Then off to Ngong hills.The Ngong Hills are peaks in a ridge along the Great Rift Valley, located southwest near Nairobi, in southern Kenya. The word "Ngong" is an Anglicization of a Maasai phrase "enkong'u emuny" meaning rhinoceros spring, and this name derives from a spring located near Ngong Town. The Ngong Hills, from the eastside slopes, overlook the Nairobi National Park and, off to the north, the city ofNairobi. The Ngong Hills, from the westside slopes, overlook the Great Rift Valley dropping over 1000 metres (4,000 feet) below, where Maasai villages have been developed. The peak of the Ngong Hills is at 2460 meters (8070 feet) above sea level. The hills form a line of very steep single hills which look like the five ridges of a man's fist.
The landscape is afro-alpine with a very rich flora we managed to climb 3 of the hills with stunning views over the rift valley they have just put in a wind farm helping Kenya to reach its target for renewable energy. The hills were very steep and at a high altitude so were puffing away up to the top of each. Good high altitude training for the years cycling. The hills are well used by the Kenyan athletes who do a lot of their training up there. We were accompanied by a guard from the Kenyan army they do weekly stints up there and complain bitterly of the cold nights.
The group at top of one of the hills with the rift valley behind
A small sample of the vast variety of flora
A beautiful beetle hiding in an efflorescence
These blue flowers are in fact yellow the blue are bracts
We came back to the car exhausted but happy,
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