Hiking in the Aberdares NP
Marty comes over for a flying visit and we take him hiking in the Aberdares NP. Alex was the organisor of the trip as he has been many times and he also brought a friend, Jill, so we were five people that weekend.
We drove up early Sunday morning to the north-western corner of the park, where we entered through Shamata gate. We picked up our ranger, compulsory if you want to hike in this area, and continued to our campsite where we parked the cars. We didn’t set up camp though as we were going hiking straight away and quickly prepared for that.
Jude, Jill and Alex at Shamata Gate in the north-western corner of the Aberdare NP
no time to set up camp yet, we are off on our hike as soon as possible
Our goal was to get to the top of Ol Doinyo Lesatima, meaning ‘mountain of the bull calf’. It is Kenya’s third highest peak at 4,001m, and the highest in the Aberdare NP. To get there we would have to walk past the ‘Dragon’s Teeth’, sharp volcanic cones sticking up from the landscape.
our rookie ranger, Jon, Jude and Alex on the hike. It’s a good thing Alex knew where we were going…
our ranger, Alex, Jude and Marty hiking in the Aberdare NP
we pass the aptly named dragon’s teeth
The scenery is spectacular in this section of the Aberdares NP. Lots of alpine flowers were blossoming and we were incredibly lucky with the weather.
stunning views in the Aberdare NP
we are high enough for the beautiful african alpine plants
Jude and Jon hugging some cool looking alpine plants
lot of plants were in full bloom
another stunning vista with the yellow flowers
We stopped for lunch on the way there, had some snacks on top of Ol Doinyo Lesatima, and then quickly turned around as we still had to walk all the way back to camp again.
Mart, Jude and Alex heading to the highest peak in the Aberdare NP
we made it, top of Ol Doinyo Lesatima (4,001m), highest peak in the Aberdare NP
Jude pointing to where we were not long ago, the top of Ol Doinyo Lesatima
We spent a lovely evening by a campfire, with the added luxury of Alex’ incredible toilet seat, set up with a view, in case you needed to go.
Jon and Marty around our campfire after we set up camp
our camp the next morning before breaking up again
toilet with a view in the Aberdare NP, thanks to Alex!
The next day we drove to the forested area for another, shorter walk, before leaving the park through the same gate to start the journey back home again.
this is one of the reasons why the rangers go on foot patrols, trying to stop the illegal logging. Hopefully this tree will survive