Hetal Chirag
After completing my mechanical engineering at McMaster University, Canada, I decided to take a gap year to explore the world and to find a deeper meaning in life. Besides volunteering at Future Hope Baby Centre and participating in the Fadhili Community Outreach Programs, I also did a little bit of travelling while I was in Kenya.
Being a Lion King fan since I was little, I joined a group of volunteers who were travelling to Hell’s Gate National Park to see the Pride Rock. We left Nairobi and headed to Naivasha, enjoying local Kenyan music in our flashy Matatu equipped with crazy subwoofers. On our way to Naivasha, we took a quick stop to enjoy the amazing view of the Great Rift Valley.
After entering the Hell’s Gate National Park, we could either rent bikes or travel by safari Jeeps to explore the park. Although the biking option included a 15 km ride through sand covered gravel roads full of potholes, majority of my friends and I chose to go with the bikes. Those who chose the safari Jeeps were sheltered from the extreme heat and dirty roads, but biking with zebras, water buffalos and giraffes just a few feet away from the road was an adventure in itself.
After biking for a while, we came across a rock which seemed oddly familiar from a Disney movie. We all pulled over and got down to see the Pride Rock where the Lion King had begun. From that point onwards, the Lion King sound track was stuck in my head for the rest of the day.
We finally reached the Hell’s Gate after an adventures 15 Km bike ride. It turns out that a number of scenes from the movie Laura Craft: Tomb Raider was shot in the very gorge. The hike down through the gorge led us to a natural hot spring and a cave. From there, we hiked for around 45 minutes to reach the highest point of the trek.
At the last stage of our trek we came across a point where around 15-20 baboons were just hanging out in the middle of the hiking trail.
