Alexis LossDay 1: Bike Riding in Hells Gate National Park
We arrived in the afternoon just in time for an afternoon boat tour. However, given the intermittent rain we decided to head to Hells Gate National Park instead.
First Stop: Roadside bike rentals
Our son really wanted to ride bikes so our tour guide brought us to a local roadside bike place and set us up with the owner who was our guide while in the park. We rode in our van with our driver and bike tour guide while someone else carried our bikes while riding a motorbike. It was very impressive!
Note: If you are safety-conscious, this may not be for you as they do not have helmets for rent.
Stop two: Hells Gate National Park
We arrived at the park with our bikes close behind! We biked about 6 miles until we (meaning me!) became tired and it started to pour. The bike tour guide called our guide and he picked us up and they arranged for someone to pick up our bikes.
Hells Gate National Park is unique in that you are able to safely walk, bike and mountain climb in the park while wild animals roam around. We saw rock hyrax which resemble guinea pigs and are adorable. They can be found around the park among the rocks (hence the name) which is where they live. In addition, we also saw Thompson’s gazelles, zebras, buffalo, baboons and warthogs. We did not take many photos as we were mostly enjoying the bike ride. The rugged cliffs and rock formations really make this park stunning and unlike any other park we have visited.
Our guide was extremely knowledgeable about the park, the wildlife and even had an in-depth discussion with us about Kenya’s use of hydrothermal power.
After our bike ride, we headed back to our lodge to relax before dinner.
Lodging: Lake Naivasha Simba Lodge
We stayed at Lake Naivasha Simba Lodge, and you can read more about that here.
Day two: Lake Naivasha boat ride and Crescent Island
Stop one: Lake Naivasha boat ride to Crescent Island
We arrived at Lake Naivasha convention center? where we were provided life jackets and a guide who took us around Lake Naivasha.
Lake Naivasha is a freshwater lake in the Great rift valley that arose from the now extinct Mount Longonot volcano. It is approximately 54 square miles (139 km) in size and approximately in 6m in depth. It has been slowly increasing in size which was evident by the line of dead acacia trees in the lake and the many restaurants, homes and other buildings that were in the lake and no longer inhabited or utilized.
While boating around, we saw local fisherman fishing, a farmer spraying pesticides on the crops, and fishing traps. We saw several hippo families, a variety of birds (Cormorants, Sacred Ibis, Egyptian Geese, the Great White Egret, including many African Fish Eagles and two eagles’ nests, King Fisher, Black Headed Clover and ducks), waterbucks and a baboon sitting on a rooftop.
Stop two: Crescent Island
The guide then took us over to Crescent lake where we were met by another guide who gave us a tour of the island. Crescent Island was made famous by the movie Out of Africa this was the location where the movie was filmed. While on the island, we saw Defassa Waterbuck, Masaai ostriches (one of which pecked at my green jacket), Dik-dik antelopes, vervet monkeys, zebras, impala, Thompson gazelles, snails, wildebeest and a hippopotamus that came onto the island.
Stop Three: Return boat ride
Before boating far from the island, we were taken by boat to the other end of the island that was very wet to see the giraffes including a mother and her baby as seen above. While on the way back, we saw African jicani birds and the African fishing eagle. Then the guide asked Eli if he wanted to drive a small motorboat. Eli had a great time learning how to work the motor and took us back to land. Overall, the entire boat trip and island walk took a little over three hours. We did not feel at all rushed and all had a wonderful experience! We would highly recommend spending a few days in this region!
All the best,
Alexis
