Mefloquine Dreams: Safari Salama

“I like that you went to hell and back and are still laughing,” our driver commented as we left Hell’s Gate National Park. It pretty much summarized our stay there. When I planned the safari and vacation with my friends, I made sure to include a day at Hell’s Gate, one of my favorite parks in Kenya. One activity unique to Hell’s Gate is biking through the park amongst the animals. The only animal in the park you have to beware of is the cape buffalo; otherwise, you can get close to the zebra and giraffe without much worry.

Excited for this adventure, we rented bikes and rode into the park, admiring the beautiful landscape. The goal was to bike to the middle of the park, hike through the gorge for a couple hours and then ride back. On the ride into the park we were able to enjoy seeing some of the animals before getting wet with a short downpour of rain. The rain was short-lived so we kept pressing on to the ranger station at the gorge. About a kilometer away from the station, we ran into a road block – cape buffalo standing in the path. Stink, we were stuck. We could see a couple on the other side admiring them as well, knowing that it would be too dangerous to get any closer. We tried to wait them out, but they kept their position just staring back at us. While waiting, the rains slowly began again. We turned around toward the entrance of the park, at least an hour ride back. Loud thunder announced the downpour of rain. We were quickly soaked but continued to try to ride to shelter. This effort quickly faded when the hail began. We laid down our bikes and ran to a nearby tree to try to take shelter (although if you have seen the trees here, there’s not many leaves to give any protection). A small improvement as we cowered together for warmth as the wind, rain, and hail continued to overwhelm us. More than 45 minutes had passed, no relief in the weather or rescue van to take us to safety. It was getting dark. We had to start biking again if we were going to get out of the park by sunset. We pushed through and painfully made our way back, soaked and tired. Riding in front, Charity at one point stopped, put down her bike and turned around to face us. I was sure something was wrong with her bike (ex. flat tire, broken chain) which would be disastrous given the weather conditions and our distance from the park gates. Thankfully, it wasn’t the bike. Instead, pained by the hail pelting her in the face, she just needed a break. We finally made it to the gate with dripping wet hair and soaked clothes.

Enjoying the ride...little did I know what the rest of the day would hold.

I was sad that they didn’t get to enjoy the park, ride next to the animals, or hike through the beautiful gorge. Not exactly what I had in mind for their Hell’s Gate experience. Despite that, we all laughed the entire way home recounting our experience. I was thankful that we had at least had a successful morning earlier with our boat ride on Lake Navaisha and visit to the island where “Out of Africa” was filmed, walking amongst the giraffe, zebra, and wildabeasts.