One of the ways Nairobi is most similar to the San Francisco Bay Area, other than the avocado toast (see post Last Days First Days) and the popular opinion that Uber is the worst, is its proximity to amazing outdoor adventures perfect for a weekend getaway. Camping, hiking, and generally getting out and about on weekends was a big part of our life is SF, and it’s been great being able to do that here too! #camping #stuffwhitepeoplelike The hardest part is not having a car and having to plan for rides/transport.

Last weekend we went out to Lake Naivasha to hike, get almost uncomfortably close to hippos, and mountain bike through Hell’s Gate National Park! We left Saturday morning to go to Camp Carnelley’s, where it’s 8 US dollars a night to camp, and set up our tent overlooking the lake. Don’t worry, they have a fence which is electrified from 6pm until 6am so the hippos don’t stomp on us in our sleep. We did hear them barking (snorting? talking?) all night though!

We pitch the tent and go on a boat ride first thing. We see big scary hippos and lots of different types of birds, including a very ugly one for you aviary experts out there.

We also see big groups of 3 different types of monkeys. They were not shy about coming into the campsite and checking out people’s trash bins! They were very entertaining to watch as they played with each other and swung around in the trees!

We rented front suspension mountain bikes for the relatively flat 10k ride from the camp to The Gorge inside Hell’s Gate. We explored The Gorge by hiking (and rock climbing) the “hard way” by choice. It was fun and I got very dirty! The Gorge is susceptible to flash floods so there are occasional “emergency exits” which are pretty much straight up the side. Luckily there were no floods when we were there – that would have been bad. Also I’m not sure if The Gorge is supposed to be capitalized like that, but I like saying it that way.

It was a bit overcast following a light rain so we didn’t see too much wildlife on our bike ride to and from The Gorge, but I didn’t mind because we saw SO much wildlife the weekend before at Nairobi National Park! The National Park is located within the city boundaries, and it was crazy seeing a family of rhinos with the skyline just to the left. We saw a male lion just chilling about 5 feet away from us, we saw the female lions feasting on a fresh kill, and a bunch of buffalo, gazelles, zebras, ostriches, a rhino family, warthogs, giraffes, more female lions, and others I am probably forgetting. It was awesome. The safari van has a top that pops up so you can stand up and have a great view from the safety of a metal box.

More weekend adventuring is on the calendar. This weekend we are hoping to go to Lake Nakuru to see the flamingos or do some urban hikes around Nairobi as a fun #treatyo’self in-between-our-birthdays weekend. There’s also Mount Kenya, Zanzibar, Kilimanjaro, Amboseli, Maasai Mara, and a volcano in the DRC we want to check out. Those aren’t fully planned yet but they’re on the radar. If you want to join in on the fun, get yourself out here so we can weekend adventure together!