Why this ride
A 162 km round trip from Mombasa - roughly 2 h 50 in the saddle. On the way it passes Fort Jesus, Kaya Kinondo and back through Fort Jesus. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Kaya Ribe and Kaya Kinondo
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 162 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 50
- 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 Fort Jesus.
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 38 km into the recorded legs. Next is Kaya Kinondo.
3. 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
about 81 km into the recorded legs you reach Kaya Kinondo. Next is back through Fort Jesus.
4. 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 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 Fort Jesus
Kaya Ribe → Fort Jesus is 38 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 Kaya Ribe
back through Fort Jesus → Kaya Ribe is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Kaya Jibana and Kaya Kinondo (175 km) · 176 km
- Kaya Kinondo and Kaya Kauma · 260 km
- Kaya Kinondo and Kaya Giriama · 398 km
- Kaya Kinondo and The Rabai Kayas · 265 km