Travel Tuesday [On Wednesday] - Camping in Hells Gate [Part 2]

At this point, I think it is good to say, If you haven't read Part 1, please do. I'll wait.

First of all, (or second, if you consider the above first) I know it is Wednesday. I had already planned this blog post for today then I had to leave the house and I couldn't post it on time so I decided to do a Travel Tuesday on Wednesday post. I think you guys don't mind, do you?

On with it then. You guys know from Part 1 that I was in Hells Gate national park. I was there 2 weekends in a row. The second time I went was with a smaller group, 5 of us. Thandiwe, Bruce, Paddy, Nala & I. This time was a little more cloudy so not much in the way of fog and harsh sun but we did get to the beautiful gorge. I'm going to talk more about the camping in this post though.

We got to the park at around closing time (6pm). They will let you in if you are going camping though. The campsite doesn't have firewood so you may have to buy some at the main junction before entering the park. We got a nice big pile of firewood costing 1000kes. That lasted all night and we still used it in the morning to warm up. You need your own firelighting stuff so be sure to carry matches and lighter gel if you're not as bush prepared (i'm not).

The Discovery Crew

We carried food to make quickly at camp that night. Cooler boxes are fantastic to keep frozen food frozen and cold food cold. Use them with ice boxes as opposed to ice as ice melts and the water goes everywhere. One tip is to place the food in order of use. Keep the food being used last at the bottom so that you don't affect it as you get stuff out earlier. Typically carry stuff you can cook quick. No one wants to go camping to slave away in the kitchen (or bush equivalent of kitchen. I like food I can quickly grill and eat. It feels campy. Fish & chicken are always my first options, because flesh. Last time Samir made us a beautiful desert of banana split chocolate. Split the banana in the center (till halfway), put some chocolate in there, wrap with foil and throw in the fire. Eat warm after a few minutes. Also, sugar + cinnamon sprinkled over pineapple and grilled till caramelised is soo good, you'll want to camp more often.

Some night chilling with Paddy hoping that the skies would clear so that we shoot some stars. They didn't. So at some point in the night, we slept. And btw, this was done with the not too distant sound of hyenas laughing as if they knew something we didn't. It was a little scary at times.

We did catch a good sunrise though. I really wanted to shoot some bike silhouettes with Paddy so I'm glad we managed to do that. The nearby Zebra also cooperated, except one that seemed to be on my case. It didn't even once face down to eat grass while I was shooting its friends. It just kept staring. I was a little disturbed by that behaviour.

This here is that suspicious zebra. What are you on about human?

After that we quickly drove back to camp to catch the rest of the sunrise from higher ground.

Breakfast was simple, sandwiches. The ham stayed nice and cool n the box and not much prep work needed. Our fire was still going strong so we could also warm our bones. Breakfast is always a good time, to me.

The camp site is right next to this cliff that we got so curious ant tried to find a way up to. We succeeded and went exploring a little higher. Nala shot the above photo of me. See, I rooftop everywhere I go, not just Nairobi.

Then we went to my favorite places in Hells Gate, the gorge. It's so beautiful there. I shall just let the photos below attempt to speak for the gorge.

And with that, I shall bid you adieu. I hope you enjoyed my Travel Tuesday on Wednesday. God bless you guys.

Always lean toward the light.