Kenya is full of hidden gems that we keep discovering and we want to show all of our visitors! We recently camped at Suswa Caves, one of those hidden gems. Sometimes you just need to get off the beaten track, and although the road through Suswa is the well-traveled road to Maasai Mara, the detour to Suswa Caves is very undefeated. So at the risk of making Suswa Caves the most popular destination in Kenya, I’ll tell you about our weekend there and how you can enjoy your own adventure.
Eight of us headed to Suswa laden with camping equipment, food and water. Laura and Moses came from their camp in Maasai Mara with their friend Helen who was visiting from the UK. Kip, Leonie and their daughter Fleur came from Nairobi, like us. We got to the turnoff to Mt Suswa Conservancy at the same time as Moses and Laura, so we hit the road together toward conservation. The road was so dusty! We had to keep almost a kilometer between our vehicles so that those behind didn’t get lost in the cloud. On their way, Kip and Leonie got caught in a pile of dust, that’s how bad it was!
After we entered the reserve, we had to find the place to camp and set up camp. It wasn’t the easiest to find, but some of the local Maasai who are in charge of conservation found us, beckoned us, and gave us directions. We were pleasantly surprised to find something resembling a toilet block: a hole in the ground surrounded by a structure with the entrance facing away from the camp. There are two campsites at Mt Suswa Conservancy: one is on the crater rim (I forgot to mention that Mt Suswa is an extinct volcano) and the other is next to the caves. We were in the one near the caves. Other than the crumbling buildings around the long-drop toilets, there is no other infrastructure in the campgrounds so you have to bring everything. Fortunately, we are all ex-foreigners, so we are used to spending a couple of nights in the bush and we had all the necessary supplies for such an adventure. For a fee, the Maasai brought us firewood, but it was most likely not ecologically sustainable firewood.
Maasai water harvesting
The next morning we went on an excursion. We found a guide who took us to the crater rim of Mount Suswa. Along the way he showed us the ingenious method that the Maasai have been using to collect water. Mt Suswa is located in the Great Rift Valley and is one of several volcanoes that caused the Rift Valley to exist; Mount Kilimanjaro and nearby Mount Longonot are two others. This volcanic activity means that there are hot springs and geysers throughout the area. In fact, this activity has resulted in Kenya Power building a huge geothermal power plant in Hells Gate National Park, which is located a short distance from Mount Suswa. Regardless, the Maasai have placed pipes over steam ducts on the mountainside in a way that directs the steam downward. By the time the steam has gone down the pipe, it has condensed into water and drips into a large drum. Anyone can come and drink water from this source. On our way back to camp after visiting the crater rim, we stopped at the main water collection point and our guide doused each of us with cold water collected from steam vents. It seemed a bit quirky given the dryness of the landscape, but it was also very welcome in the hot weather.
On our hike we saw shy green monkeys and rabbits, a rare species as most vervet monkeys are very cheeky and not shy at all. We also saw many birds that Kip was delighted by as he is an avid bird watcher.
In the afternoon, our guide took us to (and through) the caves. I would never have guessed how extensive they were and how big. Some were just huge holes in the ground, which could turn out to be a hazard if you weren’t looking where you were going! Others were narrow passages that weren’t so much my cup of tea. There were a lot of bats, and I didn’t feel like running into one trying to get out while I was trying to get in! They showed us a chamber that was known as the leopard’s eating cave. I’m not sure if it was true or not, I preferred not to think about it too much since our camp was quite close. A large cave was called the baboon parliament, as it is the favorite gathering place for baboon troupes. The rocks were shiny and smooth from the baboons that were sitting on them.
Next time we go, I think the camp on the crater rim is preferable to the one near the caves, if only for the view. The walks should be done early in the morning and in the late afternoon with a nap to get through the heat of the day. The conservation and camp fees are quite reasonable and the man who collects them knows very well that you are in conservation, so even if the entrance gate is not guarded, you will still have to pay when you get to camp to see how this. . Keep your receipts though, so you can prove payment in case another admin comes to check / collect.