In this next episode of “discovering Kenya”, we decided to go to Mount Suswa.Mount Suswa (2356m) is one of the inactive volcano's near lake Navaisha and said to be one of the prettiest sites near Nairobi. Its situated in the middle of Masaai Land in Rift Valley. This volcano is characterised by an outer and inner crater rim which makes the scenery astonishing.
Because Mount Suswa is now officially a conservancy, it is allowed to visit Suswa and camp on several spots in the conservancy. Entrance fee is Kshs 500 per person and Kshs 500 for the car. Camping is an additional Kshs 500 per person. There is no difference between residents and non-residents, and for this fee you have the feeling to have the exclusive right to be the visitor of Mount Suswa. While no gate is currently present, the treasurer of the conservancy will know where to find you.
Next to extensive hiking possibilities, the lava stream created 35 caves on the last eruption of which the majority is ‘open to public’.Getting there is quite simple, although a proper 4x4 is recommended. Take the old road to Navaisha, then the B4 towards Narok. Turn left into a dirt road after [14.2] kilometres. A sign with “Mount Suswa Conservancy” is at the corner, but you might miss this cruising on the B4 as this is not a very big sign.
The journey from here takes you through Masai land, all the way to the outer crater rim. Because of safety (although we encountered only friendly people, although English is challenging for some) and to find our way, we arranged that Daniel ( +254721 357 415 ) was meeting us at the junction with the B4 highway. It’s convenient and really enjoyable as Daniel doesn’t stop talking on the way, speaks perfectly English and knows almost all people you will meet during this trip. If Daniel is not available, call his brother, Tukai ( +254727 688 019 ).
The road is partly sandish, but mainly rocks and lava, so the speed isn’t too high. After reaching the outer crater rim (effectively the entrance to the park), grassland will take you to the inner crater rim. This is the area where most Masai are actually living around Mount Suswa. The campsite is just at the edge of the inner crater rim, really really astonishing. The raft is densely vegetated and there has been very little exploration into the area.
It was getting late, so we made camp next to the car and started a fire. Apart from the wind you could only hear the bats flying around and some hyena’s houling in the neighbourhood. We were the only ones there and with the full moon present that night, we had enough lite to prepare a proper meal and enjoy our wines.
The next morning we were accompanied by Daniel and Tukai again for a quick breakfast. Then we headed of to the summit of Mount Suswa. Walking over the inner crater edge (providing a fine ridge walk), including several viewpoints on the way, finally reaching the summit, Ol Donyo Onyoke, after a 2 hour walk. Having brought some lunch, you can see the Ngong Hills, Mount Longonot the Aberdares and the Masai herds. Unfortunatly it wasn’t clear enough to see Nairobi.The outer crater, some 10km in diameter, is breached on it south and east sides. Numerous lava flows poured down these slopes. Many of the less viscous pahoehoe flows are honeycombed with caves (described below). An inner crater 4 to 5km in diameter contains a "raft" surrounded by a deep "moat".
If you have the time, you can walk around the entire outer crater rim, but this takes you at least 8-10 hours. You can easily spend a few days here on the campsite, as the scenery is green and lively.
After lunch, we headed back to the car to visit the lava caves. All accesible caves are located on the east side, basically within the outer crater rim. We parked the car next to the best know attraction of Mount Suswa: The lava caves.Perhaps the best known attractions on Mt Suswa are the lava caves on the outer crater. There are over 30 entrances into these caves, most of which are places where the caves’ roof collapsed. We were happy that Daniel was still accompanying us, because the whole cave system will make you get lost very very easily. Also, remember to take a big torch and some smaller headlamps, its dark in the caves and without those you cannot explore them.
We visited cave 18 and cave 24, which are both good accessible and you don’t have to crawl or slide through these caves.
The Suswa caves are home to large populations of bats that are said to travel as far as 30km in search of food at night, and then retreat to the caves in the morning. Walking through cave 18, we saw big colonies of bats hanging from the roof, resting for the night to come. If you manage to stay around the caves, the exit of all bats out of the cave can be viewed, should a very exciting site.
Also, cave 18 is the home of the Baboons’ parliament, where a large troop of Baboons take shelter at night from their predators. The Baboon troops’ arrival in the evening coincides with the departure of the local bat colonies, creating two way traffic. It is said that if you peer down the opening in the roof early in the morning, you will find the troop’s leader perched on a pile of rocks at the centre of the chamber, seemingly addressing the rest of the troop perched on ledges high up the walls of the cave.
Another interesting feature in the caves is a rock painting of a lion in one of the chambers, attributed to the local Maasai morans, who apparently sleep inside this chamber during one of their initiation rituals.
The conservancy is currently building some showers and toilets next to the parking at Cave 18, which will enable travellers to camp here more frequently. This will also enable you to see the witness the two way traffic in the caves.
After the two hour visit to the caves, we headed back to Nairobi. Looking back at our two day trip, we were amazed by the fact that this part of Kenya is still not discovered. Although the Masai are working on the road, the difficulty reaching the outer crater fully benefits the unspoiled beauty of nature you will find behind this crater rim.To make you journey a bit easier, I have posted the most important waypoints below. Also, the route form Nairobi which can be uploaded in your GPS. (coming soon)
Tags: Mount Suswa, Hiking Kenya, Hiking Nairobi, Campsite Suswa, Lava Caves, Caves Suswa, Mount Longonot, Camping Suswa, Camping Mount Suswa, Hiking Suswa, Hiking Mount Suswa, Suswa Conservancy
