Oloolua Nature Trail

Located 20km from the Nairobi city centre ,hidden away in the up market suburb of Karen is 250 Hectares of the indigenous tropical dry Oloolua forest that is home to the Institute of Primate Research(IPR).Its a couple of metres from the Karen Blixen museum.The National Museums of Kenya,The institution that runs this bio-medical research facility established the 5km Nature trail in part of this forest.The entrance fee for citizens is sh.200,Residents sh.400,Non-residents sh.600..Camping charges per group of 10 are sh.2000 for citizens ,residents is sh.2500,Non-residents is sh.3000.Its opened every day from 9am to 6pm.

We went there on a sunday afternoon as a small family hike with my brothers.The first part of the forest we passed a wooden tower that was constructed for scientists to observe the Crowned eagle's behaviour in it's natural habitat which was a nest that was located nearby, we came to understand that unfortunately human activities and settlements close to the forest have resulted to migration of the birds from this haven.

Our next stop was the Waterfalls which could be heard from nearby which is the course of Mbagathi river cutting its course through the forest.It's an amazing spot to take pictures since the area is serene and the water is clear.Trickling water and chirping birds lull you in a reflective mood.

Further along the trail close to the river ,you encounter a 33m cave,if you bring a flashlight with you an exploration of this subterranean world takes you through numerous underground caverns reputed to have once been home to mau mau freedom fighters during the colonial days of Kenya's history.I personally tried entering the cave but could hardly walk 3metres since i'm clusterphobic.

We took walk to the papyrus swamp and took a glimpse into the rich biodiversity of the indigineous forest.A really fun place to take a nature walk.