Fort Jesus and Kaya Kauma

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Fort Jesus

   Fort Jesus stands at the edge of Mombasa island looking out over the entrance to the old harbour, its thick coral-stone walls glowing ochre in the late afternoon. The Portuguese built it at the end of the sixteenth century, to a design by the Italian military architect Giovanni Battista Cairati, to secure their hold on the Swahili coast and the Indian Ocean trade. It changed hands repeatedly over the next two centuries, most famously after a siege by Omani Arab forces that lasted almost three years at the end of the 1690s, and later served as a prison. Since 2011 it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the museum inside tells the story of the coast and its many rulers.

   Read the complete Fort Jesus write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Fort Jesus is where the day begins. Next is The Duruma Kayas.

2. 2. The Duruma Kayas

   Inland from Mombasa, where the coastal plain begins to climb towards the dry bush of the interior, small islands of dense forest stand out from the farmland and scrub. These are kayas, the sacred forests of the Mijikenda peoples, and the Duruma kayas belong to one of the nine Mijikenda groups. Together with others along the coast they were inscribed in 2008 as the Sacred Mijikenda Kaya Forests.

   Read the complete The Duruma Kayas write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   The Duruma Kayas comes up about 25 km into the recorded legs. Next is Kaya Kambe.

3. 3. Kaya Kambe

   Inland from the Kenyan coast, behind the sugar-white beaches and the hotel strip, lie forests where the Mijikenda people have kept their sacred places for centuries. Kaya Kambe is one of them, a fragment of the old coastal forest around a clearing where the elders once had their fortified village, the kaya, and where they still hold ceremonies and settle disputes. The Mijikenda, whose name means nine homesteads, are nine related peoples, among them the Giriama, Digo, Rabai and Kambe, who by tradition migrated south from a place called Shungwaya a few hundred years ago and made these hilltop forests their strongholds. A group of the kayas was inscribed as a World Heritage site in 2008.

   Read the complete Kaya Kambe write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 52 km into the recorded legs you reach Kaya Kambe. Next is Kaya Kauma.

4. 4. Kaya Kauma

   The kayas are patches of forest scattered along the coast of Kenya, each one once the fortified village of a Mijikenda community, hidden deep in the trees for protection. The Mijikenda, nine related peoples of the coastal hinterland, later moved out of the forests, but the kayas remained sacred places, where elders held ceremonies, buried their leaders and made decisions, and where cutting trees or harming the forest was forbidden. That protection has preserved precious remnants of coastal forest, rich in rare plants and animals. In 2008, a group of them, including Kaya Kauma near Kilifi, was listed by UNESCO as the Sacred Mijikenda Kaya Forests.

   Read the complete Kaya Kauma write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Kaya Kauma, about halfway. Next is back through Kaya Kambe.

5. 5. back through Kaya Kambe

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Kaya Kambe write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Kaya Kambe sits at 123 km, about halfway. Next is back through The Duruma Kayas.

6. 6. back through The Duruma Kayas

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete The Duruma Kayas write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through The Duruma Kayas comes up about 177 km into the recorded legs. Next is Fort Jesus.

7. 7. Fort Jesus

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Fort Jesus write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Fort Jesus closes the day.