Nairobi, 2 Jan 07...let Hot Rock begin...
by Lianna
Hot
Rock Africa ‘07 has started. After a several delayed and re-routed flights
resulting in an epic and sleepless 50 hour journey, I landed in Nairobi on
the 31st, just in time to enjoy New Years Eve with a few Hot Rockers that
had arrived early. We headed to the restaurant/bar next to the campsite, with
DJs playing Celine Dion and Happy House, and a classy dance floor with revolving
disco balls and 20-odd 7 year olds boogying the night away.
Over the past few days, people have been trickling in slowly, meeting us at
NPS, our campsite in Nairobi. There are 17 of us at present, with the final
two arrivals due in this evening. The group is pretty varied - we have 6 different
nationalities, ages ranging from 18 to 45, sport climbers, trad climbers,
mountaineers, seasoned travellers and people for whom this was the first ever
flight.
BiRT is nearly road-ready now, having spent a couple of days here in Nairobi,
buying truck batteries, sorting out electrics, stereos and lights, welding
new bits onto the roof and seats onto the floor, making a new waterproof tarpaulin
for the front of the truck, new polycarb windows, and setting the climbing
wall, which is now covered in brand spanking new holds, and is attracting
more than a little attention from passers-by! 
We’ve been busy buying supplies and food, tools and utensils, and are
on schedule to head off climbing on Friday morning. Our first stop will be
Lukenya, a big multi-pitch crag 30km outside of Nairobi. The excitement is
building, peoples fingers are itching, we’re all poring over guidebooks,
making plans and getting very psyched... especially after spending yesterday
evening with the Mountaineering Club of Kenya at their club hut, which lies
in a small Nairobi airport hanger, chatting to people, playing on their mini-climbing
wall, and getting hold of all the beta we can. Several of their climbers are
coming to meet us at Lukenya this weekend, to show us the good routes (and
probably sandbag us on the bad ones!)
Once we leave for Lukenya, we’ll probably be camping and climbing out
in the bush for a week or more, so keep your eyes peeled for an update in
a little while...
Lianna.
