I can only describe the Kenya Tri-Adventure as a “trip of a lifetime”! It is a fantastic experience, a little tough at times but very doable and worth all the effort. Dare I say, the best trip that I have done with Earth’s Edge, and that’s with over 25 trips!
The Tri-Adventure is a trip made up of trekking, cycling and rafting. You spend 4 days climbing Mount Kenya, two days cycling through Kenya, one-day rafting on the Tana river and wild camping on the mountain and in a wildlife park. Rural Kenya is truly amazing; fantastic scenery, friendly people and immense wildlife.
Leg 1: Climbing Mount Kenya
We arrived at our river camp mid-afternoon. When I say river camp, I mean, a beautiful site with riverside houses, BBQ areas and a hub of adventure activities. We busy ourselves with expedition preparations, a delicious dinner, cool beers and an early night.
Day 1 starts with a drive to the Mt. Kenya trailhead. We began on a bus and then switched to a jeep as the roads turned to mud and increased in gradient. We arrived at the trail, stretched our legs, had some lunch and began our climb. Four and a half days trekking on this amazing mountain did not disappoint. Our route took us over streams, close to powerful waterfalls, through luscious vegetation and on up to the arid rocky landscape of the peaks.
Every day was different, and we camped beside lakes on two different occasions. As with every big mountain, our summit walk started very early with a wake-up call at 2.30 am and we were all standing on the top by 7.30am having watched the sunrise on the way up. A clear morning ensured fantastic views of Kenya and Mt. Kilimanjaro. Climbing Mt. Kenya at a quiet time of year, we had the summit to ourselves. Amazing.
Leg 2: Cycling
Our last morning hiking on the mountain brought us to the park gate where we met our bikes. We got no rest here I’m afraid, but at least it was downhill! We cycled for 45 km on mostly dirt roads, through villages and farms. Great fun and we finished at the gate to the Ol Pejeta Conservancy. Just when we thought it couldn’t get any better… it did!
We got back on our cycle support bus and drove through the park to our campsite. Along the way, there was wildlife everywhere and to our surprise, we arrived at our wild campsite right in the middle of the park.
We had a water supply, fire pit, dry toilets but other than that; we were totally exposed to whatever walked our way! We had to ask the elephants to leave so that we could set up camp!
We sat around the fire having our BBQ dinner the park came to life, and we heard lions, hyenas, elephants, and hippos close to the campsite. I can tell you that there was a lot of nervous laughter as we headed to the tents for the night! This was justified the next morning when we discovered that the hippos, hyenas and buffalo came for a little visit during the night! Tracks everywhere!
Following an early morning cup of tea at 6 am, we headed out for our dawn safari – yet another treat of amazing wildlife. We saw baboons, lions, giraffes, and elephants (including baby elephants).
We returned to camp for cooked breakfast, more tea and then we were back on the bikes again for another 45 km or so. A bit of a tougher day, but equally as interesting as the day before. Once we had congratulated ourselves on completion of phase 2 of our adventure, we got back on road (in the support bus). We welcomed the sight of our riverside camp from the first night and enjoyed hot showers and another delicious meal.
Leg 3: White Water Rafting
The final phase saw us on the river for a full morning of excitement on the rafts. Our guides told us tall stories of snakes, spiders, hippos, and crocs but the reality was a morning of adventure, thrills and laughter. P.S. snakes, spiders, hippos and crocs are a very big rarity on this section of the river. Our celebratory dinner and party, unfortunately, concluded the trip and all everyone could say was “I wish there were a few more days left”!
I couldn’t finish this Blog without mentioning the fantastic group of people that signed up for the Kenya Tri-Adventure. A mix of ages and genders and motivations but all having the one goal… to laugh a lot! Everyone certainly rose to the challenge and the lovely aspect of multi-adventure is that everyone has different strengths. What a great bunch of people. A truly great experience.
Expedition Leader: Louise Lawrence
Expedition Doctor: Mark Willis
How to book your own Kenya Tri-Adventure
If you want to have your own Kenyan expedition, you can book a trip with us here.
