellation, which I love to find whenever I look up at a night sky, was the biggest I’ve ever seen it. It’s a shame that we couldn’t take any photographs but I know I’ll never forgot what we saw that early morning.
As we got closer and closer to the summit, the sky started to brighten and soon we were able to move around with just the light off the horizon. Despite the strong winds, the increasing presence of the sun was making the journey warmer by the minute. When we finally reached Point Lenana, we saw what we had missed out on the previous day. With a clear sky, the rising sun lit up the surrounding peaks and valleys perfectly and it was absolutely stunning. After taking in the scenery and snapping a few (ok, many) photographs, the adrenaline that kept us going in the cold soon wore off. As such, we started our descent. It wasn’t until an hour or so into the trek down that I started to feel my legs.
By the time we reached our lunching spot, both Jen and I were completely bagged. It didn’t help that we were wearing all those layers of clothing and that the sun was now blaring hot, but regardless, I think the previous days hikes were finally catching up to us. After lunch, the hike became even more painful because, with a mere 7 km to go, it started to pour. By the time we reached our campsite at Chogoria Gate, which would be where Jen and I would share our first tenting experience together, we were absolutely soaked. Let’s just say that we’re hoping our second tent experience will be a more comfortable affair.
After another tasty and massive dinner provided by James (consisting of soup, bread spaghetti bolognese, and fruit - we ate like kings the entire trip), we set about getting ourselves ready for the night. Knowing that at 2950m we would still be feeling the chill, we asked the crew if we could dry a couple of items, particularly my fleece, over their fire. It was also an excuse to join them sitting near the fire where they’d been cooking. It’s warmth was beckoning us, even though “campfires” are not technically allowed in the park. As we chatted and waited for the smoke to dry out our stuff, the crew were preparing their own evening meal; Ugali (corn flower mixed with boiling water and cooked until it becomes sponge-like) and green vegetables which they had picked nearby. A completely tasteless and very basic meal, especially in comparison with the lavish feasts Jen and I had been devouring for the past 5 days. Suddenly we had more understanding for Dancan, who we felt had been doing his best to increase his revenues and decrease his costs here and there throughout the trip. We had naively assumed that the crew were eating, at least in part, what we were eating, as this had been the case with IntoAfrica. I guess the realization that this was obviously not the case highlighted for us one of the reasons why the Sana excursion was so much cheaper. Obviously these guys weren’t being paid a sufficient amount by Sana to justify incurring any extra expense on their own meals. It was fortunate for us, and for the crew of course, that we came to this realization prior to doling out everybody’s tips the next day.
Day Six
The next day, the plan was to reach Chogoria town where we would take a matatu back to Nairobi. We had two options. We could either hike the 20+km distance or hop into an overcrowded Land Cruiser for a ridiculous $25 per person. In this case, it was money well spent since after hiking in the rain the previous day, I had developed two of the worst blisters I’ve ever had. The thought of hiking even a few meters was enough to make me cringe. Arriving in town, we had plenty of time to enjoy a farewell tea with our crew. This consisted of us handing out each person’s tip, and them running off to compare amounts and then discussing it amongst themselves in Swahili in front of us. Um, guys, we can tell what you are doing! In the end, and despite Dancan’s unprofessionalism, we really enjoyed our crew. Simon and James were by far our favorites. (Accordingly, we tipped them a bit more, hence all the discussion.)
Anyways, after saying our goodbyes to the crew, we boarded a Matatu with Dancan. Arriving back in Nairobi, all Jen and I wanted was to use a proper bathroom (all the camps on the mountain had western style toilets, but unfortunately no toilet seats . . . ), take a hot shower (did I forget to mention that we hadn’t showered in nearly six days?), and have a good sleep. Unfortunately for us, our personal hygiene would have to take a backseat for at least another day. Instead of booking the nicest hotel we could find (which we should have done), we had already pre-purchased tickets for an overnight bus that would take us to the East coast of Kenya and the town of Mombasa. Hopefully for our fellow passengers the windows on the bus open up . . .
For photos of of this and all of our adventures, go to http://gallery.me.com/adamschen
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