Taita Rocks
Group rides
5 July 2021
Bike care routine
11 July 2021By Eric Kihiu
Taita is sort of Kenya's Switzerland, isn't it? Steeped in tales of tall hills, twisties and beauty. A road trip beckoned.
El Dominar, a recent recipient of new brake pads, fuel filter, air filter, multi-function spotlights and clutch cable, was ready for action.
Highlights of Taita land
Voi to Mwatate - 25kms of fast sweeping road where you can unleash your engine's full potential.
Mwatate to Wundanyi is 15km of absolute awesomeness. A steep climb with many hairpins. A narrow but brilliantly engineered road. This is the place to develop advanced riding skills, especially around Josa.
Taita Rocks Hotel, Wundanyi, has a beautiful view. And good food. The kuku kienyeji and mbuzi fry were superb. In an efficient use of space, the bar counter doubles up as the reception.
Decent sized, comfortable rooms. A single, B&B is 2k, 3k for a double. Strangely, some rooms didn't have mirrors. Piga selfie ujione.They also have cottages -8k for the large 2 roomed one - former governor Sonko stayed there once... #muchene
The hotel compound is very steep and the steps were built for a race of giants... Small kids, elders and the physically impaired would struggle.
But a restful place nevertheless. Monkeys chatter, birds sing, and you'll never tire of the view. In keeping with the character of the area, even the odd mosquito is polite - hazina kelele na hazisumbui 🙂
On the return trip, along Mombasa Road, I endured plenty of MALICIOUS OVERTAKING by all the usual suspects - buses, trucks, Premios and the like. But being a Monday, at least those obnoxious road-grabbing Prados were few and far between.
The bike
El Dominar has never lacked for grunt, but it was a growling, snarling, fire spitting beast on this trip. The replacement of fuel filter, air filter and clutch cable plus the fully synthetic oil I'm using seems to have unleashed some hidden 🐎🐎🐎. You know things are 🔥 when you bounce off the rev limiter in 6th on a slight upslope ... Some hefty numbers came up 😈
Big miles,
big smiles...
Ride smart,
ride safe
🖖🏽
#dominar400
1 Comment
Lovely adventure….looking forward to visiting this Taita