Ngong Forest

After so many visits to Karura Forest, last year we looked for alternatives. Ngong Hills, with the wind turbines at the top has been one option. From start to finish, after the initial climb up there are still several more ups and downs before the final descent and it takes a few hours to finish. It is not that suitable for kids, but they are willing to do a couple of the ups and downs after a drive close to the top. The windmills seems to help motivate them, though the view at the top towards Nairobi on one side and the Great Rift Valley and its volcanoes on the other side is spectacular. It can get quite busy sometimes too.

A great option for kids is the Oloolua forest trail which is about 5km and has a few bridges over small rivers, some varied terrain and a waterfall. There is also a picnic site and a campsite. Hannah's class had a day trip at school there recently. It is close to the Giraffe Center in Karen, though there are not really any market paths, so you just follow a rough circle and kind of hope that eventually you come back. There is a cave that is a good 15m deep, and a couple of very rickety staircases at one point. 

Then there is the Ngong Forest, which has over time been sliced and diced by two roads (Southern Bypass and Ngong Road) so that now there are 4 sections on either side of the junction. What remains of the forest is quite large and has remained well protected with  mostly indigenous trees. Section 1 is the section that is most used by the public, but also the smallest, with a circular route taking about 4km. It is a fairly simple rectangle with a few smaller paths around, and an extraordinary pretty lake by the car park.

Section 4 is the biggest section which has running/walking (and theoretically cycling, but most of the paths would be treacherous and too difficult for bikes) trails marked out from 3.5km, 5km, 10km, 15km and 22km. The paths are very enjoyable... very narrrow, very winding, very hilly, and with a lot of roots sticking out. There are a couple of rivers to be crossed, a shooting range one can hear in the distance and some varied ecosystems, with some more grassy, another more marshy and the majority just forest. There is a nice playground that the kids enjoy. When running, it is harder than a regular run and takes up around 1/3rd more steps, which feels like more distance, and certainly adds a lot of time, from having to take so many small steps on the twisty paths, and to avoid tripping.

Ngong Forest plans to open up section 3 and add a cafe and restaurant amongst other things, once it has raised enough money to fence it, secure it and mark out the paths. It has taken the model of Karura Forest with a non-profit association managing it, though the land and staff are from Kenya Forest Service and Kenya Wildlife Service. They are great examples for balancing the environment with pleasure, whilst finding a viable commercial model. Karura Forest has been a resounding success, with hundreds of cars packing the car parks on many days. Ngong Road Forest still has a long way to go to attract the numbers that it needs to in order to get the revenue it needs to be sustainable and to invest in the other sections of the forest. But it seems to me that is on the right path.