Why this ride
A 101 km round trip from Mombasa - roughly 2 h 11 in the saddle. The stops in between: The Duruma Kayas, Fort Jesus and back through The Duruma Kayas.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Kaya Ribe and Fort Jesus
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 101 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 11
- 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 Ribe
Kaya Ribe is one of a string of sacred forests that sit on the low hills behind Kenya's coast, and the reason it exists says a lot about the people here. The Mijikenda, nine related communities, settled this coastal hinterland several centuries ago and built fortified villages, the kayas, in the forest. Today the village huts are mostly gone, but the forests remain, protected by councils of elders who treat them as the home of ancestors. A scatter of these kayas, Ribe among them, are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Read the complete Kaya Ribe write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kaya Ribe is where the day begins. Next is The Duruma Kayas.
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 27 km into the recorded legs. Next is Fort Jesus.
3. 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
about 53 km into the recorded legs you reach Fort Jesus. Next is back through The Duruma Kayas.
4. 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, late in the day. Next is Kaya Ribe.
5. Kaya Ribe
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Kaya Ribe write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Kaya Ribe. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Kaya Ribe to The Duruma Kayas
Kaya Ribe → The Duruma Kayas is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Duruma Kayas to Fort Jesus
The Duruma Kayas → Fort Jesus is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort Jesus to back through The Duruma Kayas
Fort Jesus → back through The Duruma Kayas is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through The Duruma Kayas to Kaya Ribe
back through The Duruma Kayas → Kaya Ribe is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.