10 reasons to visit ol Donyo in Kenya’s Chyulu Hills

​By Roxanne Reid
Visit the Chyulu Hills in south-eastern Kenya and you’ll discover an Imax-view of rolling green hills, golden plains and black volcanic soil, herds of Masaai giraffe, zebra and antelope. Looming over it all are giant bull elephants and the snow-capped Mount Kilimanjaro just over the border in Tanzania. Discover 10 reasons to visit ol Donyo in Kenya’s Chyulu Hills.  

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1. Geology

The Chyulu Hills are volcanic, a 100km stretch of small ash cones, flows and craters. The most recent eruptions were during the middle of the 19th century. Although volcanic activity started here about 1.4 million years ago, the hills are only 650 000 to 850 000 years old, some of the youngest volcanic hills in the world. The highest peak is 2188m and although there’s no permanent surface water, rain filters through the porous volcanic rock to feed springs in the surrounding plains.

If you’re adventurous and energetic, go on a geological hike to explore one of the lava tube caves – at about 11km Leviathan Cave is one of the longest lava tubes on the planet – or to the top of ol Donyo Wuas for wonderful views.

2. Game drive

Head out from ol Donyo Lodge in an open safari vehicle, through woodland and across open plains with Mount Kilimanjaro in the distance or hiding behind cloud. Look out for Maasai giraffe, white-bearded wildebeest, zebra, eland, oryx, and Thompson’s and Grant’s gazelles. The smaller Thompson’s is similar to Southern Africa’s springbok but with longer horns. Other animals here include cheetah, elephant, Coke’s hartebeest – the fastest and best endurance athlete in Kenya – and the strange long-necked gerenuk with its rear hip joints that rotate to allow it to stand upright to feed on high branches.

Watching the changing landscape of volcanic hills and open plains is as much part of a safari here as the wildlife itself.

3. Birding

If you’re keen on bird watching there’s lots to occupy you in the Chyulu Hills. I was chuffed to spot a martial eagle on a tree, especially when guide Konee Kinyaku said it was about two months since he’d seen one. Other ticks included yellow-throated sandgrouse, lilac-breasted roller, little bee-eater, African hoopoe, rosy-patched bush shrike, white-headed buffalo-weaver, white-bellied go-away bird, superb starling, Temminck’s starling, white-starred robin and Eastern pale chanting goshawk.​

4. Smart plants

There’s no shortage of trees and shrubs in the Chyulu Hills. One of them with dark galls and long thorns is called the whistling acacia and has a fascinating story to tell. Ants get inside the galls when they’re still soft, and they protect the plant by rushing out when the bush is touched to bite animals that are feeding on them. The small holes the ants use to get inside the galls make a whistling sound in the wind, giving rise to the common name.

​Our guide Konee Kinyaku touched two or three of the galls and we watched the ants dash out, not only from those he’d touched but from others on the bush too. ‘They even send messages to the next bush to warn it that animals are coming,’ he said.

He also told us about the sandpaper bush, the rough leaves of which are useful as sandpaper or emery board. A twig of the bush is used to bring peace in Maasai families because in Maa (the language the Maasai speak) the name means peace. The idea is that you have a twig of this useful bush, you can’t continue to disagree.

5. Bush walks
​Enjoy a bush walk with your guide, a chance to feel the black volcanic earth beneath your feet, smell the aromas of the bush, hear the birds calling and learn about medicinal uses for plants that grow here. Superb as a game drive in a 4x4 vehicle is, sometimes it’s good to have a change of pace, to still the sound of an engine and open yourself to the wonders of tracks in the sand, and other small signs that your guide will interpret as if he’s reading the morning newspaper. 

6. Horse riding

Saddle up for a horseback ride into the Chyulu Hills, which writer Ernest Hemingway referred to as ‘the green hills of Africa’. It’s a natural way to get close to wild zebras and giraffes, hartebeest and Thompson’s gazelles. Whether you’re an experienced or newbie rider, your guides will match your pace. (PS If you’d prefer to explore in a different kind of saddle, ask to go on a mountain bike ride instead.)

7. Maasai culture

Konee was a walking encyclopaedia on the ways of his Maasai people. He told us about the Maasai Olympics – a fiercely competitive set of challenges that allows warriors to prove themselves by winning medals instead of hunting and killing a lion, which used to be a rite of passage. Events include rungu (wooden club) throwing, javelin/spear throwing, high jump, 200m and 800m sprint, and 5km run.

He also took us to a Maasai village, where women sang, wafted a tuft of grass at us to wish us good fortune, and dissolved in fits of giggles. One of them invited us into a house through a low door and curved tunnel that unnerved me with its tightness. Inside were two beds, just a calf skin covering the hard surface.

In the central area was the fire place, with storage space for wood. The hut was murky and smelt of wood smoke from countless fires. With Konee as interpreter, we learnt that men’s duties are to check young boys are herding responsibly, build a fence around the animal pens and take animals to sell, while women cook, do beadwork, collect firewood, build the house and look after the kids.

A man can take more than one wife. His parents choose the first; after that he can choose for himself. Since he pays a bride price – usually cows – it’s only those with many cows who can afford multiple wives. ‘To the Maasai,’ Konee said, ‘cows are like a bank account, and sheep and goats are the petty cash.’

The Maasai today straddle two worlds. On the way back from the village we passed through a little trading centre and got a sense of the less traditional side of Maasai life. It was like a Wild West cowboy town – not the sanitised Hollywood version, but dusty and disheveled. Yet you could get just about anything there, from groceries and airtime to tyres or a haircut, and you could pay with M-Pesa, the ingenious mobile phone payment system that means Kenyans don’t have to carry cash.

8. Sunsets

Try to enjoy at least one sunset out on the plains, surrounded by flat-topped trees, antelope, zebra and giraffe. Forget everything else and focus on the changing colours of the sky as day turns to night. Live in the moment, sip on a cocktail and fix the memory in your mind to savour long after your Chyulu Hills adventure is over.

9. Five-star food and wine

Great Plains Conservation’s ol Donyo Lodge is a Relais & Châteaux property, with all the class and sophistication that implies. The food conjured up by chef Timothy Okoth is no exception. He loves to use fresh ingredients in season to produce in-depth flavours with subtle spices, like his signature anise and coconut simmered chicken, or chickpea and rosemary flatbreads. His osso buco has a delicious hint of fennel and his lamb shank is possibly the most succulent and delicious I’ve ever tasted.

Being in the bush teaches a chef to be creative with what he has to hand. Tim visited Cape Town in May 2017 for the We Are Africa event, where he found inspiration from chefs like Pierre van Zyl of Botswana’s Zarafa Camp and Peter Templehoff. ‘Eating out and visiting the food markets was very special,’ says Tim. ‘Interacting with Templehoff and seeing his kitchen in action at the Greenhouse restaurant was a highlight for me.’

He loves when guests appreciate his team’s efforts and enjoys taking an under-appreciated ingredient and making it exciting to the palate – saffron-pickled turnips, for instance.

We Are Africa reignited his desire to showcase local and African ingredients on future menus. ‘Things like springbok steak, tamarind and Ethiopian passion berry or Madagascan chocolate, caramel and pear dessert,’ he says.
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10. Star bed

On a clear night the stars parade brightly across a darkened sky. The best way to appreciate them is to take a paraffin lamp and climb the stairs to the star bed made up for you on the roof terrace of your suite at ol Donyo Lodge. If it’s high summer, this will be the coolest place to spend the night. Even if it’s winter and too chilly to spend the whole night, tuck yourself in at least an hour or so to marvel at the wonders of the night sky in an area far from light pollution. If your visit coincides with a moonless night, the density of stars will dumbfound you.

Note: I was a guest of Great Plains Conservation’s ol Donyo Lodge for two nights, but I was given free rein to write what I chose. I paid for my flights to and around Kenya.

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