Doug: Heavenly landscapes in Hell’s Gate

Not a bad parking spot

Last weekend I made the trek to Hell’s Gate National Park with a few friends. Hell’s Gate is about an hour and a half from downtown Nairobi via Matatu, near the town of Naivasha (one of the central locations of the post-2007 election violence actually).

Sheer rock face that we biked up to the base of

On Friday morning we left taking two matatu’s to Naivasha, and then a motorbike from Naivasha to our hostel which was a beautiful backpacker’s place on lake Naivasha. The rest of the one night trip was our day-long biking into the park. The pictures speak for themselves. These were some of the most breathtaking landscapes I’ve seen in my entire life.

Fun fact: Rumor has it that Hell’s Gate is where priderock from the Lion King was based off of. (Though I’m pretty sure multiple parks claim this).

Clouds like the ones from Toy Story rolling across the savannah

We spent the day biking (mine broke halfway through the park and I had to walk it back to the entrance. At least I had these views to keep me occupied…). We then went back to our hostel, chilled on the dock, and had a bonfire. We went back to Nairobi in the morning. A short but sweet trip.

Back on the dock of our hostel on Lake Naivasha

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