Enchorro Naibor

Enchorro Naibor sits on top of an escarpment that looks out towards the mountains of Shompole, Ol Doinyo Sambu and Ol Doinyo Lengai, over salt flats and the soda lakes of Magadi and Natron. The contrast between the green, cool hillsides around Enchorro Naibor and the hot, dry, burning wasteland nearly 1,500 metres below, on the floor of the Great Rift Valley, could not be greater.

Sitting at the southern end of the Loita Hills, looking out over the "Cradle of Mankind", the route from the small, Maasai centre of Olorte passes over a rough and in places almost non-existent track to Mausa. From there it is largely cross country to the edge of the Rift Valley with distant views east towards Mt Kilimanjaro which can occasionally be seen on a clear morning, over 150 kilometres away. By taking shortcuts through the hills the walk is much shorter than going by road and normally takes 5-6 hours to complete. It is a popular outing with some of our guests. It is also the final leg of our Loita Hills Mountain Bike Safari which is a real physical challenge as the route climbs and drops through the valleys with some highly technical sections to negotiate during a day that involves over 900m of ascent.

This is a remote area with the most spectacular scenery and some of the views along the way are truly stunning. Once at Enchorro Naibor it is easy to while away the late afternoon hours, gazing out across the floor of the Great Rift Valley. Sitting here does feel like sitting on the edge of the world and for many it is the highlight of their trip to Kenya. If it doesn't look like rain we often sleep out in the open here. A night spent sleeping under the myriads of stars that fill the African sky is another special experience. The altitude means there is no problem from mosquitoes but it also means the nights can be very cold, often accompanied by a heavy dew, so a good campfire is always very welcome.

On the following day the early morning views, before the sun’s heat blurs everything into a distant haze, makes getting up before dawn to watch the sunrise well worth the effort, with the occasional bonus of a distant view of Africa's highest mountain.

Also, on the following day, for a bit of real adventure it is possible to follow an ancient cattle trail, but only on foot, down the escarpment to Mbakasi on the floor of the Magadi Depression. From here, in the heat of the day the few kilometres across the salt flats to Shompole is hard work but we are then able to tube 5km down the Ewaso Ngiro River to a rudimentary camp site we have established with the Shompole Maasai. Most people opt for the more comfortable option of jumping in the vehicles and heading back to Olorte.