I had an adventurous experience at Mt. Suswa. I had read about seasonal roads during my school days but never imagined I would encounter them face to face. We could see the mountain but the route that led to it was somehow leading us away from it. The thrill of losing our way once in a while was both chilling and fun at the same time. Nevertheless, with our determined spirit, finally, there it was – a breath-taking scenery filled our eyes!
Why do we build houses or prune our flowers? Let nature be, live in the wild!!
I say this with a scare down my spine. Rumours were going around that there were leopards amidst the thicket. Luckily we had a maasai among us – you know what they say about them and the wild. I had to draw energy from my team nearby – like a teenage ploy where boys walk in groups to approach a girl yet singly they would not even dare. I wouldn’t have trod that path alone. With notes of collective bravery and help from a local guide (the maasai), we started the journey up the mountain.
Mt. Suswa has three peaks. The highest peak is at 2357m. To cover all peaks, you need a full day’s journey and a filled stomach (that’s a must). It is not as steep, therefore by the first peak you won’t be as sweaty. If you are unfit and heavy bodied, then profusely sweating is the natural order of any journey you take here.
As someone who cares about nature, the only dissatisfying fact in this area is the invasion of the mountain by the locals. They sometimes overgraze their animals and burn the trees for charcoal, which makes it lose its natural order just a bit. Everything else is fine though. We had started our journey late (left Nairobi close to 10am then add that to missing our better entrance route, Oh! and the car broke down a bit. you need a 4X4 on these routes) so we couldn’t complete to the last peak – how unfortunate! The exercise was otherwise very refreshing at the end of it all. I remember sleeping in pain that night. After a hot shower the following morning, I felt reborn again – literally. We should camp there sometime. I think I saw a camping space on our way up the mountain…so, SHALL WE?
