Chasing Waterfalls in Kiambu County

Ivy Gathu
4 min readJan 31, 2021

--

( Larger than life 😊)

Kiambu County is one of Kenya’s 47 counties — county number 22. The first thing that pops in my head about the County is; farming, tea, coffee, hills, water catchment area, rich history and expensive land amassed by the purported ‘owners of Kenya’.

But, over the last couple of weeks, I have discovered that Kiambu County is so much more than I thought. It is a county that has tourism potential — beyond the beach and game drives sold to tourists. I hope the rate of urbanisation in the county will not affect the untapped tourist spots.

Deep in the heart of the Kiambu hilly farmlands you will find nature trails that lead you to breathtaking waterfalls, rivers and caves.

Thanks to the Let’s Drift community I have been able to quench my thirst of chasing water bodies. In the span of two weeks, I have seen a total of 7 waterfalls, including a waterfall inside a cave.

( The waterfalls, rivers, and dam)

Let’s Drift curates affordable hiking packages within Nairobi, Kiambu and Kajiado Counties. Please note that some of these hikes are no walk in the park and they will need mental power if you are not used to hiking. However, this should not have you worried, because Let’s Drift has guides who will keep you at your pace, even if you give up they will be able to support you.

( Image of the struggle to get a waterfall shot)

For those of you interested in chasing waterfalls, you need to prepare yourself to trek up and down some steep hills. I struggle when climbing hills, I have to constantly motivate myself by thinking of the reward at the top of the hill — scenic views, completing the hike or water break. Create your reward system to keep yourself from giving up and remember, ‘ Slow and steady wins the race’ or…

( Tigoni Tea Plantations and me)

….‘Mind over matter’, my mantra/driving force for this year. Pushing my personal growth beyond the limits I self impose on myself. This driving force has allowed me to enjoy ‘duff mpararo’ in places I never imagined I would be able to swim. Jumping into rivers, swimming in the pools of waterfalls. When swimming in waterfalls and rivers expect; extremely cold water, swim against the current and be vigilant of holes inside the water and slippery rocks. The best part of ‘duff mpararo’ is you can swim with whatever you have on, by the time you finish the hike you will have dried up.

( Duff Mpararo-ing)

To keep up with the latest Let’s Drift hikes follow their pages, subscribe for KEs 1,000 per month to enjoy freemiums/discounts and get their monthly calendar of hikes.

--

--

Ivy Gathu
Ivy Gathu

Written by Ivy Gathu

Words inspired by my feelings on life, gender, sexual reproductive rights, mental health, youth 🤓