Regional Circuit · Kenya
Aberdare Circuit
Begin in Nairobi and travel to Nyeri, then follow the roads and local stories that connect the Aberdare moorlands and waterfalls with Chinga Dam, Mau Mau heritage, working coffee and tea country, Nyeri's memorial sites, and the Solio wildlife landscape.
The Circuit
See how the Home Bases connect, then choose a Journey for the practical route and stops.
Home Bases
Move through the Circuit in this order, or begin from the starting point that fits your journey.
Gateway · Stop 1
Nairobi
Nairobi County, Kenya
Nairobi is Kenya's capital and the great connecting point for Journeys across the country. It is a Home Base for discovering the city's own neighbourhoods, history, markets, green spaces and …
Explore Home Base →Regional hub · Stop 2
Nyeri
Nyeri County, Kenya
Nyeri is a central-highlands town between Mount Kenya and the Aberdare Range. It is a practical Home Base for the Aberdare forests and high moorlands, the farms and historical landscapes …
Explore Home Base →Journeys
The practical roads through the Circuit, with primary “Road to” Journeys shown first.
Primary Journey · Begin here
The Road to Nyeri 1 video available.
Travel north from Nairobi through Thika, Sagana, and Karatina to reach Nyeri, the regional Home Base for the Aberdare Circuit.
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Chinga Dam to Chinga Waterfall 1 video available.
Continue from the dam on a short locally guided walk through cool vegetation to the waterfall immediately beyond the roadside.
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Dragon's Teeth to Mount Satima 1 video available.
Continue south from the volcanic towers of Dragon's Teeth across the high northern Aberdare moorland to Mount Satima, the range's 4,001-metre summit. This is the onward walking stage of a full-day route that begins …
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Nyeri to Baden-Powell Historical Gardens 1 video available.
Make the short local Journey to the cemetery and historical gardens that connect Nyeri with the worldwide Scouting and Guiding story.
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Nyeri to Chinga Dam 1 video available.
Travel through Othaya's cultivated highlands, pause in Gichiche for the community context and current local advice, then continue to Chinga Dam.
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Nyeri to Dragon's Teeth 1 video available.
Leave Nyeri for the northern Aberdare highlands, pass through the current park-entry process and continue across remote moorland roads to Twin Rocks. From there, finish on foot through fast-changing mountain weather to the volcanic …
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Nyeri to Gura Falls via Kiandongoro Gate 1 video available.
Enter the Aberdare highlands through Kiandongoro Gate and continue under current KWS direction toward one of the range's deepest waterfall gorges.
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Nyeri to Italian War Memorial Church 1 video available.
Follow the Ihururu road from central Nyeri to a carefully maintained Second World War memorial holding the remains of soldiers and recruits.
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Nyeri to Kariba Mau Mau Caves 1 video available.
Leave Nyeri for the Marua and Mathira landscape, then continue with local guidance to a gazetted cave site associated with the struggle for independence.
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Nyeri to Karuru Falls via Wandare Gate 1 video available.
Enter the Aberdares through Wandare Gate and follow the current KWS-approved internal route toward the three-stage Karuru Falls.
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Nyeri to Nyeri Hill Farm 1 video available.
Travel from town into Nyeri's working coffee and tea landscape for an agricultural visit that must be arranged with the farm in advance.
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Nyeri to Solio Ranch 1 video available.
Leave Nyeri for the open country to the north and an advance-arranged visit to Solio's privately managed rhino-conservation landscape.
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The discoveries reached from the Home Bases along this Circuit.
Nyeri Home Base
Baden-Powell Grave and Historical Gardens 1 video available.
The Nyeri resting place of Robert and Olave Baden-Powell and a pilgrimage site connected to the worldwide histories of Scouting and Guiding.
Explore Place →Nyeri Home Base
Chinga Dam 1 video available.
A highland reservoir near Othaya where difficult Mau Mau history meets fishing, waterbirds, local boat activity, and everyday community life.
Explore Place →Nyeri Home Base
Chinga Waterfall 1 video available.
A cool forested cascade just beyond Chinga Dam, reached by a short local path that turns a reservoir visit into a small water-and-woods adventure.
Explore Place →Nyeri Home Base
Dragon's Teeth 1 video available.
Jagged volcanic rock towers rise from the misty northern Aberdare moorland near Mount Satima. Reached by a long park approach and a high-altitude walk, Dragon's Teeth feels less like a …
Explore Place →Nyeri Home Base
Gura Falls 1 video available.
A high waterfall plunging into one of the Aberdares' deep forested gorges opposite the Karuru waterfall system.
Explore Place →Nyeri Home Base
Italian War Memorial Church 1 video available.
A solemn 1952 memorial whose chapel and surrounding vaults preserve the remains of Italian soldiers and African recruits who died in East Africa during the Second World War.
Explore Place →Nyeri Home Base
Kariba Mau Mau Caves 1 video available.
Riverside caves in the Mathira landscape associated with the Mau Mau struggle and local memories of resistance.
Explore Place →Nyeri Home Base
Karuru Falls 1 video available.
Karuru Falls drops in three great stages through the high forests and moorlands of Aberdare National Park. Reached by a long drive from Nyeri and slower park roads, the waterfall …
Explore Place →Nyeri Home Base
Mount Satima 1 video available.
Mount Satima, also known as Ol Donyo Lesatima, rises to 4,001 metres above the northern Aberdare moorland. It is the highest summit in the Aberdare Range and Kenya's third-highest mountain, …
Explore Place →Nyeri Home Base
Nyeri Hill Farm 1 video available.
A large working estate where more than a century of coffee, tea, livestock, education, and community institutions meet.
Explore Place →Nyeri Home Base
Solio Ranch and Rhino Sanctuary 1 video available.
A privately managed wildlife landscape north of Nyeri with a long role in rhinoceros conservation.
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