Nguruman Escarpment-Of Scenic views and questioning the sanity of my
new hobby
By Joy Owango
As new year resolutions go, mine was quite ambitious. Mountain climbing. As I
purposefully checked my list on 1st January 2013, I had no clue where to begin and I was
still questioning the sanity of my decision. So ten months and several hikes , torturous
climbs later and swearing not to whine thanks to my new found ‘hobby’. I organized my
first meet ( MCK jargon for an organized hike)- Nguruman ,and as rookies go, needless to
say I had no clue where it was, is an understatement. Actually it was the first time I heard of
it, thanks to my previous myopic city slacker, high heeled, technology managed life, where a
good idea of going out was having a salad in my favorite restaurant, preferably checking
the latest news on my ipad .
So step one was GOOGLE. Where was Nguruman? Turns out I had passed it several
times…on my way to Lake Magadi, which is about 110 kms from Nairobi and is on the
southernmost region in the Kenyan Rift Valley. According to Google, the Nguruman
Escarpment forms the western boundary of Kenya’s Rift Valley to the south near the border
with Tanzania. Upon reaching Magadi town, you go South away from Magadi Soda
Company . The journey to Nguruman is a mixture of scenery beginning with the expected
dry scrubland , that comes with the dry climate experienced in the region and lakebeds
of Trona mined by Lake Magadi Soda Company .
One hours’ drive later ( Yes, it’s one main macadam road to Nguruman), you get to
Nguruman Shopping Centre and the vegetation drastically changes and so does the
climate. The weather is cooler and the vegetation is lush and leafy thanks to Entasopia
River. There are several campsites available at the shopping centre, some managed by
Kenya Wildlife Service and International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology ( ICIPE).
We settled at the Cool Waters Camp, which
is about 5 kms from the shopping centre.
The simple camp is nestled under a canopy
of trees and has a stream that feeds into
Entasopia River. A much needed relief after
driving through up to 35 degrees of hot,
dusty, dry weather. Joel, our guide and the
owner of the camp said that the camp is on
five out of 20 acres of his ancestral land and
my only advise to him was, “ I understand
you are Maasai and this is your land , so , is
Nairobi, but, you need to get a title deed !”
The following day at 8:00am we went
hiking and our goal was climb Entasopia
Hill and get to the Entasopia
River
Waterfalls. The hike from the camp takes
you through a river crossing and begins
with a gentle climb, which gradually gets
steep and there was nothing as humbling as
seeing the Maasai from Entasopia
Community (which is based on the top the
hill) climb up and down the trail with such
ease, as they took livestock to the market or
were simply herding.
6 hours and several breaks later we collapsed at the summit of Entasopia Hill against the
majestic backdrop of the Rift Valley.
We were 5kms as the crow flies
and
at
an
elevation
of
approximately 1,300 metres.
Next stop was the Entasopia
River Waterfall a five minute
walk from the summit.
One had to abseil about 50 metres to the base of the waterfalls. Edging down the sheer
drop into the falls, clinging for dear life, was not my cup of tea. As mentioned earlier in this
story, I am still a rookie and even though the Oxford dictionary defines abseiling as ,
‘controlled descent down a rock face using a rope.’ I panicked, let everyone in our group go
down, tried it, Joel held my hand at some point, almost wailed , quickly scrambled back up
and went to the summit. Getting back down was easier and I made up for my swim in the
Entasopia falls by dunking myself in the first river crossing, when we began our hike. Will
I do it again? Of course I will… though I need some help abseiling, if I am to enjoy the
waterfalls.
Team Nguruman
The author