The Loita Hills are one of Kenya’s last remaining ‘true wilderness’ areas. There are no roads, tracks or footpaths, and the likelihood of our seeing anyone else on the trek is remote. Indeed our only other companions will be the wild game that inhabits the grasslands and montane forests of this remote region. Where appropriate, we will be walking along game trails and in the late afternoons may move from the ridge tops, down into the valley in search of suitable campsites. Nights are generally spent camped next to cool streams that rise in these hills and on leaving the next morning, the only evidence of our passing should be a small circle of ash and a few fire blackened rocks marking the place we had the camp fire and cooked the evening meal.
Starting at an Altitude of about 2,200m, we walk, carrying all our own food and camping equipment, east, through Savannah grasslands, climbing as we do so to about 2,400m. At some point we will enter the “mist forests” of the central area. These forests are sustained by the ability of the trees, bushes, lichens and mosses to extract moisture from the clouds that cloak the whole region most mornings. Underfoot the ground is moist and springy with slowly decaying vegetation, whilst above us, the forest trees provide a haven for monkeys, turaco and other forest birds seen but seldom elsewhere.
The weight carried by each client on the first day is about 20 kg, with packs becoming lighter each day as food is eaten, to end at around 10kg on the last day of the walk. Total distance covered – about 45 kilometres.
Of the forest mammals, the most conspicuous will be the beautiful black and white Colobus monkeys, but troops of Sykes and Vervet monkey will add their alarm cries to those of the Crowned Eagles, and other birds which fly within the forest. With luck, we may encounter those silent giants of Africa – the Elephant, but more probably the only evidence of their presence will be their spoor and droppings together with those of Buffalo, forest Antelope, and more rarely, Lion, Leopard and Hyena.
During the walk, because of the unspoilt virgin nature of the wilderness, we try to take a different route on each expedition. This implies that the terrain conditions are generally unknown and may vary considerably during each day, with good game trails being followed for a couple of hours, succeeded by areas of seemingly impenetrable jungle. Here progress may be difficult with giant nettles, vines and lianas and thorns adding to the challenges of the walk. Navigation is by use of map, compass and altimeter, and a portable VHF airway band radio is carried for use in any possible emergency.
Day 1
From Nairobi, a three hour drive westwards, brings us to the township of Narok. Here we will have a snack lunch and a drink before continuing for another two hours to the upper grassland plateau of the Loita Hills. Our walk starts from near the Masaai village of Morijo, and from here we will walk east and then south for about 3 hours till we reach a suitable campsite by a permanent stream. Dinner, as on each subsequent night, will be cooked over an open camp fire.
Day 2
After an early breakfast we cut up the east side of the valley and so into the start of the forests proper. Game trails are followed when ever possible. Note: because we use a different route through the forest each time, the difficulty of the terrain we will be crossing will not be known from one kilometre to the next. This night’s camp is made after a long drop into one of the valleys. Alternatively your guide and one volunteer will drop down into the valley to collect the night’s water requirements whilst the camp is set up on the ridge top.
Day 3
Still in the forests for a couple of hours, often quite hard going with fewer game trails to follow. By mid morning though, the area should be getting somewhat dryer as we approach the first escarpment dropping down into the Great Rift Valley. Suddenly it’s open grasslands and rapidly we descend to the floor of this middle plateau and our camp on the Entosopia River. Good swimming and spectacular views. (usually the same camp for each crossing)
Day 4
Mid morning departure, walking along the edge of the escarpment towards where we will follow an old Land Rover track down to the Rift Valley floor. Vehicles will meet us at a convenient point. The drive back to Nairobi will then take us across soda flats of Lake Magadi, the largest soda lake in the world and so back across the Great Rift to arrive in Nairobi by early evening.
Equipment required by the client is minimal.- Stout walking shoes, socks. T shirt and shorts, long pants and long sleeved shirt, warm jumper and waterproof jacket, bush hat and tooth brush being about all. Please do not bring any scented cosmetics. We provide sleeping mat, bag and tent. All food, and cooking equipment and of course our professional guide/s.