Lake Nakuru and Hells Gate ...

Today, we decided to take a private tour to Lake Nakuru and Hells Gate National Park, both of which are located in Africa's Great Rift Valley.

On the way to lake Nakuru we stopped at a view point which simply consisted of a shop and a toilet, which wasn't your conventional toilet; just a few planks of wood with a hole in it hanging over the cliff. The balcony that held the shops was just rickety slats that I doubted would even hold our weight. But, the views from there were amazing. You could see vast mountains, whole towns and wgat seemed like the entire rift valley.

After driving the 160km north of Nairobi, arriving in Nakuru town was an experience. It was really crowded and even our driver seemed a bit apprehensive. But, once we entered Lake Nakuru National Park we escaped the hordes of people staring at us.

The next morning we went on a quick game drive on the way to where we were staying and saw lots of baboons. Our accommodation was basic, but the location couldn’t have been better. It was in the middle of an open area so you could see warthogs running past the window.

In the late afternoon we went for another game drive and as the park is a conservation area for Rothschild giraffes, we got to see plenty of them, as well as rhinos, and we even had our first leopard sighting. Well, it’s tail anyway.

Lake Nakuru is best known for the thousands of flamingos that nest along the shores of the lake. We were taken up to Baboon Cliff, the best vantage point to see the entire lake; and from up there all you can see is a blur of pink lining the edge.

The following morning we woke to see a black rhino outside the house.

After our breakfast feast we drove to see the flamingos from ground level before driving to Hells Gate National Park. Hells Gate National Park was where Tomb Raider was filmed.

We assumed we were going on a safari, and technically it was a safari – a cycling safari.

We were taken by surprise by this and only had half a bottle of water between us, which was not good in the searing African heat. We got our bikes and set off towards the rangers post.

We stopped to see hyraxes, the African equivalent of rats except much cuter. Simply cycling along past the animals was surreal and the giraffes just looked at us, not knowing what to make of us.

Once at the rangers station we got off our bikes and started our trek into the Hells Gate gorge.

It was beautiful and our guide told us lots of stories. Walking in the gorge is an amazing experience and one of the most amazing sights we saw were the water eroded walls, so narrow that they almost block out the sky.

The whole area is geothermal so there are several hot and cold waterfalls, hot water springs and colourful rock formations.

Our guide was so knowledgeable of the area that he even knew the best waterfall to have a shower in. We came across a goat that had just given birth and as we climbed out the gorge we saw local Massai women sitting on the cliff side with their children.

Eventually, after a truly amazing day, we walked back to our bikes and cycled the 8km back to the Hells Gate rangers station. We were so sore, exhausted and dehydrated, we got on the transport and slept all the way back to Nairobi.

If you want to experience the full African adventure then Lake Nakuru and Hells Gate are an absolutely must see destination.