Why this ride
A 110 km round trip from Mariakani - roughly 2 h 20 in the saddle. The stops in between: Kaya Ribe, Kaya Giriama and back through Kaya Ribe.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The Duruma Kayas and Kaya Giriama
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 110 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 20
- 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. 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 is where the day begins. Next is Kaya Ribe.
2. 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 comes up about 22 km into the recorded legs. Next is Kaya Giriama.
3. 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
about 50 km into the recorded legs you reach Kaya Giriama. Next is back through Kaya Ribe.
4. back through 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 through Kaya Ribe, late in the day. Next is The Duruma Kayas.
5. 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 at The Duruma Kayas. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
The Duruma Kayas to Kaya Ribe
The Duruma Kayas → Kaya Ribe is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kaya Ribe to Kaya Giriama
Kaya Ribe → Kaya Giriama is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kaya Giriama to back through Kaya Ribe
Kaya Giriama → back through Kaya Ribe is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Kaya Ribe to The Duruma Kayas
back through Kaya Ribe → The Duruma Kayas is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Kaya Ribe and Fort Jesus · 101 km
- Kaya Giriama and Fort Jesus · 242 km