Friday, December 29, 2017

At the Top of the Ngong Hills

For anyone who has seen the classic film "Out of Africa," it's hard to forget Meryl Streep's recurring line as Karen Blixen: "I had a farm in Africa, at the foot of the Ngong Hills." Well, we finally hiked the Ngong Hills - all seven of them (though it seemed like many more than seven)! You can tell the photo above was taken at the beginning of the hike, because neither of us is limping or drenched in sweat or sunburnt.

We paid a small entrance fee and then booked a security guard, which is recommended because of the potential threat of both wild animals and thieves. Fortunately, we came across neither, but it was nice to have the peace of mind that came with a guard.

The hills were fairly windy, so it made sense that they had windmills. These are the first I've seen in Kenya. The landscape was generally amazing, especially because it had been raining enough in the preceding weeks for the hills to be beautifully verdant.

Seriously, the views made the whole three-hour hike worth it. Even though we went on a Saturday, it wasn't crowded at all, either. We even had plenty of options to choose from for our hilltop picnic.

It's easy to see why churchgoers come to the Ngong Hills to worship. We even saw a group of worshippers beating a large drum, singing praises, reciting scriptures, and dancing their way across the hills together while we were there. What was most impressive was that even older members of the party and those without proper shoes or even some barefoot participants happily joined the hike! I was blown away by their strength and faith.

Hiking Ngong Hills was definitely a special experience that I would recommend to anyone in Nairobi who loves nature and a good workout! Thanks to our dear friend R, who made this day out his last request before leaving Kenya.

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