Wheeling it in hell

• RUPI MANGAT spends time with a group of enthusiastic Kenyans out to raise funds for Hell’s Gate national park in a very innovative way

With beads of sweat on their faces and sinewy veins pulsating, the contestants push their wheelbarrows through the volcanic soils of Hell’s Gate, the ash carpeted National Park by Mt Longonot which erupted in the early 1900s.

“Hell’s Gate National Park is a miniature Rift Valley,” enthuses Sarah Higgins, one of the principal architects of the wheelbarrow race. “It’s got the cliffs, the plains and the gorge.” It’s also got the hot water geysers, steam vents, obsidian caves and the geothermal station that lights the nation making the park an invaluable natural resource for the country.

The five kilometre race starts at Fisher’s Tower, the iconic rubble of rocks stretching high into the air, a favourite with rock climbers – and winds its way along the high, bare cliffs through to Quarry Hill, the plains and back to Fisher’s Tower. Of course, to give more hell to the wheelers, there are hazards thrown in like the muddy puddles and the uphills and downhills.

“This park has no water,” says Nelly Kendagor, who’s not just a pretty face for a park warden but also apt at combat. “And so we have to bring in water for the animals and that costs money.” Besides that there’s the issue of the increasing bushmeat trade with poachers putting their snares along the boundaries and anywhere else they can reach. This calls for more patrols and well-trained rangers.

It takes an hour for the first duo to make it through the finishing line amidst great cheering. On hand to meet the winners are the KWS director Julius Kipn’getich and the chairman of the KWS board of trustees, Hon. David Mwiraria.

“It’s said that heaven and hell are on earth,” jokes the director. “All you have to do is take the right turn,” he says metaphorically.

“KWS is bringing partners together for conservation,” he continues. “Hell’s Gate National Park has the potential to supply 2,000 megawatts to the national grid.”

At the moment, Kengen the principal extractor of the geothermal energy supplies 1,200 megawatts to the nation. “This park is their lifeline,” states the director, referring to Kengen and Kenya Power and Lighting Company as he acknowledges their cheques. “Next year, we want to triple the crowd and double the funds raised. We will also have a fundraising event in every park to bring communities together for conservation.”

“This is one of the most exciting parks in the country,” says Nelly. “You can go rock climbing, horse riding, cycling and walking as the animals watching you. And we’ve got all the animals here except for the rhino.”

I think she’s forgotten to add elephants and cheetah to the list for these wild animals have not been recorded in the park for decades, when she gives me the surprising news. “We had four cheetah sighted this year as well as elephants.

“The elephants come once a year for a sleep over,” she tells me. If it wasn’t the warden telling me this with Sarah to reinforce the statement, I would not have believed this. “The elephants come from the Mara, through Suswa and Naivasha and spend a night here. But then they track back and we follow closely to ensure that they have safe passage and nobody gets hurt. We think they are following an ancient migratory route to the Aberdares but when they reach here they cannot go any further because of the settlements blocking their route.”

One of the things on the wish-list for the fundraisers is to be able to have the corridor between Hell’s Gate and Longonot National parks for the animals to migrate.

With time to spare, we drive up the cliffs to Naiburta campsite. It’s unbelievable panorama. From the high vantage point, the Mau range shows over on my right, ahead is the Elephant hill – the southern end of the Aberdares with the Kinangop Plateau a tier below and jutting from behind Fisher’s Tower is the jagged tooth of the Longonot.

“You can also see vultures from the vulture hide,” says Sarah. The vulture hide or the vulture restaurant as it’s been nicknamed has special glass where you can see the birds feeding at close quarters but the birds can’t see you.

The vulture hide was built a few years ago when an attempt was made to reintroduce the lammergeyers or the bearded vultures from Ethiopia.