Kilimombogo and 14 falls

14 Falls with Ol Donyo Sabuk in the background.

This last weekend, a few people wanted to come to Ukambani (Kamba land, the tribe from my area), and see the two “attractions” that are nearby. The Mountain is called Ol Donyo Sabuk (Masai for small mountain) or Kilimombogo (Kikuyu for buffalo mountain), both of which are relatively accurate. The summit is around 2100 meters, and is apparently home to almost 700 water buffaloes! On the signs and even on the website for Kenya Wildlife Service, they use the slogan “The Ultimate Panoramic Experience” for the mountain. We also had to hire an armed KWS guard to escort us to the top of the mountain, so we were really excited, and curious how many buffaloes we’d see. It was a 2.5 mile climb to the top and we didn’t see a single buffalo. We did see some vervet and colobus monkeys, but other than that not much in the animal department. We weren’t too disappointed though, we’ve all seen our share of water buffalo, so we were excited to see the summit and get the “ultimate panoramic experience.” We finally reached the top, and instead of being able to see in every direction, the trees wouldn’t even let you see anything at all! In fact the top of the mountain is home to about 15 different cell phone and communications towers and satellite boosters. So really we climbed to see a power station, hardly what we had expected. There were a few spots near the top where the view was really nice, you can see the Yatta plateau, and Athi river, all the way up to Masinga Dam and almost to Nairobi. Apparently on a clear day you can see Kilimanjaro and Mt. Kenya, but not today.

We descended feeling a little let down, but it was a nice hike, and we were feeling very ready for some refreshment. What could be more refreshing than jumping off a waterfall? 14 Falls is the other destination near my site. It’s not a national park, so you don’t have to pay a lot to get in, and it’s really pretty to look at even if you’re not inclined to make the leap. I was glad that some of the people who came didn’t jump, because they were able to take pictures of those of us who did. Since it hasn’t rained in a long time, the water level has gone down a lot since the last time I went there, and you could actually see the individual waterfalls whereas last time it was just one really wide one. So after a few jumps and dives, we dried off and headed back to another nearby volunteer’s site. He had a meat grinder and had also constructed a grill in his yard. We had a regular old-fashioned bar-b-que complete with shish-kebabs! I brought my homemade tortillas, guacamole, and a bottle of my pineapple wine, all of which were appreciated. I was glad it was a short trip, since last time I tried to travel in a Matatu with a bottle of my wine, the cork blew off and soaked my clothes. My hotel room smelled like yeasty-pineapple syrup for days. Not to mention how hard it was to get the smell out of my jeans.

It was a pretty amazing weekend, and as always, it was mostly amazing because I spent it with my friends. It’s interesting that, because we are alone at our sites for the majority of our time, when we do get together it’s cause for a great celebration. I wonder if I’ll miss that kind of friend binge and purge cycle.

Now it’s back to work, but since my organization has not been very active lately, I am trying to branch out and work with a local orphanage and I’m still trying to teach frisbee at the local boys high school. We’ll see if it catches on!