One Hell of a Birthday

I quite possibly had the best weekend of my entire life. Kevin, Peter and I stayed at a hotel next to Hell's Gate National Park. The three of us rented bicycles at the hotel to tour the park, 2 of which broke down almost immediately upon riding them. Despite about an hour of figuring out the logistics of returning old bikes and getting new ones, it was all so worth it in the end.

Upon entering the park we immediately encountered multiple families of very large baboons. When we stopped to take some photos, many of them ran like the devil up the cliffs, making very audible monkey noises in the process. I felt like I was in two movies at once, Jurassic Park and Planet of the Apes. It was pretty wild biking within a few feet of baboons.

As we pedaled ahead, the view before us was stunning. The entire landscape was wide open. The sun was shining elegantly over the large jagged cliffs. Huge grasslands were smothered with zebras, warthogs, bulls and sprinting gazelles. For your information, seeing gazelles sprint in herds is not a pleasant experience when you are biking in the wild. You can't help but wonder which carnivore they might be running from. Turns out they were just playing. Goats have a sense of humor, gazelles play - I am learning a lot here.

As we rode through the park, zebras often crossed 15 feet in front of our route. Large warthogs loomed in the bushes 10 feet from our wheels. A group of angry looking bulls stared at us as they blocked our path ahead. At this point I questioned whether or not this trip was a good idea. Luckily for us, the bulls kept moving onward, although a few of them kept giving us the evil eye.

Soon after the bull encounter, we came across five tall giraffes grazing upon a shorter tree. It was absolutely stunning to see these giraffes in their natural habitat. We snapped a few photos, but quickly figured out how camera shy the tall beast can be. Within a few moments they scurried away. Kevin and I have an absolutely amazing picture of the two of us on some rocks with giraffes in the background. It will be framed in the near future.

Several miles later, we came across the famous gorges. All three of us hopped off of the bikes, and followed a tour guide through treacherous paths nestled in between narrow cliffs and slippery rocks upon many creeks. It involved a lot of jumping, climbing, running, and hanging on. It also involved a lot of fear. After the gorge tour we started riding home.

The ride home was grueling. It was nearly all uphill, and we had about 7 miles ahead and not enough time before dark to ride through it leisurely. We were even told that leopards come out at night as it starts to cool. I did not want to come across a leopard. I hear they like to eat people.

The bike ride was a total of about 17 miles round trip. Our body's were in a state of utter exhaustion. It felt great though, and I hadn't ever experienced anything like that ride before. I will never forget Hell's Gate. It was by far the most amazing thing I have ever done.

After a brief nap and a Kenyan dinner, we made our way to the bar and nightclub. The three of us had a ball at the bar, then toasted to my birthday at midnight. We then stumbled around towards the nightclub named, "Green Houze." It is open until 6 in the morning and blasts African tunes until that time. The dance floor was flooded with smooth-movers, and surrounded by two white guys who couldn't dance to save their lives. The D.J stopped his tunes to wish me a happy birthday. After many a Tusker and thousands of sweat drops from dancing, we exited the bar to get some sleep. It was one of the greatest nights I have ever had.

On the ride back home Kevin and I purchased two goat-skin bongo drums for only 1500 shillings each (19 dollars). They are incredibly beautiful and will be wonderful to drum with while we listen to local Kenyan music on the Indian Ocean next week! We both love the music here!

Thanks again for reading about my adventure here! I will leave you with a brief list of things you may all find interesting.



1. Last night a drunk Kenyan man walked up to me and said "Fuck America." He then flicked me off and ran off to the night club. I wish he had given me the time to say thank you.

2. A local matatu here had a huge picture of Osama Bin Laden on the back of it, in addition to large letters displaying "OSAMA" on the front hood.

3. Kevin and I purchased tons of souvenirs for friends and family back home. These gifts are so special. They were all handcrafted by a local man who lives in our small town. The things he makes are absolutely unbelievable. I can't wait to give them to you all when I get back home.


Stay tuned for more fun and adventures. We are only a third of the way through now, so the adventure has really just begun!


TOMMY