Hiking the Ngong Hills.

He suddenly appeared in my line of vision as I crested the hill. His only attire was a pair of running shorts and sports shoes. He seemed to be enjoying himself as he passed me.

I was on my way back to Ngong from Kona Baridi and had been trudging uphill for a while. The relentless sun was having quite an effect on me.

After hiking for a while I caught sight of the windmills and knew I was that closer to completing my hike, all of 21 km.

OK, I took this earlier in the day when I started the hike :-)

The shirtless man passed me heading towards Ngong. “That was fast”, I thought to myself. By now there were more people than when I started my hike and he got quite a number of curious looks.

I remembered a conversation I had had with my friend and neighbor Patrick some years back at Washington Park, Winston-Salem. I mentioned to him that I found it odd that my next door neighbor always chose to go jogging when the day was hottest as opposed to me who chose to go very early in the morning.

He explained to me that she was probably interested in getting both a workout and a tan.

Could these be the same reasons why the shirtless man chose to go to Ngong Hills?

What are your reasons?

Perhaps you are trying to overcome “Zoom fatigue”. Yes, it is a thing.

Or you want to get a workout while at the same time communing with nature.

I discovered a bird’s nest in hole very close to the hiking trail.

On a recent hike I brought a trash bag with me and collected discarded plastic bottles, food wrappers, candy wrappers etc.

My trash haul

During the trash collecting session, I wandered off my usual hiking trail and discovered the grave of a Maasai Oloiboni (ruler) Olonana ole Mbatian.

Sadly it has not been spared the scourge of discarded trash. Nevertheless, I am sufficiently intrigued to research Olonana Ole Mbatian and share in a future article.

The word “Ngong” is a Maasai word derived from the word “enkong’u’ meaning “the ‘eye’ of water” or spring from where Rhinos came to drink water. Therefore, the original name of Ngong was “enchoro e’muny”, meaning the spring of the rhinos. Source: Wikipedia.

These days there is no evidence of rhinos but there is evidence of buffalos though you won’t see them.

Now that I have convinced you, what do you need for your hike, excursion, nature communing session etc.?

· Water (KFS has restrictions on single use plastic bottles) so you will need to bring your own water bottle.

· Snack

· Comfortable sneakers, hiking boots etc.

· Comfortable exercise clothes

· A light water proof sports coat

· A hat

Payment is via mpesa. No cash accepted

Be sure to visit the KFS website to learn more.

Ngong hills will not disappoint!