Carry on camping...in a volcano

Posted by: Dan

Finally! A chance to go camping! After 11 long months of not sleeping in a tent, a brief but brilliantly memorable trip to Mount Suswa was the perfect anecdote. Here’s a brief but brilliant blog post in memory of my favourite volcano.

Suswa, a not-so-long-dormant volcano in the great rift valley (it is believed to have erupted less than two hundred years ago), first got on our radars thanks to a recommendation from fellow volunteer Aurelia. She and her fiancée Tom loved this magical place so much that they went back numerous times, created a website for the local Maasai guide, and even got engaged there. They raved about the boiling hot steam vents, the verdant green slopes, and the astonishing lava caves filled with baboons and bats. We were sold.

Probably my favourite thing about Mount Suswa was that it felt like a real Adventure. It was, quite literally, well off the beaten track. In fact, without our friends and fellow adventurers Marc and Veronica – and their lovely 4x4 landrover – we couldn’t have done it (thanks guys!).

Daniel the Maasai

We met our charming and excellently-named Maasai guide Daniel in the small town of Maai Mahiu, where he jumped in and guided us as we drove off-road for hours up the increasingly rocky and decreasingly road-like slopes of Suswa. Marc proved his ability to stay calm despite the bangs, groans and protests coming from his car, as we drove up over not-so-old lava flows and into the outer crater.

Suswa has a unique double crater structure. Astonishingly, in this most remote of places, a community thrives. The plateau between the outer and inner craters is the home of Maasai, and the fertile land is dotted with manyattas (homesteads), crop fields and volcanic steam vents which the people have learned to channel into water storage tanks for domestic use.
 

Breathing in the steam

Marc examines a water capture 'system'

We drove on, finally reaching the very edge of the inner crater, where we parked up, put up tents, and gazed out over the sacred “lost island” of lush forest (filled with leopards – and possibly dinosaurs) that occupies the moat-like inner crater. And we looked upwards at the dramatic peak of Suswa looking down on us from amongst the clouds. Breathtaking.

What followed was 24 hours of exploration, caves, bat crap, hiking, toasting marshmallows, snuggling in our tents, dodging black mambas, and proudly reaching the 2,356-meter summit of the mountain.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so instead of writing a thousand words (I could easily, I’m being very disciplined right now) – here’s some more of my favourite pictures from our mini adventure….

(just click play)





As Daniel the Maasai proudly told us, Suswa's baboons and bat caves have featured (along with the Maasai themselves) in a BBC Documentary “The Great Rift”. You can see a short clip on the BBC website here, or settle down to watch the whole awesome episode on Youtube here. I know my wildlife-loving brother is quite jealous right now - sorry Mike!

With thanks:
To Aurelia for the recommendation.
To Trixie for the tent.
To Veronica and Marc for being great company, and to Marc especially for his steely nerve and daring driving.
And to Daniel, for being such a warm host and knowledgeable guide. If you’re in Kenya or planning a visit, we urge you to get in touch with him for a truly memorable adventure. His website is danielmountsuswa.wordpress.com.