Off Kiambu road, One Kilometer after it branches off from
the Thika super highway, there’s a gated entrance to Karura forest. A magnified
Atlas page of the forest occupies the entire face of a giant sign post standing
next to the information desk at the gate. In a quick virtual tour, I scrutinized
the map to familiarize myself with the features inside the forest and decided on the
areas to visit. After paying the gate charges, a ranger lectured me on the proper
trail etiquette; the dos and donts. I selected places that would take me on a clockwise
circle inside the forest, and began the trek...
I led my way into the thick forest under giant trees whose
outstretched branches joined into overhead domes, along well tended footpaths. Monkeys
hopped across the trees, shaking their branches and causing the dry and loose
leaves to fall on me like confetti. What a rousing welcome for me into the
forest! There are direction pointers at every crossroads to guide your trail. Occasionally,
other hikers, bikers and trail runners came along, but otherwise, the forest is
quiet and deserted. I kept on walking…
The rhythm of my stride accompanied me as I walked in the
quiet forest. Butterflies winged from the brushes, chasing one another in wavy flight
patterns near me. Some casually shrugged against me as if beckoning me to linger on
for a longer while and be part of their chasing game. Like a Disney fairy, I paused for a moment to marvel at the pomp and color of excited butterflies
flaunting their pairs of graphical wings. In the spirit of the game, I attempted
headcount on them. They were Five. No, six. No, Five. Six. Seven…Their
irregular choreography created an illusion that was hard for me to decipher, so I gave
up the census and kept on walking…
I passed by another
stretch with a cluster of trees blooming with new flowers. Their virgin pistils
emitted raw fragrances that defined the
surrounding. At that point, I inhaled floral breath. The presence of a distant swarm was highlighted by an opera of buzz words, more like the soundtracks of harvest songs being hummed by honey bees flying
around these scented nectar fields. On the ground, I kept on jumping over several trails
of safari ants crossing the path and kept on walking…
I began to descend on the slope of a valley that led me to
river Karura. On my way down, I came across huge caves with widely agape entrances
on the ridge. While inside one of the caves, I'm frightened by a resounding echo that amplified the sound of my own footfalls. I exited the cave and kept on walking...
Further on, I crossed over a wooden footbridge to get to the other side of a river where
I followed an adjacent footpath and traced the meanders of the river upstream up
to a double waterfall. The insistent sound of falling water crashing against
the rocks at the bottom was ominous in the serene environment. Still rocks
lying on the edges of the river are covered by hairy layers of green moss,
while those rocks that are directly hit by the falling water are bald and
clean.
I took my final pictures and began to climb away. Further and further
away from the river, its sound gradually faded. When I reached the top of the
ridge, the river below looked like a muted stream of water.
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