Why this ride
345 km from Mariakani to Mariakani, about 7 h 34 of riding. It goes by way of Kaya Kauma, Kaya Jibana, Fort Jesus and Kaya Kinondo. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Kaya Giriama and Kaya Kinondo
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 345 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 7 h 34
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Kaya Giriama
Behind the beaches of Kenya's north coast, on the low red ridges inland from Kilifi, sit a string of forest patches that look like nothing much from the road. They are the kayas, once the fortified villages of the Mijikenda peoples, the nine related groups that include the Giriama, and today they are the sacred groves where elders still gather. The Kaya Giriama forest is one of them, and part of a UNESCO listing that covers several of these remnants of coastal forest. The village huts were long ago abandoned and the clearings overgrown, but the grove survives because it is protected by custom, so that cutting a tree or entering without permission is a serious matter.
Read the complete Kaya Giriama write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kaya Giriama is where the day begins. Next is Kaya Kauma.
2. 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 comes up about 43 km into the recorded legs. Next is Kaya Jibana.
3. Kaya Jibana
A kaya is a sacred forest, and for the Mijikenda peoples of the Kenyan coast it was once much more: a fortified hilltop village hidden in the trees, a place of ancestral graves, ceremonies and council. Kaya Jibana, belonging to the Jibana community, sits in the hills inland from the coast between Mombasa and Kilifi, and it is one of a group of kaya forests listed by UNESCO in 2008. People no longer live inside, but elders still guard it, and entry is regulated by customs that visitors should respect: guides, permission, and no cutting or taking.
Read the complete Kaya Jibana write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 85 km into the recorded legs you reach Kaya Jibana. Next is Fort Jesus.
4. 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, about halfway. Next is Kaya Kinondo.
5. Kaya Kinondo
The beaches of Diani are famous for white sand and turquoise water, and a short walk inland a forest that is older than the hotels keeps its own rules. Kaya Kinondo is the last sizeable fragment of the coastal forest that once covered the southern coast of Kenya, and for the Digo people it is a sacred grove, the place where their ancestors settled and where the elders still perform ceremonies. It is one of the Sacred Mijikenda Kaya Forests, inscribed in 2008, and it differs from some of the others in having a well-organised community programme, run by the Digo elders, which lets visitors in with a guide.
Read the complete Kaya Kinondo write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kaya Kinondo sits at 164 km, about halfway. Next is back through Fort Jesus.
6. back through 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
back through Fort Jesus comes up about 216 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Kaya Jibana.
7. back through Kaya Jibana
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Kaya Jibana write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 261 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Kaya Jibana. Next is back through Kaya Kauma.
8. back through Kaya Kauma
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
back through Kaya Kauma, late in the day. Next is Kaya Giriama.
9. Kaya Giriama
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Kaya Giriama write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 345 km.
Leg by leg
Kaya Giriama to Kaya Kauma
Kaya Giriama → Kaya Kauma is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kaya Kauma to Kaya Jibana
Kaya Kauma → Kaya Jibana is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kaya Jibana to Fort Jesus
Kaya Jibana → Fort Jesus is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort Jesus to Kaya Kinondo
Fort Jesus → Kaya Kinondo is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kaya Kinondo to back through Fort Jesus
Kaya Kinondo → back through Fort Jesus is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fort Jesus to back through Kaya Jibana
back through Fort Jesus → back through Kaya Jibana is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Kaya Jibana to back through Kaya Kauma
back through Kaya Jibana → back through Kaya Kauma is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Kaya Kauma to Kaya Giriama
back through Kaya Kauma → Kaya Giriama is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.