The Ruins of Gede and my journey to Mt Kenya

I made an early start to reach the ruins by 8am, and was rewarded by having the place to myself completely. The ruins of the ancient swahili town of Gede are set away in the forest near the coast. "Ancient" in these terms means 14th century, but they were left derelict in 15th century and were left untouched until 1940's.

The ruins are not that impressive in themselves but the atomsphere of the thick forest around them makes them eery and mysterious in the semi dark and humidity.

In the afternoon I managed to find my way to visit the Consulate Sisters in Likoni, near Mombassa and had a really lovely afternoon seeing their dispensary and nursery school. Thank you, Sister Lawrence, for your invitation to visit them- it was a wonderful rest bite in the middle of an epic journey from Lamu to Nanyuki.

After 4 bus journeys in the last 2 days- including overnight to Nairobi, and many more matatu and ferry rides, I finally arrived in Nanyuki in the Central Highlands at lunchtime today. I had already arranged a guide, called Simon (by recommendation from other travelers) to meet me at the bus stop- and thankfully his friendly face greeted me.

I set off tomorrow on a 5 day trip up Simorion Route and down Chorgoria Route. These two routes notoriously pass through the most beautiful scenery Mt Kenya has to offer. I’m really excited about doing the trek especially since I think the rest of the Ferraro’s will be bursting with jealously!! Am I right? anyway... wish me luck as this time of the year has the most unstable conditions so i hope i make it to the top.