Hell's Gate

In the beginning of September, I received an email from my friend Kevin, asking if I would have any interest in going camping in near by Hell’s Gate National Park, and roasting a goat. Sounding like an amazing adventure, I naturally said yes.

Six of us hit the trail Saturday morning, hiking three hours along a road under clear skies with a slight breeze. We came across a few herds of Zebras and spotting the occasional warthog. We stopped for lunch at the ranger station where we were met by our guides for the next 24 hours, two Maasai warriors. They took us on a great hike through the gorge, before bringing us to their village. We spent the afternoon drinking tea with the elders and playing Frisbee (naturally) with the children. With time, the sky slowly clouded over, until around 6:00 the sky just opened up and didn’t close until morning.

Unfortunately- our campsite was still a two hour hike away. When we realized the skies weren’t going to lighten up, we grabbed our goat and a few more guides, and headed off to the caves- in the rain, and in the dark.

I will never, ever forget that hike. With three headlamps between the six of us, we made our way back into the gorge, slipping and sliding down rocks that felt more like waterfalls than paths. Trying to keep our feet dry became pointless as we trekked through four knee-deep rivers. I have never been that wet (and fully-clothed) in my life.

When we finally got to the caves, a fire had already been started, so we quickly changed and huddled around the heat. After the preparation of dinner (I’ll spare you the details) we enjoyed a spectacular feast of goat and ramen noodles, and even made makeshift (birthday) s’mores. We listened to the ten Maasai warriors sing and share stories of their lives while sharing a few bottles of rum. After most of the hikers had fallen asleep, one of the Maasai took Daniel and I to teach us how to shoot his bow and arrow. I didn’t have the strength to bend the bow- definitely a bit more stiff than what we used at camp in Wisconsin.

As I was falling asleep, I could hear women and girls chanting in the cave down the gorge from us. We were told they were connecting Planet Earth with Mother Universe. The songs mixed in with the sounds of the pouring rain left me with goose bumps for the rest of the night.



Children in the village playing with birthday horns Kevin handed out. The video is off the children singing a rain song, but I'm having trouble getting it to work.