Travel With Tamara | Seeking Thrills

Paragliding

Paragliders are lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider aircraft with no rigid primary structure. Their pilots hang in a harness below a fabric wing. If this sounds like your kind of thrill, head for the hills where professional paragliders can help you launch yourself into the air.

According to Veit Kessen, one of the founders of the Paragliding Association of Kenya, you start by playing with a paragliding wing in the wind, learning how to get it stable, then do small hops and practise take-offs and landings. ‘Then you’re ready to run off a big hill.’

The big hill referred to is Kijabe in the Great Rift Valley. It was here that the second Paragliding Competition on Kijabe Hill took place on 31 May 2019. The competition attracted 11 paragliding pilots who competed in two tasks over two days: Accuracy Landing and Open Cross Country. During the challenge, competitors dropped seedballs donated by Seedballs Kenya, spreading indigenous trees to help reforestation of the region.

Do something different, challenge yourself, and experience Kenya from high in the air.

Quad Biking

Quad bikes are all-terrain vehicles that career through rough territory giving their rider not just sights of the wild and wildlife, but an adventurous riding experience. The bikes have four sturdy wheels, open sided cabin and engines ‘that can take on the world.’

Brothers Amory and Jay Macleod established Latitude Adventures for those who need a bit more adrenalin than the average safari offers. These all terrain bikes can reach remote areas inaccessible to larger safari vehicles. The team offers multi-day expeditions, camping in sheer dome tents raised from the ground. With them, you can explore the singing wells of the Samburu people or ride alongside elephants on their ancient migratory routes: itineraries are designed to suit the experience and interests of each group.

After the security briefing, the adventure begins. Days are spent racing through dry riverbeds, careering through the desert and hurtling through the wilderness. Nights include cultural dances with the Samburu, sundowners at striking spots, dinners cooked over the campfire and sleeping under the stars.

Be ready for long days in the saddle, cooling off in rushing rivers and experiencing the sites and cultures of the remote tribes of northern Kenya.

Rock climbing

If you’ve always wanted to scale a rockface, this is your chance. With three jutting peaks, craggy cliffs and gleaming glaciers, Mt Kenya is one of the most striking mountains in the world. SInce it’s possible to trek up Lenana most climbers opt for that peak; however, both Batian and Nelion can only be reached by technical climbs. Herein lies the challenge.

African Ascents offers a ‘Fit for Mt Kenya’ training programme. In three months, novice climbers learn the skills needed to climb Batian and Nelion. The programme includes fitness training as well as learning the technical skills needed to climb rock and ice with professional climbing instructors.

The programme takes several stages. Strength and endurance are practised at the gym. Climbers then progress to an indoor climbing wall, including rope work, followed by outdoor climbing at Hell’s Gate to focus on rock climbing skills and techniques. The final stage of the training is multi-pitch climbing at high altitude on Dragon’s Teeth Crag in the Aberdares. Then you’re ready to hit Mt Kenya.

Julian Wright, company director, says: ‘A goal should scare you a little and excite you a lot.’