We left Nyeri in the late afternoon and, after a short drive, arrived in Nanyuki, a town located just 6 kilometres north of the Equator at 1947 meters above sea level. It has a lovely setting, with Mount Kenya as a backdrop and rivers such as the Burguret and the Ewaso Nyiro. There are many camps, but for some reason, all of them refused to provide parking without a room, so we ended up at the luxurious hotel parking just on the Equator.
Nanyuki’s history is marked by its colonial origins as a frontier town established for European settlement after World War I, and by its name, derived from the Maasai phrase “Enkare Nanyoikie,” meaning “river of blood”. The colonial government formalised land seizures from the Maasai, Kikuyu, and Samburu to create vast ranches and farming areas for British settlers and ex-soldiers through the Soldier Settlement Scheme in the early 1900s. The town developed into a centre of farming, later became a gateway to northern Kenya, a base for climbing Mount Kenya, and a site of historical significance during the Mau Mau Uprising. Today, it serves as a major military base for the Kenya Air Force and the British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK).
Parking location – Nanyuki: 0.004394S 37.069232E (🚻,🅿️300 KES)