A Trip to Nairobi, Kenya Pt. II
A trail I had no business hiking
Green, that’s mostly what my tired eyes see.
A Maasai guide beside me, a long winding path in front of me, I start negotiating with myself.
Whose bright idea was this?
Uncoerced, I’d chosen to hike Ngong Hills by 8:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning. In nothing but shorts, a light rain jacket, and a lack of enthusiasm. Brilliant.
“Do you do this often?” I ask, trying to make conversation with my guide and take my mind off the cool breeze prickling my skin.
“You mean enjoy it?” He replies, as we thread the red mud path through the morning fog, surrounded by greens and giant windmills.
“No. I mean… Do you do this a lot?”
We go back and forth a few times, breaking my question into simpler chunks to help get my message across.
When I do, he explains that there are seasons. He’s usually with a larger group, but February’s very slow. Meaning one booking every two weeks, or even a month. That’s why I have him all to myself at the moment.
I ask if he has another gig. He doesn’t. He has cattle. Their meat and milk provide food. And he sells any excess he has in the market.
Different, but cool.
At the top of a hill past all the windmills and radio repeater stations, we start the hike in earnest. I thought this would be a gradual ascent to the top—not sure why—but I was wrong. We would be going up and down seven-plus hills towards a summit. It’s right there in the name: Ngong Hills.
We pause on the hill to take in the scene: green plains below, with patches of brown and black from uncultivated land and low-hanging clouds.
I try, I really, really try. But there’s as much fog in the air as there is in my head. I’m grumpy, I’m tired, and I don’t want to do this.
Soon after my failed attempt to take in the view, we begin our descent. My toes press against the caps of my shoes, so I shuffle carefully, alternating between forward steps and sideways movement to avoid too much pressure on them. Fun.
Meanwhile two girls ahead of us are having the time of their lives. I know because one of them’s charging straight for the bottom like a car without brakes, giggling as she rockets her way down. The other isn’t too far behind.
When I catch up to one of the girls I introduce myself. “Looks like y’all are having a great time,” I chuckle, pointing towards her friend that’s still going full steam ahead. “My name’s Edmond, you?”
She turns toward me—revealing a bright smile—and then forward again, as we both watch her friend shrink into the distance.
“I’m Scola,” she says. “And yes, we are. It’s a good day to be outside.”
She exchanges greetings with my guide in Swahili, and they share a laugh. Laughing—I assume—at the girl that’s still racing for the bottom.
“So are you guys going all the way?”
“Yes! All the way to Kona Baridi,” Scola beams with enthusiasm, “You?”
“Probably not. I don’t have it in me today.”
“What? How do you come all the way to Ngong Hills only to go halfway? Aee,” she scolds. “As a story it doesn’t even sound nice. What do you tell your friends when you go home?”
We slowly resume our descent. And she doesn’t let up.
“I came to Ngong Hills and I only went halfway,” she says, mocking me. “No. You’re coming with us.”
And that was that.
Scola presses forward with a portable speaker blasting gospel music from its sides. Soon, the fields no longer seem dull green, our strides grow more confident, our tongues loosen—my guide and I become more chatty. The entire hue of the hike morphs into something warmer.
I still don’t think I’ll summit, but with momentum on my side, I put one foot in front of the other, let’s see how far they take me.
When we catch up to Scola’s friend Mercy (MAR-CY), Scola quickly reports me to her. Mercy reacts as though I’ve insulted her personally. She immediately agrees with Scola: I’m with them now.
So we march on.
One step, two step, three step, stretch.
One step, two step, three step, chat.
As my calves stretch and quads tighten, I get to know more about Scola. She likes to travel, enjoys a good hike, and recently renewed her faith. We talk about work, her recent trip to Kampala, and how she’d like to travel a lot more. We continue like this for a while, laughing or nodding in agreement when we learn a new fact about the other.
Like a boda-boda, time zooms by.
One hill.
Two hills.
Three hills.
Four…
And eventually, at 2,460 meters above sea level, we summit. Exhausted, but our exhaustion disappears beneath the weight of our smiles. We take in the scene.
It’s packed.
Hikers, religious groups, and traders selling refreshments roam the area. We find a spot and take a breather. And later some photos at the congratulations sign.
Soon we notice a path behind some shrubs, and after some inquiry we learn the trail still goes on. With the high from just summiting, we decide to take it on.
Forging ahead we soon come across a spot that looks like something from a movie set, thin green shrubs draping from trees, and stems that grew past their boundaries—beautiful.
So beautiful, we take a pause. My feet ache and cold sweat runs down my face, but we’ve just summited Ngong Hills and crossed the seventh hill.
“We came, we saw, we conquered,” I say, as we take photos and videos.
“Of course! And we’re even going to conquer more!” Scola says with a grin on her face. “Everest here we’re coming! And mount Kenya!” She says laughing.
“Someone has a confession to make.” Mercy says looking in my direction, as my guide takes a video.
Scola starts chuckling. “We’re listening.”
I let out a small laugh, knowing exactly what they mean. I turn toward the camera, away from their expectant gaze. “Hi… I planned to go only halfway—”
“But?” Scola chimes in.
“—but, they made me go all the way.”
“You’re welcome!” Scola says, and we all laugh.
The entire hike takes about four hours, spanning almost 13 kilometers, with roughly 650 meters of elevation gain. I’m sore, but every minute of it was worth it, because two strangers saw me and made me their business.
The view before the hike starts in earnest
Scola & Mercy teasing
Notes
You can book a guided Ngong Hills hike via Trip Advisor.
See you next week.
Song of the day - Coka Mucie by Stacy Kamatu
Embarrassed to say I've only gotten as high as the windmills in a vehicle 🤭 I'm now challenged to actually hike the hills.