Nanyuki

Nanyuki grew as a settler farming town and now functions as the gateway to Mount Kenya's western routes and to the Laikipia conservancies, which gives it an unusual mix: safari outfitters and mountain guides, a large military presence including a British training unit, a weaving workshop, curio markets and an airstrip busy with light aircraft. The equator crosses just south of town and is marked with a sign where demonstrators show the Coriolis water trick to tourists, which is entertaining and physically meaningless at that scale. Mount Kenya fills the eastern sky on clear mornings, and the town sits at around 1,950 metres so the air is thin and the nights cold. Practical services, banks, supermarkets and mechanics make it the last proper town before the north.

History

Maasai herders found red ochre here, the ground looking like roan cattle, and British settlers arrived in 1907; some of their descendants still live around the town (Wikipedia, Nanyuki).

What you'll find

• The equator marker - the sign and the water demonstrations south of town.
• Mount Kenya views - the peaks on clear mornings from the streets.
• Outfitters and markets - climbing gear, curios and the weaving workshop.
• The airstrip - light aircraft heading into Laikipia and the north.

When to go

Year-round; it is a base rather than a seasonal destination. Mount Kenya is clearest early in the morning before cloud builds. January to February and August to September are the main climbing seasons on the mountain.

Good to know

The equator demonstration is a trick and the physics does not work as claimed at that scale; enjoy it as theatre. The town itself is workaday, and its interest is as a base. Curio prices at the equator are inflated. Nights are genuinely cold at this altitude.

Nearby

Mount Kenya rises east; Ol Pejeta and the Laikipia conservancies lie north.

Key facts