In the mouth of the mountain

The gust of wind hits with such force that had I been standing any closer to the rim of the crater, I would have toppled into it.

“The Maasai call the mountain Ol Donyo Onyoike,” says Chachuu, our Maasai guide, who works for Mount Suswa Conservancy. “It means the mountain of red and yellow ochre.” It’s the mud paste that morans use to decorate their bodies with.

It’s been quite a drive up to the base of the crater – one of the most spectacular in the world. Lava stones spewed out for centuries litter the mountain.

There’s fine dust and eroded gulleys where the land has been overgrazed by the livestock. Whistling thorns weather the strong sun and in the midst, a Kori bustard stomps the ground in search of snakes or scorpions.

I’m with Peter Wairasho and Charles Mwangi, two keen birders who started Onsight Expeditions for local day tours for people wanting to discover more.

Wairasho points to a white-bellied bustard and an eastern pale-chanting goshawk while the beautiful Thomson’s gazelles gambol on the plains.

It’s an amazing drive uphill, full of lavish landscapes of the Great Rift Valley, one of the youngest geological features on earth – hence the white steam escaping from the active earth of the shield volcano.

Maasai homesteads dot the inside of the crater that’s a vast plain of grass and steam vents being channeled into drums and stored as condensed water. Suddenly the earth drops and we’re looking at another crater within the crater.

“It’s a unique caldera in the crater,” says Jeremiah, the warden of the conservancy. “And that is an island in the crater with a moat circling it.” Across the crater, we can see the faint line of the Kinangop plateau and the Aberdares.

The jagged jaw of the caldera with two peaks rising to the sky is spectacular. “The Island crater has a diameter of five kilometres,” says Mwangi.

HIKE BEGINS...

We begin our hike. The higher we get, the cooler it gets. It’s a struggle for me as the path gets steeper but the guys keep encouraging me.

A piercing cry from the skies has Mwangi looking up. It’s the crowned eagle, Africa’s most powerful raptor.

It may be roosting in the island crater because they are forest residents,” he says.

The rest of the group is nowhere in sight, and probably at the second peak from where they get a 360-degree view of the world including Lake Magadi in the horizon.

Mwangi and I stop at the first peak to enjoy the crater within the crater. A Lanner falcon sprints in flight – one of the fastest birds on earth. In the bushes, jewel-like sunbirds – the amethyst and variable – flit about. Then we see a trio of African harrier hawks high and the augur buzzard flying on line with the crater rim.

Five hours later, we’re back at base with aching feet. From the highs of the peaks, it’s into the belly of the caves. Huge fig trees stand by the cave openings.

There are two – we enter one and the hollow tunnel gets solid dark. We’re walking on the guano of the bats that roost in the lava tunnels.

Huge blocks of stones litter the ground where the roof has caved in allowing the light to flood in. This maze of tunnels is one of the world’s most complex system of lava tubes.

With his head-torch on, Wairasho points to the leopard’s lair where the secretive cat watches from the inside, the baboon’s parliament where the speaker is absent, and at one point, the long roots of a tree below and the trunk above. It’s pure art.

Stepping out in the light again, someone spots a Verreaux’s eagle soaring against the bright blue sky. It likes its crater cliffs and feeds primarily on hyraxes.

Much as I would have liked to have waited for the African wild dogs to show up, our Maasai guides tell us they usually appear after visitors leave. It’s the one animal I yet have to see.

The evening sun throws beautiful light on Mount Longonot from across Suswa, its crater and lava ridges etched on the side. Then we’re driving along the edge of the escarpment looking at the mountain that we scaled.

Scaling Suswa

 The crater of Mount Suswa is 125 km from Nairobi. You will need a four-wheel drive. To reach the 2,356-metre summit is very doable for a reasonably fit person.

You can camp there at Sh500 per person per night if you have to carry your food and camping gear. Entry to the conservancy is Sh 500 per person.

Log on to www.onsightexpeditions.com for an update on local excursions. For more on Mount Suswa log on to www.conservationafrica.org.