parallax background

Eburu Forest adventure ride

Sala Gate, season 2
6 January 2022
The untold story of big bikes
26 January 2022
 

By Eric Kihiu

Ever heard of Eburu Forest? No? Read on...

I have a bucket list of rides. Eburu Forest is on that list. RamblƏr One was a couple of hundred kms shy of the 2k mark, still in the breaking-in phase. I was looking forward to some serious off roading, and highway riding after engine kufunguka.

Day 1, afternoon departure.

Sedate cruise along the Southern Bypass to the Naivasha road interchange at Kikuyu. I enjoy the wide concrete highway up to the Rironi interchange, where the road narrows to single lane. Time to focus. Happily, traffic is surprisingly modest for a Friday.

Just before the ascent to View Point a blue pick up, doing about 80kph is coming towards me, heaving with freshly harvested 🥑. As it gets close one 🥑 falls off and bounce bounce bounces determinedly towards me in high arcs. Its motion is mesmerising and almost seems to be happening in slow motion. I'm not fooled though, this is a quarter kilo of solid mass at a combined approach speed of 160kph. The final bounce brings it up to waist height. If it hits me there's gonna be real injury. Quick calculation of the trajectory - can't avoid impact, but i swerve safely and it thumps into the bike just behind my leg. The impact is heavy. Lucky escape hapo.

parallax background
 

Stop at View Point to enjoy the, well..., VIEW. Standing at the edge of the steep drop, the Rift Valley is laid out in all its glory. I can see Longonot and Lake Naivasha with Mount Eburu rearing up behind it. Scenic. On a clear day, this place is always worth a stop.

A Subaru Impreza wagon rocks up. Thumping music. The occupants stream out. One, two, three..., six, seven. One jogoo, driving, and 6 girls in short and/or tight things. How did 7 fit into that small car? The scent of booze wafts past. Exuberant crowd. Giggles. Selfies. Meandering walks to the washrooms. Jogoo and girl #1 embrace. Stare into each others' eyes. Sweet nothings are whispered. Dude is smitten. Both seem inebriated. Huyu ndio designated driver?

Girl #2 notices the bike and walks over. Introduces herself. Tells me she looooves SPEEDBIKES. And would gladly ditch her crew for a chance to pillion. As I mentally facepalm, I try to explain that RamblƏr One is an off-roader, built for ruggedness and endurance, not speed. The distinction seems lost on her. She rejoins her group. They cram back into their ride and depart. Oh Lord, protect them.

I chug down a water bought from a curio vendor - hydration lazima, and proceed on my laid-back ride towards Naivasha. The rest of the journey is pleasant and uneventful in the late afternoon sunshine. I spot the Subaru parked on the roadside at Karai, bonnet open with local fundis in attendance. I hope walifika salama.

parallax background
 

Day 2, morning

Ride along the highway from Naivasha, turn off at Morendat onto the Moi North Lake Road. This is a ribbon of flawless tarmac with an exhilarating mix of sweeping corners, hairpins and long straights that cuts through a series of large farms and ranches. Acacia trees dominate. Baboon troops hang out on the roadside along this route. Behind the chain link fence of one farm topi antelope graze alongside a herd of zebra. Giraffe can also be seen in this area.

After about 10km I branch off the tarmac onto a dirt road that climbs towards Mount Eburu. The habitat transitions from acacia to leleshwa woodland. The road starts off as typical dryland road - dusty and uneven, with ruts from erosion, corrugations and exposed rocks from years of sporadic maintenance. Basically, a marking scheme for testing the quality of your suspension. The bike soaks up these imperfections without drama, and I maintain a steady pace over the next 12km.

Initially there's a wilderness feel to this section, but as you climb higher the woodland opens up and cultivated fields begin to appear. About half-way through the section around the Morgen shopping centre in Thome area, the landscape changes signficantly, getting greener. The air is cooler and the density of farms, homesteads and people is higher. Beautiful white pyrethrum flowers in fields sway in the wind amidst the prevalent potato farms. Serious agriculture is happening here.

The road passes through Eburru shopping centre, where there's a large field of 200 litre metal drums and pipework. Locals here get their domestic water by tapping geothermal steam from underground which condenses into the drums. It's a kind of communal steam harvesting farm.

Beyond the shopping centre is the forest. Once you cross the electrified fence that marks the forest boundary, the first thing you see is the KENGEN Eburu Geothermal power plant. A thick white cloud of steam vented by the plant rises into the sky.

Beyond the power plant is the forest station, where I link up with Paul, who supervises the manitenance of the fence. He's riding a Yamaha AG 200 dual sport. From here the forest adventure begins...

 

Eburu Forest Reserve is an 8,715 hectare protected natural forest that sits atop a dormant volcanic mountain. Its highest peak is 2,820 metres high, and it has many interesting hiking trails. It is one of those rare places were you can hike, ride bicycles and off-road motorcycles, camp, observe wildlife and completely immerse yourself in nature.

We ride through the 10km long main track that traverses the forest, occasionally stopping to take in the sights and sounds of this beautiful place. If you listen closely, you can hear the calls of colobus and blue monkeys in the tall trees, alongside the singing of birds - 188 species have been recorded in this forest.

The 45 minutes we take riding through the forest is very refreshing - time well spent. We emerge at Olesirwa, the leeward side of the forest which overlooks Lakes Elementaita and Nakuru. From here a narrow track descends through a series of villages and small farms to Kongasis, a dusty shopping centre, where I hang out for a while with some friends.

 

In the late afternoon I link up with Paul for the return leg. We use an alternate route - via Jaika. This is a long dirt road that runs parallel to the Naivasha-Nakuru road, through the badlands - flat, volcanic terrain with occasional hills and rocky outcrops. Wilderness with a side of pastoralism - Turkana herdsmen graze their livestock along the way. This route would make a great rally special stage. Bolder off-road riders will relish blasting through here with trottles wide open. The road terminates at Mlima Nugu junction: left to Gilgil or right to climb back towards Eburu. We go right. There's lots of murram and rough edges through this section that's ringed by hills. The road links to Morgen, a small shopping centre with a great view of Lake Naivasha. Paul and I part and I make an easy descent back to Naivasha.

parallax background
 

Day 3

Overcast start to the day, with a threat of rain. Some friends who were to join me from Nairobi via Suswa pull out on account of the potentially foul weather.

My odometer is showing 1,991km, so i'm going to crack the 2k mark on this trip. I'm on the road by 8:30 along the Naivasha-Nakuru road. Just after the Malewa bridge I reach the milestone. I stop to capture the moment. At Morendat I again turn onto the Moi North Lake Road. This time, instead of branching off onto the dirt road to Eburu, I continue on the tarmac. This route runs past the famous Great Rift Valley Lodge and Green Park estate. At Loldia, I come across roadkill - a black-backed jackal. The area is a wildlife corridor, and this sort of thing happens often, sadly. Kasarani shopping centre is about 17km along the road from Morendat. I link up with Paul here, and we take the dirt road that leads past St. Andrews Tarabete Secondary School.

Beyond the school is wilderness: the road becomes a very steep and gnarly trail. Tyres sink into the lightweight volcanic soil and marble-sized pebbles. This is proper enduro country. We work our way up the trail. At the top of the trail is a view of Lake Naivasha. We start the descent through rocky badlands towards Ndabibi and ride along narrow roads that pass through small farms, the occasional school and Gathondia shopping centre.

Paul, a veteran of these parts, leads me through some rough trails, across a river and on a climb towards the forest. Along the way we encounter a large herd of cattle, probably over 100 head. They completely block the track and there are embankments on both sides - no way to pass. We ride into the herd, hoping to find a way through. Paul makes it, but I get hemmed in. The cattle nudge me from all sides, and I struggle to retain my balance. A very unnerving experience. I call to the Maasai herdsman and he reluctantly creates a path through which I gratefully escape!

 

28km from St. Andrews the trail reaches the forest boundary. The adjacent village is known as Centre One, or Kosovo, to the locals. The contrast between the open farmland on one side and the pristine forest on the other is stark. It speaks volumes about the impact of conservation.

 

The closed canopy forest is beautiful, and I can imagine hiking and camping here to enjoy the tranquility of nature. We chat with the 2-man team that looks after the forest's electric fence in this zone. Their camp is named Oloo-Munyi - a local name for the black rhino population that was reputed to inhabit this area a few generations ago.

We continue with our ride, the next destination being Gachuma, a shopping centre about 8km on. The terrain in this area is scenic, characterised by rolling hills. There's little in the way of settlement, but plenty of farming. The dirt road here is wide and looks easy, but the soil is the dreaded "fesh-fesh" - powdery, slippery and deep. We work our way gingerly through this stretch - a bike drop is only one lapse in concentration away. Even Paul, a guru of these roads, has healthy respect for fesh-fesh.

I have a few heart stopping moments, where the front wheel dips into potholes or ruts hidden by the fesh-fesh and I lose balance. But the X-Pulse once again demonstrates its very capable and forgiving nature.You always get the sense that the bike is your true friend - it WANTS to help you out of trouble, not spill you onto the dirt when you make a mistake.

 

We stop briefly at Gachuma, where Paul checks on the fence. We proceed on, gratefully leaving the fesh-fesh behind. The road improves as it get further away from the forest. We open up our throttles, powering through Tangi Tano village, Munanda and Nyatoru, and then join a major access road (dirt) at Kiambogo shopping centre. This road leads all the way to Kongasis and then to Pipeline in Nakuru.

Just beyond Kiambogo we branch off this road into a convoluted series of bumpy roads through villages and farms, getting ever closer to the forest. We're having serious fun. I'm spending most of the time stood on the footpegs, maintaining a loose but alert grip on the bars and letting the bike dance under me.

The throttle is well calibrated, at around mid-point you're doing 50-60kph in third or fourth and well in the safe riding zone, able to react to anything that pops up on the road. The front ABS brakes respond well on the different surfaces, and the rears have plenty of bite should you need more stopping power in a hurry. Whenever Paul pulls away - the AG 200 is a muscular beast with plenty of torque - I can twist the throttle and extract a surge of power to catch up.

parallax background
 

28kms since our stop at Gachuma we reach Songoloi village where we stop briefly and chat with the locals. We power on, through the countryside on a route that takes us back to Eburru centre. Here I bid Paul adieu and descend to Naivasha. By this point I have covered over 120kms, most of which has been fun dirt. At Naivasha, I sort out my very dusty gear and have a late lunch.

On the tarmac back to Nairobi, just before Kimende, i'm cruising behind a convoy of cars. Suddenly everyone hits their emergency brakes. I'm doing 80 or thereabouts. The situation is totally unexpected. Reflexes take over - I check my side mirror, confirm it's clear and do a quick swerve to avoid rear-ending the car ahead. The light weight and good handling balance of the bike means there's little inertia - the quick steering response made it possible to turn a potential hazard into a non-event.

 

This Eburu adventure was a truly entertaining ride. A great trip, loaded with fun. Eburu is one of those places you can explore many times in different ways. Next time some camping and nature hiking maybe?

RamblƏr One was brilliant on this trip. Thoroughly competent - the right tool for this sort of adventure. It never felt overwhelmed at anything I threw at it. It inhabits that sweet spot that blends safe and fun.

Ride smart, ride safe 🖖🏽

1 Comment

  1. Francis Kagutha says:

    This is a great adventure. Love the photography and the flow of the adventure. You definitely had great fun!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *