Kenya is full of hidden gems that we keep discovering and we want to show them all to our visitors! We recently camped at the 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 beaten path to the Maasai Mara, the detour to the Suswa Caves is very little traveled. So, at the risk of making Suswa Caves Kenya the most popular destination, I will tell you about our weekend there and how you can have your own adventure.
Eight of us headed to Suswa loaded with camping gear, food and water. Laura and Moses came from their camp in the Maasai Mara with their friend Helen, who was visiting from the UK. Kip, Leonie and their daughter Fleur came from Nairobi, as did we. We arrived at the turnoff to Mt Suswa Conservancy at the same time as Moses and Laura, so we headed out to the conservancy together. The road was so dusty! We had to keep almost a kilometer between our vehicles so that the ones behind didn’t get lost in the cloud. Upon entering, Kip and Leonie were trapped in a buildup of dust, that’s how bad it was!
After entering the conservancy, we had to find the camping spot 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 over 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 the Mt Suswa Conservancy: one is on the rim of the crater (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. Apart from 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-overlanders so we are used to spending a couple of nights in the bush and we had all the supplies needed for such an adventure. For a fee, the Maasai brought us firewood, but it was most likely not environmentally sustainable firewood.
Maasai water harvesting
The next morning we went on an excursion. We found a guide who took us to the rim of the crater 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 come into existence; 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 massive geothermal power plant in Hells Gate National Park, which is a short distance from Mount Suswa. However, the Maasai have put pipes over steam vents in the side of the mountain in a way that directs the steam down the mountain. By the time the steam has traveled through the pipe, it has condensed into water and is dripping into a large drum. Anyone can come and drink water from this fountain. 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 the steam vents. It seemed a bit quirky given the dryness of the landscape, but it was also very welcome given how hot it was.
On our walk we saw rabbits and shy vervet monkeys, a rare species as most vervet monkeys are very cheeky and not at all shy. We also saw many birds which Kip was very excited about as he is an avid bird watcher.
In the afternoon, our guide took us to (and through) the caves. He would never have guessed how extensive and how big they were. Some were just huge holes in the ground, which could be dangerous if you weren’t looking where you were going! Others were narrow passageways that weren’t so much my cup of tea. There were a lot of bats, and I didn’t want to find one trying to get out while I was trying to get in! We were shown a chamber known as the leopard’s feeding 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 meeting place of baboon troops. The rocks were shiny and smooth from the baboons that perched on them so much.
Next time we go, I think the camp on the rim of the crater is preferable to the one near the caves, if only for the view. Walks should be done in the early morning and late afternoon with a nap to get through the heat of the day. The conservancy and camp fees are quite reasonable and the man who collects them is very good at knowing that you are at the conservancy so even if the gate is not guarded you will still have to pay when you get to the camp to see how are you. . However, keep your receipts so you can prove payment in case another administrator comes to verify/collect.