Kaya Kinondo and Kaya Giriama

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. 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 is where the day begins. Next is Fort Jesus.

2. 2. 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 comes up about 43 km into the recorded legs. Next is Kaya Jibana.

3. 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 100 km into the recorded legs you reach Kaya Jibana.

4. 4. 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, about halfway. Next is Kaya Giriama.

5. 5. 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 sits at 168 km, about halfway. Next is back through Fort Jesus.

6. 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 254 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Kaya Jibana.

7. 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 311 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Kaya Jibana.

8. 8. 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, late in the day. Next is Kaya Kinondo.

9. 9. Kaya Kinondo

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   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

   The route ends here after 398 km.