• Around the Aberdares
• Coast from Kilifi to Malindi
• Kenya's game parks
• Lamu Archipelago
• Mombasa and around
• Mount Kenya National Park
• Nairobi and around
• Rift Valley
• South Coast
• Turkana
• Western Kenya
AROUND THE ABERDARES
The Aberdare range , which peaks at 4001m, is less well known than
Mount Kenya. The lower, eastern slopes have long been farmed by the
Kikuyu (more recently by European tea and coffee planters), and the
dense mountain forests covering the middle reaches are the habitat of
leopard, bongo, buffalo and some six thousand elephants. Above about
3500m, lions and other open-country animals roam the cloudy moorlands.
Melanistic forms - especially of leopard, but also of serval cat and
even bushbuck - are also present.
The Kikuyu called these mountains Nyandarua ("drying hide", for their
silhouette) long before Thomson in 1884 named them after Lord Aberdare,
president of the Royal Geographical Society. In their bamboo thickets
and tangled forests, Kikuyu guerrillas hid out for years in the 1950s,
living off the jungle and surviving thanks to techniques learned under
British officers during the Burma campaign in World War II, in which
many of them had fought. Despite the manhunts through the forests and
the bombing of hideouts, little damage was done to the natural habitat,
and Aberdares National Park remains one of Kenya's most pristine forest
reserves.
On the western side, the range drops away steeply to the Rift. It was
here, in the high Wanjohi Valley , that a concentration of settlers in
the 1920s and 1930s created the myth of Happy Valley out of their
obsessive - and unsettled - lives. There's not much to see (or hear)
these days. The old wheat and pyrethrum farms were subdivided after
Independence and the valley's new settlers are more concerned with
making their market gardens pay. The memories live on only among veteran
wazungu .
The Kinangop plateau was settled by Europeans, too, but the high forest
and moorland here was declared Aberdares National Park in 1950. The park,
which stretches 60km along the length of the peaks, with the "Salient"
on the lower slopes reaching out east (access to the Salient only if
you're staying at The Ark or Treetops ), includes, like Mount Kenya
National Park, the worst of the weather. Rainfall up here is high, often
closing the Aberdares to vehicles in the wet season, although the "tree-hotel"
game lodges - The Ark and Treetops - stay open all year. Somewhat
inaccessible, the park is nevertheless close enough to Nairobi to be
well worth the effort of getting to Naivasha or Nyeri , the usual bases.
You'll find less transport travelling in the lower Aberdares than around
Mount Kenya, but it's still relatively easy to get around, with regular
bus and matatu services between the villages. Heading over the mountains
and through the park , however, hitching is the sole, very uncertain,
option if you don't have a vehicle. Determination can pay dividends, but
you could wait for days. If you're going to try, it's suggested you stop
at the Outspan Hotel in Nyeri and try to arrange a lift. If you tire of
this, matatu-hop your way towards Ruhuruini Gate , deep in the forest,
and try waiting at the gate itself. This, like Matubio Gate on the
Naivasha side (which you could also probably reach in a half-day of
lifts and walking) is friendly and helpful and would certainly allow you
to camp.
Nyahururu , the other important town in the region, has Thomson's Falls
as a postcard attraction, and is also the setting-off point for a wild
cross-country journey to Lake Bogoria in the Rift Valley, 1500m below.
From here, too, begins one of the four routes into the northern deserts,
in this case to Maralal and Loiyangalani on the eastern shore of Lake
Turkana. Though independent travel is still an option on this route,
going up in the safety of a safari company's organized trip is
recommended.
COAST FROM KILIFI TO MALINDI
From Mtwapa Creek up to Malindi , the landscape is a diverse
collage, from rolling baobab country and sisal plantations as you near
Kilifi to groves of cashew trees after it; thick, jungly forest and
swamp characterizes Mida Creek, and there's a more compact, populated
zone of shambas and thicket as you approach Malindi. Kilifi and Takaungu
creeks are stunning - the clash of blue water and green cliffs almost
unnatural.
There is wide scope for beach hunting along this part of the coast.
Malindi and, to some extent, Watamu have been developed, but Kilifi
functions largely as a Giriama market-centre and district capital, while
Takaungu seems virtually unknown, a throwback to pre-colonial days.
There's also superb snorkelling at Watamu and Malindi marine national
parks . And the ruined town of Gedi , deep in the forest near Watamu, is
one of the most impressive archeological sites in East Africa.
KENYA'S GAME PARKS
In these animal-rich national parks, the first realization of where
you are - among real, uncaptured wildlife - is truly arresting. Which
parks to visit can seem at first a pin-in-the-map decision: any of them
can provide a store of amazing sight and sound impressions.
Amboseli and Tsavo are the two most accessible, with ever-busy game
lodges, well-worn trails, large numbers of tourists in the high seasons,
and large, if brutally diminished, herds of elephant. Amboseli, with its
picture-postcard backdrop of Mount Kilimanjaro and guaranteed elephants
, is an instant draw, but the flat topography and lack of vegetation
cover means you'll be sharing the stunning vistas with dozens of other
safari vehicles. Tsavo, in contrast, is huge enough to escape company
completely, except at Mzima Springs , for which it's worth being part of
the crowd if necessary.
Maasai Mara has the most fabled reputation, with horizons of wildlife on
every side. Somewhat isolated in the west, it requires a specific,
usually there-and-back visit, but it's well worth the effort (and
perhaps the cost), especially during the yearly wildebeest migration
that takes place sometime between July and November (at its most
spectacular in August). The Mara is also the place to see lions - lots
of them. The downside is its popularity: you'll find safari vehicles
around almost every corner.
The Samburu/Buffalo Springs/Shaba complex and Meru , on the north side
of Mount Kenya, have different varieties of animals, such as northern
races and species of giraffe, zebra, antelope and ostrich. Samburu - dry,
thorny and split by the Ewaso Nyiro River - is increasingly popular and
noted for its crocodiles and leopards , albeit baited ones. Meru,
however, is perhaps the most beautiful Kenyan park - isolated, verdant
and surprisingly unvisited.
LAMU ARCHIPELAGO
A cluster of hot, low-lying desert islands tucked into the coast
near the Somalian border, Lamu and its neighbours have a special appeal
that many find irresistible. While each town or village has its own
distinct character, together they epitomize a separate spectrum of
Swahili culture. For although the whole coast is - broadly - "Swahili",
there's a world of difference between these islands and the coconut
beaches of Mombasa and Malindi.
To a great extent the islands are anachronisms. Electricity arrived here
only a few decades ago, there are still almost no motor vehicles, and
life moves at the pace of a donkey or a dhow. Yet there have been
considerable internal changes over the centuries and Lamu itself is now
changing faster than ever. Because of its special position in the
Islamic world as a much-respected Islamic teaching centre, Saudi Arabian
direct aid has poured into the island: the hospital, schools and
religious centres are all supported by it. At the same time, there have
been efforts to open up Lamu beyond its present tourist market, which so
far has encompassed only low-budget travellers and short-stay air
safaris. Rich foreign sponsors are eagerly sought and several lodging
houses have been set up with what is bluntly called "white-girl money".
Islanders are ambivalent about the future. A string of hotels along the
beach, a bridge to the mainland - all seems possible, and all would
contribute to the destruction of Lamu's timeless character. Some
up-country officials working here might not disapprove - with only two
bars, the town is not a popular posting.
But the damage that would be done goes further than spoiling the
tranquillity. The Lamu archipelago is one of the most important sources
for knowledge about pre-colonial Africa. Archeological sites indicate
that towns have existed on these islands for at least 1200 years. The
dunes behind Lamu beach, for example, are said to conceal the remains of
long-deserted settlements. And somewhere close by on the mainland,
perhaps just over the border in Somalia, archeologists expect one day to
uncover the ruins of Shungwaya, the town which the nine tribes that
comprise the Mijikenda people claim as their ancestral home. The whole
region is an academic's delight, a source of endless confusion and
controversy, and a place where there is still real continuity between
history and modern life.
At least for the present, the islands survive. Lamu island itself, most
people's single destination, still has plenty to recommend it, despite a
serious fire in 1993 and the inevitable sprouting of TV satellite dishes.
Manda , directly opposite, is little visited except for the lifeline it
provides with the outside world - the local airstrip. Pate island ,
accessible by dhow or motorboat, makes a fascinating excursion if you
have a week or more in the area. Kiwaiyu , not quite within the
archipelago, but exotic and alluring enough to be worth the effort if
you have time, is a wisp of a beach island 9km long and less than 1km
across, lying to the northeast of the other islands. Those who visit
Kiwaiyu normally arrive by private plane, but you can easily reach it by
grouping together to charter a dhow in Lamu.
MOMBASA AND AROUND
Arriving in Mombasa by plane or train in the morning, there's ample
time, if the heat doesn't fell you, to head straight out to the beaches.
But you should consider spending a day or two in Mombasa itself, tuning
in to the coast (and to Kenya if you've just jetted in), catching the
cadences of "Kiswahili safi " (pure Swahili) and looking around Kenya's
most historic city. If you have time, there are two worthwhile trips you
can make inland to areas that are much less known: Shimba Hills National
Park to the southwest and, well off the beaten path to the northwest,
the Mijikenda country between Mazeras and Kaloleni. If you would rather
take this latter detour before reaching the coast proper - and it's a
pleasant introduction to the region - buses from Nairobi can drop you at
Mazeras , a simple hitchhike or bus ride away from Mombasa.
Mombasa island has no proper beaches of its own. The nearest are Shelly
Beach and Nyali Beach . Shelly Beach is relatively uninteresting and
narrow, with the reef close to the shore, but fairly peaceful. Nyali is
pretty good, crowded at weekends and holidays, and the reef here is much
further out. There are several public points of access to Nyali Beach,
but the easiest is right by the entrance to the Nyali Beach Hotel . Most
of the time, hotels don't mind if you use their own beaches, bars and
restaurants.
MOUNT KENYA NATIONAL PARK
$10 per person daily, camping $2 per night. Entry allowed on foot;
minimum group two people. Warden: PO Box 69 Naro Moru tel 0171/21575 .
An extinct volcano, some three and a half million years old, with jagged
peaks rising to 5200m, Mount Kenya is Africa's second-highest mountain.
Its heart is actually the remains of a gigantic volcanic plug - the
mountain stood at over 7200m above sea level about a million years ago -
from which most of the outpourings of lava and ash have been eroded by
glacial action to create the distinctive silhouette. These peaks are
permanently iced with snow and glaciers, though the glaciers are
retreating due to climate change. On the upper slopes, the combination
of altitude and a position astride the equator results in forms of
vegetation that exist only here and at a few other lofty points in East
Africa. Seemingly designed by some 1950s science-fiction writer, it's
hard to believe the "water-holding cabbage", "ostrich plume plant" or "giant
groundsel" when you first see them.
Europe first heard about the mountain when the missionary Krapf saw it
in 1849, but his stories of snow on the equator were not taken seriously.
It was only in 1883 that the young Scottish traveller, Joseph Thomson,
confirmed its existence to the Western world. The Kikuyu, Maasai and
other peoples living in the vicinity had venerated the mountain for
centuries. Park rangers still occasionally report finding elderly Kikuyu
high up on the moorlands, drawn by the presence of Ngai , whose dwelling
place this is. It's not known, however, whether anyone had actually
scaled the peaks before Sir Halford Mackinder reached the highest,
Batian, in 1899. Another thirty years passed before Nelion (10m lower,
but a tougher climb) was conquered. Both are named after nineteenth-century
Maasai laibon or ritual leaders.
NAIROBI AND AROUND
Easily the largest city in East Africa, NAIROBI is also the youngest,
the most modern, the fastest growing, the largest and, at 1700m, the
highest. The superlatives could go on forever. "Green City in the Sun",
runs one tour brochure sobriquet, "City of flowers", another. Less
enchanted visitors growl "Nairobbery". The city catches your attention
at least. This is no tropical backwater.
Most roads, particularly paved ones, lead to Nairobi and, like it or not,
you're bound to spend some time here. But walking down Kenyatta Avenue
at rush hour, or up Tom Mboya Street after dark, when the security men
armed with whips and clubs cluster around their fires on the pavement,
it's perhaps easy to forget how quickly you can leave the city and be in
the bush.
Apart from being the safari capital of the world, Nairobi is an
excellent base for travel , just nine hours by road, or an overnight
train journey, to the coast; about the same time to the far west; and
just a couple of hours northwest to the great trough of the Rift Valley
or north to the slopes of Mount Kenya, while a great day-trip , and one
literally on the city's doorstep, is Nairobi National Park , a wild
attraction where you'd expect to find suburbs.
RIFT VALLEY
Kenya's Rift Valley is only part of a continental fault system that
runs 6000km clean across Africa from Jordan to Mozambique. Perhaps
Kenya's most important topographical feature, it is certainly one of the
country's great distinguishing marks, acting as both a human and natural
divide. As such, it has come to be seen as a monumental valley of
teeming game and Maasai herders, a trough of grasslands older than
humanity. This image is not entirely borne out by reality. The valley
certainly is spectacular, a literal rift across the country, with all
the stunning panoramas and gaunt escarpment backdrops you could wish for,
and the plains animals are still abundant in places. Nevertheless, much
of the game has been dispersed by human population pressure onto the
higher plateaus to the southwest, and most of the Maasai nowadays live
further south.
At least the Rift Valley's historical influence cannot be diluted.
People have trekked down it, generation after generation, over perhaps
the last two or three thousand years, from the wetlands of southern
Sudan and the Ethiopian highlands. Some of these immigrants were the
ancestors of the Maasai , who dominated much of the valley and its
surroundings for several centuries before the Europeans arrived. Until
the beginning of the twentieth century, they lived on both sides, and
the northern Ilaikipiak group were a constant threat to caravans coming
up from the coast. With European settlement, they were forced from their
former grazing grounds in the valley's turbulent bottleneck and confined
to the "Southern Reserve" for much of the colonial era. Although many
have now returned to the valley, and many towns retain their ancient Maa
names, the Maasai are at their most conservative and traditional in
southern Kenya.
In practical terms, the part of the Rift Valley we've covered offers
several exceptional lakes , a couple of excellent fast roads, lots of
spectacular twisting tracks, and some of the wildest country in central
Kenya. If you're at all interested in wildlife, especially birds, you'll
find it a source of endless fascination, with a wonderful nature reserve
at lake Bogoria , and freshwater ecosystems at Naivasha and Baringo .
Apart from Naivasha and the string of towns up the western escarpment,
the area we've covered contains few places larger than a village;
lodgings, strictly speaking, are scarce. Though there is usually
somewhere to lay your head, this is a region where a tent will be worth
its extra weight, and good walking shoes are a definite advantage.
Transport in the higher, agricultural parts of the south is generally
fine, but northwards, or off the main Nakuru-Baringo-Kabarnet axis, you
can expect long waits, next-to-no buses and infrequent matatus. For
drivers , the roads are steadily improving in this region, thanks in
part to presidential favours earned: the B4 up to Baringo is superb.
Note that the northern Rift is lower - and consequently hotter - than
most up-country regions, so be prepared for some very high temperatures
and don't underestimate your water requirements.
SOUTH COAST
A continuous strip of beach runs between Likoni and Msambweni,
backed by palms and broken once or twice by small rivers. Along the
whole coast south from Mombasa to the Tanzanian border, there's just one
highly developed resort area, Diani Beach . South of Diani, the coast is
little known and, in most tour operators' minds at least, nobody stops
again until they reach Shimoni . This is great news if you have the time
to go searching out untrodden beaches by car, bicycle or motorbike (all
available to rent), or using the good local public transport. With your
own transport, or with a safari company, you can also visit the Shimba
Hills National Park and the neighbouring Mwaluganje Elephant Sanctuary,
either overnight or on an easy day-trip excursion.
Most of the people who live along the coastal strip here are Digo , and
their neat rectangular houses, made of dried mud and coral on a
framework of wood, are a distinctive part of the lush roadside scene.
Although they belong to the Mijikenda group of peoples, the Digo are
unusual in being matrilineal: they traditionally traced descent through
the female line, so that a man would, on his death, pass his property on
to his sister's sons rather than his own. It is an unusual system with
interesting implications for the state of the family and the position of
women. However, the joint assault of Islamic and Western values over the
last century has shifted the emphasis back towards the male line, and in
many ways, women in modern Digo society have less freedom and autonomy
than they had a hundred years ago.
TURKANA
Lake Turkana stretches south for 250km from the Ethiopian border,
down through Kenya's arid lands, bisecting the rocky deserts like a
turquoise sickle. It's hemmed in by sandy wastes and black-and-brown
volcanic ranges, and the lake scene changes constantly. The water,
glassy, milky blue one minute, can become slate-grey and choppy or a
glaring emerald green, sometimes even jade, the next.
The lake was discovered for the rest of the world only in 1888 by the
Austrians Teleki and von Hohnel , who named it "Rudolf" after their
archduke and patron. Later, it became eulogized as the "Jade Sea" in
John Hillaby's book about his camel trek. The name "Turkana" only came
into being during the wholesale Kenyanization of place names in the
1970s. By then, it had also been dubbed the "Cradle of Mankind", the
site of revelatory fossil discoveries in the field of human evolution.
And it was becoming something of a spiritual mecca for atavists, an
excuse for a week of riotous assembly in a safari lorry or a dignified
weekend in a Cessna and a lakeshore lodge.
But to depict Lake Turkana as "Kenya's latest touristic discovery", as
one or two glossies would have you believe is, thankfully, a monstrous
piece of hype: there are two lodges, one on each shore, catering for
perhaps a dozen people between them at any one time. Otherwise, there
are a few B&Ls, one or two windy campsites and that's it. As yet, the
only asphalt - that certain sign of imminent change - is the crooked
finger that reaches north from Kitale to Lodwar and on to Kalokol on the
western shore.
WESTERN KENYA
Like the tiers of a great amphitheatre, western Kenya slopes away
from Nairobi, the major game parks and the coast, down to face the stage
of Lake Victoria. Cut off by the high Rift wall of the Mau and Elgeyo
escarpments , the western region of dense agriculture, rolling green
valleys and pockets of thick jungle is one of the least-known parts of
the country to travellers. Although more accessible than the far north,
or even some of the big parks, it has been neglected by the safari
operators - and that's all to the good. You can travel for days through
lush landscapes from one busy market town to the next and rarely, if
ever, meet other tourists or travellers.
It's not easy to see why it has been so ignored. Granted, the disastrous
history of Uganda up until the late 1980s discouraged the through
traffic that might otherwise have thrived. But there's a great deal more
of intrinsic interest than the tourist literature's sparse coverage
would suggest. What the west undeniably lacks are teeming herds of
antelope and zebra, lions at the side of the road and narcissistic
warriors in full regalia. What it does offer is a series of delightfully
low-key, easily visited attractions such as the national park at
Kakamega Forest , a magnificent tract of equatorial rainforest bursting
with species found nowhere else in Kenya.
Travel is generally easy. The region has a high population and many well-paved
roads, so you'll rarely have long to wait for a bus or matatu, and
driving is often a pleasure. If you're inclined to plan ahead, there is
a vague circuit that begins in Kisumu and runs through Kisii (of Kisii-stone
fame), Kericho, Eldoret, Kitale and Kakamega. You could easily do this
in a couple of weeks - or a couple of months. But it's often more
rewarding to let events dictate your next move: this area will repay
your interest repeatedly if you take time to look around. Much of it,
even the areas of intensive farming, is ravishingly beautiful: densely
animated jungle near Kakamega and Kitale , regimented landscapes of tea
bushes at Kericho , highland pastures and forests in the Cherangani
Hills , and dank swamp and grasslands alive with birds by the lake.
There's almost no tourist infrastructure - the west has only a handful
of hotels that could, by a long stretch of the imagination, be described
as luxurious - but there's no lack of good, modest lodgings . Food is as
cheap as anywhere and generally excellent; most of Kenya's tea and sugar
comes from the west, and agricultural concerns are paramount.
Ethnically , the region is dominated by the Luo on the lakeshore
lowlands, but other important groups speak dialects of Nandi (principally
the Nandi around Eldoret and the Kipsigis in the Kericho district) and
there are Bantu-speaking Luhya in the sugar lands north of Kisumu along
with Gusii in the formidably fertile Kisii Hills.
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