September 17th, 2012 
Emily 
After finishing Out of Africa by Karen Blixen, I knew I had to visit the Ngong Hills. Blixen’s book has many faults, but her description of the Ngong Hills, on the outskirts of Nairobi, is not one of them.
Blixen was so clearly in love with the landscape near her Kenyan home that I wanted to see for myself if the Ngong Hills were really that amazing.
They were pretty amazing.
We went to the Ngong Hills with two friends, and two guards. (The hills are known for both buffalo and robbers, so we were advised to take armed guards with us while hiking.) We saw neither buffaloes, nor robbers, but maybe they were scared away by our guards.
For real.
The guards lead the way.
The hike was great, mostly because we drove up the first hill. That meant we started walking at one of the highest points of the trail. I love a hike that doesn’t involve much uphill walking. (That’s probably why I don’t hike very much.)
We meandered up and down four of the five Ngong Hills, admiring the views of the Great Rift Valley below. We took pictures of the beautiful wild flowers growing on the hill-side. We snacked on trail mix and granola bars.
Check out that view!
The hills stretching out in front of us.
Mmm, snack time.
My husband says this is the girliest photo we have taken in Kenya. Really?
It was a short and lovely hike, which helped me understand why Karen Blixen was so enamored with her adopted home land.
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Now that IS a view! I’m like you Emily, not such a fan on the hiking and I get extremely crabby when there are no views to reward me. I don’t hike for the fun of it! Eek about needing the armed guards though – glad you didn’t encounter any buffalos or robbers.
Yeah, I wondered if the armed guards was just a money-making scheme… but fair enough, I’ll pay extra for safety.
Also, very glad to hear that you don’t like hiking either. Sometimes it feels like all the cool kids love to hike, so I’m glad to find some kindred non-hiking souls.
I am intrigued by this whole idea of armed guards. How did you find them? I’d imagine it’s not a job you advertise for on something like Craigslist.
We just went to the Kenya Wildlife Services office and they procured guards for us. I thought it was odd that we needed not 1, but 2, but who am I to question it?
I love hiking the Ngong Hills. Ngong Hills are one of my favourite places to be and I feel so good after the hike. It makes up for all the guilt I feel for not exercising frequently and just being away from the city and the pollution is worthwhile. Keep it up, Emily, I love your blogs.
Yeah, it was awesome to get some exercise and see the beautiful views. I don’t exercise as much as I should either, so I know how you feel.