Hiking Monkey Rock

“Hazel do you want to come on a hike to Monkey Rock?  It’s just a short stroll, maybe half an hour, and then we can have a picnic on the top.”

This was how it began…

It was lucky the weekend before we all cancelled due to lack of sleep and too much alcohol consumption the night before.

The 11am pick up to start the hike turned into a 12.30pm pick up, in true African style.  There were 7 of us in total.  Soon it became clear than in fact a half hour walk was going to be more like a 5 hour walk and was actually the tallest mountain surrounding Kisumu that I see beautiful sun rises from my bedroom window.

We arrived at a sugar plantation farm and it was decided that we needed a guide.   

So we set off in midday sun thinking, “it’s not that far, it won’t be too hard a hike.”  After the first half an hour walk through high sugar cane fields, it was clear it was going to be a long walk.  My poor friend Jay having only had 4 hours sleep and a few drinks the night before was already looking like he had just had a shower.  “No you guys go ahead; I’ll just wait for you here.”  We did not let this happen.

It was hot but the climb was good, not just a boring path to follow but clambering over rocks and plenty of lush vegetation to push past, not to mention the evil thorn bushes.  Even from near the bottom of the hill the views over the sugar plantations and back towards Kisumu and Lake Victoria were impressive.  It was one of those days where the haze never lifted and gave the feeling of a serene aura. 

As we walked into the first valley we started to see the rural communities and the traditional housing.  Small groups of cattle were grazing and chickens running around followed by their noisy chicks, which are the necessary for these small farming communities to survive.  The rocks covered in colourful clothes and bedding, drying in the afternoon sun.

Our guide was quite an old man and I am unsure as to how well he knew the way.  As we carefully crossed a field of corn it became clear he was in fact being directed by the small children from the local communities.  Naturally these children began to follow us. 

At the bottom of the Monkey Rock there was a cave, where it was said cow sacrifice happened.  However we all discussed that it would be hard to get a cow inside in the first place.  African guides do like to make up creative stories.

Finally after a 3 hour climb we had reached the top of Monkey Rock.  There was a local family relaxing, enjoying the Sunday afternoon.  As usual we were a source of entertainment for them and they thought all of us came from London, even though none of us did!  We squeezed through the rock out onto a ledge.  The view was unbelievable, the best from the hills around Kisumu I have seen yet.  I had no idea just how flat the land was and how much sugar cane was being farmed in the area surrounding Kisumu.  The plantations seemed to go on forever.

The drop from the ledge was pretty big, so we laid down to look over the edge.  Luckily we did spot one monkey, way way below.  So the name of the rock was not in vain.

The climb back down definitely made us realise how tired our legs were.  Naturally I was the one to fall over and take a chunk out of the palm of my hand and replace it with the cow dung I had landed on.  There was a small sense of urgency to get back to the car, as the sun was setting.  On the equator the sun sets very fast, you have about half an hour at most from light to dark.  I did not want to be on that mountain in dark and none of us had brought more clothes or more water.  The colours on the mountain and the sugar cane fields were brilliant for my photography as the sun went down.  We all managed to arrive back to the car at 7pm just as the sun disappeared.

Half an hour hike was in fact 6 hours…… 

Advice for other hikers about Monkey Rock…

1.       Set of early, maybe 8am.

2.       Take at least 1.5L water per person.

3.       Wear long trousers to avoid thorns.

4.       Definitely get a guide.

5.       Most importantly take a camera for the spectacular views.