Day 1 - Tumaren Camp - 1,670 m

After clearing customs at Jomo Kenyatta airport you will be taken to your private charter flight to the lovely Tumaren Camp in Laikipia. An early morning flight over the Aberdares and Central Kenya is breathtaking. Landing at Tumaren, you will meet your guides and dig into a big breakfast while the wildlife enjoys their own morning drink at the watering hole in front of camp.

After a strong kenyan coffee, a shower and relaxation we will set out on the bikes for some light riding around Tumaren to test the comfort, seat levels and gear levels on the e bikes. Our time at Tumaren can be split between everyone’s fancies and whims, getting out early in the morning to adventure while it is most cool and while the wildlife is most active and then having a rest or a read after a nice lunch. In the evening we might also walk or bike, finding a good vantage point to enjoy a gin or a wine. Morning or evening, whenever we are out, we will be looking towards Mt. Kenya to better imagine and realize our goal.

We’re off on our bike ride! We will be traversing in a mostly eastward direction from Tumaren to Kisima breaching the mighty Mukogodo Forest as we go. Nickson will be guiding bike and electric bikes so that the bike fanatic can ride comfortably with non-fanatic family members. Nickson may at this point introduce all the riders to a mantra for the ride, pizza. It is Charlie Dyer’s magnificent pizzas that we will find on the final night of our ride and served straight from his piping oven, far above the clouds.

Our first day will take us on a smooth single track passing giraffe and zebra and then some homesteads as everyone is waking up for the day. We will stop for a welcome refreshment before the arc south again towards our camp beside a beautiful dry river bed, which in Swahili is called a lugga. On the banks of the lugga grow great yellow-bark Acacia trees and higher up the incline, massive granite tower over us and catch the evening light. In the evenings the baboons who roost there either serenade us or warn us of the ever vigilant Leopard.

The next day we will leave the Sinyai Lugga early, starting the day with a sharp series of hills and a dramatic change in habitat as we ascend into the Mukogodo forest. We will pass African Olives, Pencil Cedars and Croton trees and we may also see some of the Elephant herds that call the forest home. Our route continues eastward as we cross the Sieku Lugga and eventually pop out at a small Masai community school, just 8km south of our camp. After a rest and some snacks we will ride the remaining kilometers into camp, a stunning overlook called Nikjabe perched high above a great expanse of the hot Samburu country below. The shady forest is a welcome canopy for an afternoon siesta after a cool shower to wash off the dust from the bike ride. In the evening we can enjoy a cold beer or wine by the fireside before dinner under the stars.

We will ride over the plains and past Masai homesteads just waking up and preparing their herds for the day and enjoy pedalling in to Borana. Borana is a beautiful conservancy for wildlife and one of the most shining examples of conservation success stories. Past the mega and minor fauna we will pedal with the thought of the Pizza Oven at Charlie’s Nagare Ndare house to motivate our last pedals. After hot baths and a small tour of the riverine forest, we will be met by our mountain guide who will do a briefing, make sure everyone has the right kit and answer any questions about the next few days hike up the mountain.

It’s a slow morning with pancakes and porridge on the veranda before we set off on the last 15 kms to the moorlands where we start our walk. The ride takes us past wheat fields and into a mystical old growth Cedar and Rosewood Forest where trolls, fairies or elves could be imagined or witnessed (depending on fatigue). A few kilometers beyond the cedars our mountain team will be waiting and we begin the hike towards the first camp at Marania West.

Marania West will be the first of three campsites that we will use during the ascent of Mt Kenya. This is the less traveled Timau route which offers superb views of the mountain and the best chance for seeing wildlife such as Zebra, Eland and Buffalo. Our other camps are at Major’s and Simba Col and on our second day walking we will have a picnic lunch at Fox Tarn, a lovely little lake with trout for those who fancy a cast.

From Simba Col we will wake up early and walk out over the frosty slopes summitting Lenana peak (4,985 m) at sunrise. There, on top of Kenya we hope that you are able to digest the incredible journey that you have come on to this point. By your own power (and some german electric bike technology) you navigated some of the most important wildlife habitats in Kenya and crossed over swaths of country, convoluted in it’s terrain but indisputable in it’s beauty.

Today you will descend to meet your transfer off the mountain across to Borana Conservancy and the beautiful Arijiju, your home for the next few nights.

Wash off the mountain dust in ultimate luxury, kick back and relax for a few days. You can explore the Borana Conservancy by vehicle and get up close to the wonderful wildlife at the foothills of Mt Kenya.

When you are ready to go home we will collect all the bulky bike bags and drive them to JKIA to meet you in the evening. After a lazy lunch you will fly to Nairobi for cocktails and dinner at the Talisman before your evening departure.