On trips like these, I appreciate the ability pursuing passion and not profit has given me. While many other Nairobians were stuck in rain traffic or caught up in clouds of tear gas from anti-IEBC demonstrations, I was engulfed in fresh air and sandwiched by beautiful landscapes, in the company of great friends and amazing wildlife.

Mutua, Josh, Mumbi and I had decided to have a mid-week trip to Hell’s Gate National Park. As usual, before the roosters were up, we were on the A104, our lenses eager to lick the sun’s first rays at Kinale Forest.

We didn’t make it in time, but still made the best of the light we had.

We travelled in our reliable Subarus.

Mumbi and Mutua.

Josh shooting me shooting him. What if there was someone shooting me, shooting him, shooting me… Inception!

It was a day after the former Moi Day and I wore a tee from bONK to commemorate it.

After our memory cards had had their fill, we proceeded for breakfast at an out caffe.

Chaipati (chai and chapati) has consistently featured at Onetouch breakfast tables since 2011. We always seek out a new location to have it whenever we’re on the road.

After a lazy lunch in Naivasha, we proceeded to KenGen’s Geothermal Spa, a few metres from Hell’s Gate National Park’s Olkaria Gate.

This is one attraction in the Naivasha area that we were all happy to finally visit.

It is a pool that is heated by energy from the earth’s core. Taking a dip in this water is like being in a controlled hot spring, and very different from the doof mpararo that we’re used to. Little swimming takes place here though; most of the time you’ll just wade in the water, occasionally navigating away from sections of the pool that are too hot for comfort, especially near the inlet. Oddly, the water is mostly cold at the bottom. Some science teacher needs to explain this to me.

It was the most enjoyable 400/- experience I’ve had in a while.

We pitched our tents at under the cover of dark. Our plans to shoot star trails were thwarted by the same system of clouds that delivered heavy rain and hailstones to Nairobi.

Anyway, we had a 5.30am wake up time so an early night was very welcome.

A brilliant sunrise made up for the cloudy night before.

We latter dropped into the valley to catch more of the early light.

After we got a good dose of landscape photos, we turned our lenses on Hell’s Gate’s other attraction… wildlife!

With our cameras back in their bags, we sat down for a sumptuous breakfast of brewed coffee, Morendat beef sandwiches, and foil-baked eggs. It’s amazing what you can do with aluminium foil.

After cleaning up the campsite, we made our way back to the city, delighted to have made a random mid-week getaway from Nairobi’s chaos.

If it wasn’t for deciding to pursue passion and not profit in 2006, this random trip and blog post wouldn’t have happened. Giving up a monthly salary and picking up a camera because I loved taking photos is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

What’s yours?