Our Airbnb host connected us with a local guide to take us through the nearby Hell’s Gate park. We met our guide, Simon, at the entrance this morning at 9:30.

Hell’s Gate National Park has no human-predators, so it’s one of the rare parks in Kenya that you can walk or bike through safely. Our first order of business was to rent bikes, one with a seat big enough for Millie.

Most of the other visitors were large school groups. It is winter here and everyone is dressing for it. People keep asking us if we’re too cold, even though it’s in the high 60s.

Once we were locked and loaded we headed in. It was an amazing way to see the park. Fast enough to feel like we were seeing a lot, slow enough to see everything. It was drizzling and everything smelled fresh.

We saw zebras, giraffes, and antelopes.

At the end of our ride we reached the Gorge trail. At the trail head there were signs everywhere to beware of the monkeys. I kept warning Millie about them and insisted I hold her orange while she was walking around so they didn’t take it from her. Well, jokes on me because for the few seconds that I forgot about them one swiped it right out of my hand.

We headed out on the trail. Millie had a few seconds of complaining but soon got into it. There were chunks of obsidian everywhere and we challenged her to find the shiniest piece.

Hell’s Gate is known for two things: 1) Its geothermal hot springs 2) Being the place where the makers of The Lion King traveled to for inspiration. On our hike our guide told us this was the spot where “Simba’s dad fell off the cliff”. If you say so, sir.

The water coming off the cliffs was from the hot springs. When we felt it, it was way hotter than we expected. Like a hot shower. The minerals in the water cause this bright emerald green algae.

By the end of the hike Millie had gone from being shy and complaining to leading the way, asking questions, and letting Simon pick her up onto big rocks.

After our hike we had a late lunch at a nearby lodge. Millie found warthogs in the parking lot. The vibes were good.

Nick and I talked about how nice it was to have a guide. We usually avoid them because we don’t like feeling trapped, but we learned so much more and could just sort of turn our planning brains off for the day. We need to do it more.

We had planned on swimming in the hot springs but it was getting late and started pouring. So we drove back to our Airbnb, played games, watched an episode of planet earth, and explored the land around our apartment. We found some swings and trampoline and a great view of the lake and mountains.