HELLS GATE NATIONAL PARK IS HEAVENLY

We were up, breakfasted and on the road by 8.15am.

We were heading to Lake Naivasha today.  This morning was going to be a highlight for Tess, who her favorite animal was a hippo, and we were going to do a hippo cruise before lunch.  The drive was an easy one taking around 1 hour and 20 minutes from Nakuru to the hippo place at Lake Naivasha.  We arrived into a camp site that had an Intrepid overland truck leaving, bringing back some overlanding memories of the past, and where my love for Africa actually started, on an Intrepid Overland trip.  I have come to understand, that anywhere that is located on the shores of Lake Naivasha, is just beautiful. 

I have done three hippo cruises in the past, all from different spots along Lake Naivasha, and I was lucky enough that this cruise was a birthday present from the Elkins.  I had an issue with the price to start, knowing what had been paid in the past.  I know the canoe shaped boat can fit 7 people, and I know that the boats run for 7,000KSH (70USD), so I was a bit shocked that they wanted to charge 30USD for each adult and 15USD each for the kids making a total of 120USD.  I mentioned my concern about the cost, and a suddenly the kids were travelling free, which ‘looked’ like a saving, and I guess there is an agent commission to be paid as we were with a tour company, but man, you have to watch out for these things ALL the time. 

The boats are motorized and looked a lot like the boats that we used when I was in the Amazon a few years ago, a cross between a canoe-but a larger version where we could sit two abreast.  We were handed life jackets (which mine fit for the first time) as we boarded/climbed into the boat and with a push off and the start of the motor we were on our way.  The weather was perfect and not a cloud in the sky!  You need to remember sunscreen, sunglasses and hats on days like this in Kenya, especially on the water.  A cruise in the morning is the best time to go before it gets too hot, even when we were out there at 10am; the sun had a kick to it already! 

Lake Naivasha is a freshwater lake in Kenya, outside the town of Naivasha. It is part of the Great Rift Valley and the name derives from the local Maasai name meaning "rough water" because of the sudden storms which can arise on the lake.  Lake Naivasha is at the highest elevation of the Kenyan Rift valley at 1,890 meters with a surface area of 139 km², and is surrounded by a swamp which covers an area of 64 square km, but this can vary largely depending on rainfall.  The lake has an average depth of 6m with the deepest area being at Crescent Island, at a maximum depth of 30m. 

The lake is home to a variety of types of wildlife including over 400 different species of birds, including kingfishers, fish eagles, pelicans and lots of other birds including a sizeable population of hippos. The fish community in the lake has been highly variable over time, influenced by changes in climate, fishing effort and the introduction of invasive species. The most recent shift in the fish population followed the accidental introduction of common carp in 2001.  Nine years later, in 2010, common carp accounted for over 90% of the mass of fish caught in the lake.  Between 1937 and 1950 the lake was used as a landing place for flying boats on the Imperial Airways passenger and mail route from Southampton in Britain to South Africa. It linked Kisumu and Nairobi. Joy Adamson, the author of Born Free, lived on the shores of the lake in the mid-1960s. On the shores of the lake is the Djinn Palace, which gained notoriety in the Happy Valley days between the two world wars.

The lake lived up to its reputation with birdlife and there were bazillion white and black necked cormorants during the whole cruise.  We were also lucky enough to see a herd of hippos’ straight up along the edge of the lake.  The very first time I did the cruise there was a chick that had told a story where hippos were inclined to swim up to boats and bump them so that we all fall out and then they chomp us to death.  As they are herbivores, it is not to eat us, but they are known as the most dangerous animal in Africa, even more so than the lion.  I thought it wise not to mention this story to Shelly and the girls during the cruise.  We motored on the lake looking at more of the birdlife nesting on the dead trees , massive pelicans that were on the edges of the lake and we saw a few more herds of hippos totalling around 40 hippos for the day and one happy Tessie.  Our driver tried twice to rustle up some fish eagles.  I have seen this before, when the boat driver pulled out an actual fish and started waving it over his head in the air.  After throwing the fish in the water, he grabbed another one in the hope that the eagles would then fly and scoop the fish from the water where it had been thrown, but both pairs were not interested today, which is shame as it makes a pretty impressive photo.  You can easily spend the best part of a day exploring these extensive grounds while listening to the shrill cry of the Fish Eagle and the snorts of the hippos that live in the lake.  We saw zebra, giraffe and water bucks on the shoreline as well completing a wonder trip on the water.  It was now time for us to motor back, we had to get to lunch and then we were off to Hells Gate National Park this afternoon. 

Our hotel for the night was located just a 10 minute drive down the road.  After seeing the campsite where our boats left from, I was thinking it was a shame that we didn’t camp for at least one night while the Elkins were here.  It really is an experience, and Lake Naivasha is one of the best places to do that as the facilities (toilet/showers) and scenery can’t be beaten.  Hindsight is a wonderful thing and it just gives us another thing to do when they come back again, when ever that maybe!

After lunch, which we could choose off the menu (still included) we had time for another cheeky vodka in our room before being collected at 2pm to be taken to Hells Gate National Park.  This was a park I had not yet been to and I have a new wish list, which is to visit ALL the national parks in Kenya.  So this will be great to tick off another one.  The drive to the park entrance only took around 20 minutes.  Pete jumped out to pay for our park fees (mine was 7USD and the Elkins 30USD) and we also took a guide with us, as we were going to do the hike of the gorge. 

Once we were in the park, it was nothing I had ever seen in Kenya.  It was spectacular!!!!

The Park is framed by imposing cathedral like cliffs along the edges of the valley.  Hell's Gate National Park lies south of Lake Naivasha in Kenya, north west of Nairobi and is named after a narrow break in the cliffs, once a tributary of a prehistoric lake that fed early humans in the Rift Valley and It received the name "Hell's Gate" by explorers Fisher and Thomson in 1883.  It was established in 1984 and is a small national park, known for its wide variety of wildlife and for its scenery.  This includes the Fischer's Tower and Central Tower columns and Hell's Gate Gorge. The national park is also home to three geothermal power stations at Olkaria. The park is equipped with three basic campsites and includes a Maasai Cultural Center, providing education about the Maasai tribe's culture and traditions.  In the early 1900s, Mount Longonot erupted, and ash can still be felt around Hell's Gate.  The comprehensive Olkaria Geothermal Station, the first of its kind in Africa, was established in 1981 and generates geothermal power underneath Hell's Gate from the area's hot springs and geysers.

Hell's Gate National Park covers an area of 68.25 square kilometers (26 sq mi), relatively small by African standards.  The park is at 1,900 meters (6,200 ft) above sea level.  Olkaria and Hobley's, two extinct volcanoes located in the park, can be seen as well as obsidian forms from the cool molten lava.  Within Hell's Gate is the Hells Gate Gorge, lined with red cliffs which contain two volcanic plugs: Fischer's Tower and Central Tower.  Off of Central Tower is a smaller gorge which extends to the south and of which a path descends into hot springs that at some places you can find rocks that will burn you and there is a fair amount of sulfur you can feel in the water.  There is a wide variety of wildlife in the national park, though many are few in number.   Our guide was saying that it has been a long time since a dangerous animal has been seen in the park.  Examples of little seen wildlife include lions, leopards, and cheetahs. However, the park has historically been an important home for the rare lammergeyer vultures. There are over 103 species of birds in the park, including vultures, Verreaux's eagles, augur buzzard, and swifts.  Hyraxes, African buffalo, zebra, eland, hartebeest, Thomson's gazelle, hyena, warthogs and baboons are also common. The park is also home to serval and small numbers of klipspringer antelope and Chanler's mountain reedbuck.   To us it seems like a haven for the animals with no hunters to speak of, it’s like a retreat for them with no stress of the circle of life affecting these guys.    

We passed some people on bicycles, which were covered in our dust as we passed them.  Shane was keen to jump on bikes, but was vetoed by 3 of the 4 girls, so we were to travel in the van instead, which by the end of the afternoon was a smart move as rain started to fall as we drove out.  Cycling through this Park, as you take in the game and enjoy the surrounding scenery would have been cool and another reason it can be done with a very low chance of seeing a lion.  On a bike.  Imagine that!!!  Hiking, bicycling, and motorcycling and even camping are encouraged within the park, one of only two Kenyan national parks where this is allowed. 

Quite close to the main gate is Fischer’s Tower, a prominent volcanic plug standing 25m high over the surrounding flat valley floor. An impressive site, and there were people on the tower as we drove past.  Seasoned rock climbing enthusiasts and beginners alike will often be spotted scaling their way up this imposing tower. No rock climbing for us today (or EVER) as we were heading for the jewel of Hell’s Gate, which is Ol Njorowa Gorge.  We did a bit of game driving on the way and after about 30 minutes we arrived at the car park to where the hike was to start.  Shelly and I really weren’t dressed for a ‘proper’ hike.  We had on sneakers, but I was in a cargo skirt and Shelly in a dress.  I guess we were both hoping that the hike wasn’t going to be too strenuous.  My first question before any of these hikes is how long will it take, with a reply back from our guide, that it would be approximately a 90 minute round trip walk.  My next question was the walk suitable for Zoe and Tess, thinking if he says yes, then I will certainly be able to do it, which he responded yes, so I thought it couldn’t be that bad. 

So we started the hike, and it immediately descended into the ravine which was fine, but me, not really a hiker was thinking ‘what goes down must come back up again’!  The gorge is a 24km long deep ravine lined with sheer cliffs, and endowed with hot water springs feeding a stream that meanders down the floor of the gorge as it cuts its way through the rugged and semi-arid surrounding landscape. The Gorge widens out as it weaves its way down and out of the National Park. It is arguably one of the most beautiful places to go for a hike, even for a non hiker!  It was probably not the best to have a skirt on, as there really is no designated path/walkway.  You are scaling up and down across rocks, some a little slippery and even with Shelly and I at the back of the pack, I think there were some close ‘flash’ calls.  We finally got to the bottom of the gorge and the beautiful colours of the rock scapes were incredible.  

We were shown a few areas of the gorge, continued on the bank where the hot springs come out of the ground.  There were 3 little waterfalls that we saw and each one hotter than the next.  Our guide encouraged us to wash our faces with the water stating health benefits, but it smelled a little sulphury for me.  It was now time to climb back out of the gorge.  It was a fairly steep dirt trail, steep enough that they had installed a rope to help pull yourself up with.  If the rope wasn’t there I don’t think I would have made it up, as the dirt was also a little loose under foot.  But made it we did, with a 20m walk further along the top of the gorge we got the most magnificent view point of the park.   The main setting of the 1994 film, The Lion King is heavily modeled after the park, where several lead crew members of the film went to the park to study and gain an appreciation of the environment for the film, and this view point is one of them that gave inspiration, and I can see why.  Kenya has so much to offer, and I wonder how many people really see the REAL Kenya?!  This is why I want to see more of the country I live in, every bit of it.

It was now later in the afternoon and there were rain clouds starting to gather.  It was time to head back to the van passing a few vervet monkeys saying hi and as we drove out, the heavens opened up in Hells Gate as we said goodbye to a park that is so different to those that I had been to before.  It was also a good thing now that we didn’t camp tonight, as it worked out it rained all that night, so things do happen for a reason, but a camping trip will be on the cards another time. 

Another day done and dusted and an evening with dinner and vodka and cokes back in the rooms with some tunes and catching up on all the events of the last 10 months.  It has become quite funny, and it is a first world problem, but the Elks like ice in their drinks, as do I.  But it seems on the trip so far, ice is becoming a rare commodity the further out we travel.  Funny out of everything that could be an issue, it is the ice-age that seems to be causing the biggest problems.  I’m used to it, and over the coming two weeks, the Elks will also see that it is just not a thing that is on hand readily all the time, especially in Kenya when Kenyans generally don’t like to drink ANY of their drinks cold, let alone have ice in them.    

I still need to be pinched that I am enjoying all this with my family.  How lucky can a girl be?