Pole, Pole (pronounced po-lay, po-lay)... Slowly, Slowly.

Well, I hiked Mt. Kenya.
55 miles. (yes, miles, not kilometers...)
3 full days.

ouch.

Normally, a great day for me exercise-wise is 3 miles on the elliptical in the sea-level, air-conditioned gym while watching Real Housewives of New Jersey. This experience was far from it. We met our tour guide Robin after a four hour drive from Nairobi to Nanyuki, a small town at the base of the mountain. We had arrived in Nairobi the night before after two flights and spent the night in a hotel in the middle of the city. Here we learned that construction occurs at all times of day, specifically at midnight when you'd like to go to bed. There were also the biggest grasshoppers I have ever seen in my life ALL OVER the hotel. They jump really high, and freaked me out a lot, but I slept comfortably and was excited to start my adventure.

While eating with Robin, he told us we looked strong (ha), and explained the course of the hike. Then we got in his car and drove to the Sirimon gate, where we would start our hike. The drive to the gate took about 45 minutes, and the road was dirt. This was problematic when it started to rain- did I mention Robin drives a 1986 Toyota Corolla? It was a little muddy, to say the least. We got to the gate and started our trek up. We encountered a family of baboons, and 2 1/2 hours later we were at Old Moses Camp, where we stayed the first night. The first day was mostly uphill, and I know it sounds silly, but I expected it to be at least a little bit flat. It rarely plateaued at all, and it was a difficult first day. We ate dinner when we got to Old Moses- Tilappia, vegetables, and potatoes that were delicious! Soon after we ate we went right to sleep- with no problem, seeing as we were exhausted.

The next day was the hardest. We hiked for 8 hours to Shipton Camp- the altitude was tough, it was cold, rainy, windy, and muddy, and by the time we got there I was happy to just be sitting. My whole body hurt- I couldn't wait to be asleep. It was an absolutely beautiful view, which I discovered after I got up and was less cranky. We were cradled in the peaks of the mountain, and the stars were amazing. Unlike anything I've ever seen in my whole life. We went to bed early, because we got up at 2:30 am to go to the summit!

It was very cold, the air was very thin, and I was having a very difficult time breathing. I gave up about 500 m from the top- I just couldn't do it anymore knowing that once I got down I'd need to hike all the way back to Old Moses Camp. I climbed back down with Robin, whose frequent calls of "Hi Julie..." to which I responded "Hi Robin..." in a singsong manner reminded me of the movie Cool Runnings: "Ya dead?" "No, man...". We went through area that apparently had "many hyena," which I wish Robin had told me after we got through it. But I made it back to Shipton and went back to sleep to wait for Patricia to make it down. She made it all the way to the summit with another guide, Nicholas! I was happy for her, but from what she tells me, I'm glad I chose to turn around when I did. It was very hard!

We made it back to Old Moses Camp in 5 hours- we learned that I do much better going down than I do going up, so I didn't slow the group down any longer. The next day was just 2 hours down to Sirimon Gate, and I have never been happier to see a big stone wall than I was that day. Right before we reached the gate, we saw a family of elephants accross the mountain! There were three of them, and they looked like giant rocks with tusks until they started moving. Apparently they're pretty dangerous, so we were lucky not to be close to them. We also encountered some more baboons, other monkeys, and zebras on our way down. At the top of the mountain there were these funny little animals like groundhogs called Cape Hyrax, they're pretty friendly and definitely wanted our food. I got some good pictures, which I will try to post later.

My mantra on the mountain was "Pole, pole," which in Kiswahili means "slowly, slowly." I made it up and back, slowly but surely.