We continued for about an hour and a half to Diani Beach. Much of our time was spent sitting by the beach, fending off beach salesmen, eating good food, and watching the tiny crabs as we walked along the shore.
On our first full morning, we woke up early to be guided around the surrounding forest. We learned about the medicinal value of some of the trees and kept a watchful eye for monkeys. We were able to spot three different types, including the elusive colobus monkey.
This would be the only touring we would do. After the beach, we headed to the conservancy, but I wrote a different entry about that.
After our time at the conservancy, we flew back to Wilson Airport in Nairobi to be picked up and head north, towards Mount Kenya, Africa's second-highest mountain. We spent a few days in the area to acclimatize to the higher altitude.
During our time, we went on a two-hour guided walk at a nearby country club. Interestingly, you can play golf there among the baboons, antelope, and dik dik. The country club owns a huge amount of land, so they take people on walks around the property to observe the animals.
The next day, we spent our time hiking at Solio Game Reserve. At the conservancy we had just come from, we only saw 3 of the big five, lions, elephants, and buffalo. The conservancy has no rhinos as they prefer them to stay on the larger Masai Mara Game Reserve. This is because protecting them from poachers requires a lot of resources, which the government has more of. At Solio up north, they have rhinos, about 400 in fact, 350 white and 50 black rhinos. It would be our final time seeing the animals in Kenya, and it was really special to see so many rhinos up close.
After our 2 days up north, we would be picked up for our Mount Kenya trek. The summit reaches 4,985 meters above sea level and would take 4 days to reach it and return to the base.
The first day of hiking was just about 2 hours, stopping at Old Moses Camp. The next two days would be much more strenuous.
We woke up early, repacked our bags, had some breakfast prepared by our wonderful chef, and began our 16 km hike to Shipton Hut. As we were so high above sea level, breathing became more labored. The landscape became even more beautiful as we hiked higher into the mountain. There is a certain type of tree that litters the higher part of the mountain. While it isn't more than 3 meters tall, they are all over 500 years old. It’s called the ostrich plume plant and is only found on the mountain.
Along the path, we saw quite a few hyraxes, small mammals with the ability to run around the mountain quite nimbly. It took us about 8 hours, with a few longer rest stops, to reach the camp. We were both feeling the altitude but pleased we had made it. After dinner, we discussed the plan for the next day. It would be a total of 22 km, beginning in the middle of the night. Elseline would not join the summit hike due to some altitude side effects. So it would be the guide and me.
I woke up around 2 AM, ready to leave by 3 AM. We would summit in the dark, trying our best to keep a pace where we would arrive at the start of the sunrise. The guide set a slow pace, and I followed with my head torch casting a beam ahead. The hike was 4 km straight uphill. We would ascend about 650 meters. Step by step, we only took 2 short breaks, one for 5 minutes and the other just for 2 minutes. I was determined to make it.
To backtrack a bit, seven weeks prior, I re-tore the ACL in my right knee. For the first few weeks, I could hardly walk. But throughout this time, I said I would still summit Mount Kenya. Carving out any time I could to bike or stretch, I worked diligently to recover. I knew my knee would be unstable regardless of what I did, but I knew I could at least improve it.
Back to the mountain. I had a hiking pole in each hand. I dug the poles into the ground with each step, trying to put more of the pressure on my arms instead of my legs. With each step, as the path was becoming just a little steeper, I was more determined to reach the sunrise.
We began at 3:17 AM. And as I was rounding the corner to climb up the final ladder to the summit, the sun began to peek over the horizon, at about 6:20 AM. I did it. I stood for a minute with my hands on my head, tired and proud. I still have a surgery in front of me, but I assured myself that this setback didn't need to control me.
After taking some pictures at the summit and celebrating with the guide, we began the trek back down. This was hard. It took 3 hours, much of it sliding on steep, loose rock. I was slower than many of the others and content with that. We finally reached camp at 10 AM, almost 7 hours after starting the hike.
After some rest, breakfast, and packing, we set off to hike the same route in the opposite direction as the day before. After hiking for over 6 hours already, my legs were shaking a bit. We were able to reach Old Moses Camp in about 6 hours, only taking a lunch break and two short rest stops. The next day, we hiked for a short 2 hours down to the gate where we would be picked up and driven back to Nairobi.
We would go out for dinner in the city before being picked up at 6:50 AM to go to the airport and head back to the Netherlands.