|
|
Walking on Chyulu Hills
Day 1
Depart Nairobi around 0800, for the 3 hour drive down the Mombasa road to
Kibwezi. Here we will leave the tarmac, and take a dirt road, (probably
an optimistic term for it), for the 30 km to where we start walking to
the caves. First though, lunch of cold cuts, salads, bread and cheese,
cold beer or soft drink, then an hour walk to the entrance of the caves.
Afternoon spent exploring.
Day 2
Explore sections of one of the longest "Lava Tube" caves in the world -
Leviathan. These caves, which world-wide, are relatively rare, are
thought to have been formed when molten lava, of specific type and
viscosity flowed down a slope of a specific angle. The surface layer
cooled and solidified, but the lower part, still molten, continued to
flow on down. At this point, somewhere up the hillside a collapse of the
surface crust occurred through which air enters, and so a tube evacuated
itself just below the surface. Afternoon and the evening spent down in
the caves looking at some of the fascinating formations found therein -
Sink holes, lava ropes, stalagmites and stalactites, benches and of
course the secondary, water formed features.
Day 3
Early morning departure by road for the top of the Chyulu Hills. Superb
walking country with gently undulating grasslands, interspersed with
dense patches of forest. Possibility of viewing herds of eland and other
antelope, giraffe, zebra and wildebeest with slightly lesser chance to
see elephant, lion and buffalo and the other game that live in the area.
Probable views of Kilimanjaro just 50 km away. Night somewhere along the
crest. Probably cool and windy with low cloud in the early morning.
Day 4
Full day of walking
Day 5
Early morning game drive or short walk before a late breakfast / early
lunch . It's then along the crest road and down the western side of the
hills for the drive back to Nairobi arriving before nightfall. Options
are of course many and varied and in many cases we can be flexible about
the itinerary whilst we are actually on the safari. One may, for
instance, wish to spend an extra day caving (or cut out a day), thus
spend less time (or longer) walking the Chyulus.
Itinerary may be
varied from 3 - 7 or more days and is often combined with Athi River
rafting or a visit to Tsavo / Amboseli National Parks.
|
