Naivasha Trip - Exeat (Day One)

Hi All,

Hope you all had a great weekend, because I know I did! All the gaps and I headed off to Naivasha for the first exeat on Friday morning. Naivasha is a town between Gilgil (where the school is), and Nairobi. It is most famous for its lake, which was the main attraction for us. We stayed at Fisherman's camp, which was recommended to us, for 2000 shillings for two nights (about 18 pounds), in two man Bandas. These are huts with just two beds and a sink, and I had the honour of sharing my banda with George himself.
When we arrived, we immediately decided to go to Hells Gate, which is a 20 minute drive away from the camp. Hells Gate is a national park, which allows you to bicycle through the park alongside the animals them self. We started at Elsa Gate, and ended up at the Gorge, about 8km away. It's the most amazing experience to cycle with the animals, as you feel much more connected with them, and very much vulnerable! During our cycle (both to the gorge and back), we encountered zebra, warthog, impala, dik dik, heartibeast, giraffe, and buffalo. The most terrifying was the buffalo, by far, as at one point James and I decided to stop 5m away from a bull, and take an "arty picture". However, inevitably, the buffalo got agitated and started advanciong towards us. At this point, we both jumped on our bikes and sprinted away. However, James forgot his lens cap (classic jimbo), so had to go back! It was an amazing experience, which I'd highly recommend. I wasn't expecting to see so much wildlife.

At the gorge itself, we had no idea what to expect, so initially decided on not taking a guide, but when we got down there, we immediately realised we needed one! It took us approximately 1 and a half hours, and is a tight gorge, with hot springs coming down the side, due to the volcanic activity going on (JMS would have loved it). We were fortunate enough to be in the gorge when they open up the flood gate, so saw the water flood down the gorge. It was a boiling hot day, so was nice to have waterfalls coming down from the side as well. As we didn't really know what to expect, I wacked on the walking boots (thanks mimi and papa!0, whilst James foolishly wore his espadrilles. He soon realised what a mistake this was as he slipped and slipped across the rocks! I think the most surreal part of the gorge was the beauty of the surrounding, and how the rock has been shaped. At the end of the gorge walk, we them saw the cutest monkeys, who are 100% tame, so we were able to get within a metre close to them! so cool.

We had a couple of mishaps during this day. The first being jimbo wearing his espidrilles, and the second being George's inner tube exploding, and therefore preventing him from riding back home! Fortunately, one of the guides at the gorge lent him one, but this was stuck in gear one for the 8km back! And finally, being classic gap year students, we totally forgot food for the day, so were living on a couple of biscuits and water for the day!
It was an amazing first day, topped off with a huge trip to carnellys, which is the sister camp to fishermans. Here, the serve the most amazing food, especially when all you'd eaten that day was a slice of toast, and a couple of biscuits!