Thank You for the Journey: 2023 in Review

Cheers to Milestones, Lessons, and You!

2023!

Photo: Crossing rivers en route Kimakia Falls.

First, and the obvious, it had 12 months, even if you felt like it was shorter or longer.

Second, it was a year of many firsts. I started this platform, and you subscribed to it with anticipation, reading every post religiously. Thank you.

Third, I set to hike once every month. I only managed to do ten hikes out of a possible twelve. We try again next year.

Reflecting on 2023, I am grateful for the many new things I experienced and the many people I interacted with, physically and virtually. Most importantly, thank you for becoming an ardent reader of my blog.

A special recognition and honor goes to my paid subscribers, who made sure I had a mug of coffee as I sat down to craft the posts. Your cup won’t run dry, ever.

I could write about hundreds of things as a review of the year 2023, but I’ll only document my hiking and outdoor workout journey from January to December.

Below is a list of the mountains I hiked, with a spice of a cycling race and two half marathons. I will omit the tens of Karura walks done over the year.

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I started the year by climbing a monster of a mountain on the 28th of January. The mighty Mt. Kinangop via Mutarakwa was a hard trail covering about 30 kilometers that I walked for about eight and a quarter hours. The high-altitude trail was unforgiving to many.

I was chasing the Ragia waterfalls on February 25th, a magnificent, green, and picturesque trail. The 25-kilometer expedition meant coming close to elephants. It made me question my sanity in hiking.

The chase after waterfalls continued in March, with an easy but wet and slippery trek at Kimakia Falls. The 19.8-kilometer hike on 25th March was easy enough despite being graced by rain in the morning.

Hiking Mt.Satima via the Wandare route on April 22 would come with challenges, leaving the forest quite late and watching buffaloes graze beside us in the dark. It was a gentle summit, nonetheless.

The year was full of waterfalls, as would be marked by the trek to the highest waterfalls in the country, the Karuru Waterfalls. The 21-kilometer hike on May 13th came with a visit to the Queen’s Caves and the Fishing Camp.

On the same month of May, specifically the 26th, I would join a special group of hikers to Eburru Forest- Western Peak, where we covered an easy 26 kilometers of walking through a green lash of the mountain.

June was an easy month, with an 8-kilometer hike to the Ngong Hills on the 24th. Let’s say this was a day out to eat quality Nyama choma at Rongai.

The following month was also relatively easy, with a hike to Mt. Longonot for the umpteenth time. The 28th of July, 2023, may be my last time hiking Mt. Longonot. I want new experiences.

I opened the month of June by taking position 2 in an easy Madaraka Day cycling competition over a 9.6-kilometer race.

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Earlier in the month, specifically on the 2nd of July, I had run a half-marathon during the Nairobi City Marathon. I set my best record yet, clocking 2:00:08 in the 21.09-kilometer course.

Three days later, on July 5, I did a 56-kilometer walk for 10 hours non-stop. You can read a detailed story of the same here.

Indeed, July was the peak month for me.

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I took a break in August, marking my first month of no hiking. I wanted to keep going, but maybe my body needed the rest more.

I resumed hiking on September 30, visiting a hot, scorchy Mt. Olorgesailie. It was like walking in the desert, with all the water I had carried running out, getting lost in a dry riverbed, and suffering the wrath of pricky shrubs.

We’d later learn archeology at Olorgesailie Geological Site, a UNESCO Tentative World Heritage Site.

Photo: A directional sign for the Dragon’s Teeth route.

My last hike of the year was on October 21, with a return to Mt. Satima via the Dragon’s Teeth route. Christened the Dragon’s Teeth-Table Mountain Traverse, the 23-kilometer hike was a tough eight hours of walking, shoes fully soaked in water and alone in the thick forest at night.

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I am not one to miss a marathon. The annual Standard Chartered Nairobi Marathon came up on October 29, and I was elated to set an individual course record of 2:01:25 over the 21-kilometer course. In my own words, I aced it like a pro.

One more feat was still awaiting: a battle with my cycling demons. We went head-to-head on the 26th of November, where I covered a distance of 62 kilometers cycling in the rain, as documented in my earlier post.

December has been an easy month of resting and reflecting. I hope you have also found time to rest from a busy year.

I look forward to a new year full of new experiences that transcend those of 2023.

Please comment and share your favorite post this year. I also welcome any other comments and, more so, sharing this blog post with your friends and those in your circles of life.

I write because you read. Spread the joy. Happy Holidays, and have a blessed year 2024.

Oh, wait! There is one more special tea farm tour to Gatura Greens on September 16. This special treat encompassed learning about the history of tea, picking purple tea, and hand-processing purple tea. It was an experiential tea-tasting tour culminating in a sumptuous lunch and downing bottles of tasty hibiscus tea.

Photo: We were preparing to pick purple tea on this expansive farm.

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