Kenya cardio

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For many, Kenya’s combination of wild animals, rough roads and multi-tribal society offers enough adventure for any visit. Others need a little more to make their hearts race to the max. Richard Trillo, author of The Rough Guide to Kenya, samples eight of Kenya’s best ways to energise your safari. Rock climbing and mountaineering While the ice-capped Mount Kenya may be the second highest mountain in Africa, it has the most challenging summit to climb on the continent. Yes, there’s serious mountaineering to be done above the game-dotted plains thousands of metres below. You can of course eschew ice axes and ropes, and do the popular five-day trek to the Point Lenana, the third highest point on the mountain, rather than tackling the cruel technical routes up the extinct volcano’s dual summits, Batian and Nelion. Numerous less chilly rock climbing venues, offering a variety of walls and crags, are found everywhere from Hell’s Gate National Park in the Rift Valley to the Mount Poi in the nation’s north. With a site at Lukenya, just 40km from Nairobi, there are more than 200 routes within an hour of the capital. Mountain Club of Kenya (www.mck.or.ke) offers the best advance contacts, as well as the chance to hook up with others or join up on MCK trips. Temporary (even daily) membership is available. Diving off the reef The sheltered lagoon between the beach and the reef on Kenya’s Indian Ocean coast has some of the best and easiest snorkelling in the world. But you’ve done that: you floated, transfixed, five metres above the seabed as shoals of brilliant fish scudded around you in every direction, in every hue. You’re craving more: you want to dive. Beyond those foaming waves on the edge of the reef exists a world accessible only to scuba divers, inhabited by whale sharks, hammerheads, dolphins and swordfish. If you’ve not done this before, Kenya is the perfect launch pad, with plenty of pools beneath palm trees where you can don the tanks and take a PADI course (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) with several dives included. There are facilities all along the coast. Aqua Ventures (www.diveinkenya.com) at Watamu are recommended. For information on Kenya’s whale sharks, visit East African Whale Shark Trust (www.giantsharks.org). Whitewater rafting For rafting fans, Kenya wouldn’t seem an obvious choice, as its lakes and ocean coast, rather than its rivers, are its most heralded waters. But, assuming you visit when they’re in spate, the thundering coffee-coloured waters of the Tana and the Athi, both rushing down from the Central Highlands, offer first-class whitewater action. You’ll find grade V rapids, as well as stretches of peaceful calm when you can adjust your lifejacket and watch 200-odd species of birds. Plus, the Athi runs through Tsavo East National Park, so encounters with hippo, croc and others are likely if not certain. Savage Wilderness Safaris (www.whitewaterkenya.com) is Kenya’s pioneer whitewater operator. Bungee jumping over the Tana You’re thinking of a balloon trip and you’ve considered whitewater rafting and diving. Wait, why not combine all three? Fix elastic cords around your ankles and leap, screaming, into space, 60m above a foaming river. Good plan, and you can do it in Kenya, but will you? You either get the point of bungee jumping, or you don’t. If you struggle to jump from the 5m board at your local pool, it’s probably not for you. If you tend to assume you’re immortal, that danger is a relative concept, and you don’t recall exactly what insurance cover you have, then maybe it is. There’s a moment though, just before that first jump, when your whole body is bellowing NO!, and you have to insist on the rule of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter. Kenya’s only bungee jump is operated by Bungeewalla Ltd, based at Savage Wilderness Safaris’ main Sagana River Base camp. Ballooning over the Mara Up, up and away… There’s something old fashioned and a bit Heath Robinson about balloons – loco locomotion that doesn’t quite stack up. But one flame-blasting, gut-lifting, eye-storming ride above the early morning tropical forest fringing the Mara river will have you forming a second opinion to stick with for the rest of your life. This is what the vultures see while they’re wheeling above the plains alert for telltale movements. You’ll watch snorting hippos, loping giraffe, lions on a kill – it’s an intoxicating experience. Adventures Aloft (www.madahotels.com/balloon) and Governors’ Camp (www.governorscamp.com) offer daily flights from $385, including a bush breakfast after you’ve landed. Skydiving over the beach Most years, there’s a skydiving ‘boogie’ at Diani Beach in November, when more than 100 parachutists from around the world gather at one of the resort hotels, then head out to the local airstrip at Ukunda to make a dozen targeted drops above the coral sands from 4000m. Dropping from a plane that’s already heading for earth at close to the speed of gravity is a surprisingly relaxing experience. If you’ve got your licence, join in and show off to the tourists and locals gathered below. If not, you can sign up for a tandem free fall – Kenya army paratroopers with a minimum 1000-drop experience provide the equipment and oversight. Skydiving in Kenya is addictive, warm updrafts ensuring it offers some of the longest free falls available, with a full sixty seconds not uncommon. Skydive Kenya (www.skydivekenya.com) has full details of the next boogie, plus contact info for skydiving elsewhere in Kenya. Mountain biking in the Rift Valley People have been mountain biking in Kenya for more than twenty years (the first edition of The Rough Guide to Kenya was researched on a mountain bike in 1984). However, biking’s popularity didn’t really take off until the advent of charity bike rides and when Nairobi operators started to offer trips. For sheer exhilaration, there’s nothing to beat the 40-minute descent into the Rift Valley above Naivasha. And once down on the plains in Hell’s Gate National Park, you can ride trails through the savannah as impala and zebra canter out of your way. Similar experiences can be had at the Kigio Wildlife Sanctuary and several other reserves where the big predators aren’t regular visitors. You can hire bikes in many places, but to ride in more remote areas with backup, contact Bike Treks (www.biketreks.co.ke) or Escape Adventures (www.escapeadv.com).

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