#Twende Lungulueni: We hike Mbiti hill in Machakos County

Added: 2026-06-04

[00:00:06]Hey.

[00:00:07]This week on Twende, we are in Lungulu Wedi. What are my echoes?

[00:00:12]YOUR NANNY. HEY.

[00:00:15]>> [music] >> OVER HERE, WE HAVE SPECTACULAR VIEWS of the dam.

[00:00:29]And we get to visit where the Thika River ends its journey in Misuuni.

[00:00:52]And we are back on another travel.

[00:00:57]All the way to the mouth.

[00:00:59]Speaking of mouth.

[00:01:01]When I need to mouth, because of mouth me.

[00:01:13]So, we need to inspect what that is.

[00:01:15]Also, it is not too far from the city.

[00:01:18]It's just 2 hours away from the capital city.

[00:01:22]So, if you are in Nairobi and you want to go see a river mouth, you don't have to go so far.

[00:01:27]Uh the other thing is Leo loves to wear his to hike.

[00:01:31]I want to remember hiking boots. Can you see them?

[00:01:35]Today, we have a new camera guy.

[00:01:42]>> [laughter] >> That is Salim.

[00:01:49]Salim, so Uh oh, yes, and I Henry.

[00:01:58]>> Yes, how are you?

[00:02:00]>> By the way, I've been told that every morning you run.

[00:02:03]>> Yes.

[00:02:03]>> Yeah.

[00:02:03]>> I cover 6 km.

[00:02:05]>> Why you >> So, why you running?

[00:02:07]>> Because of healthy.

[00:02:09]>> Oh, because of healthy. How old are you?

[00:02:11]>> I'm facing 60. Actually, 1 and 1/2 years to 60.

[00:02:14]>> 1 and 1/2 years to 60, and you run 6 km >> daily.

[00:02:18]>> daily.

[00:02:19]>> Exactly.

[00:02:22]>> Okay.

[00:02:26]>> [laughter] >> We take the road to Muranga County.

[00:02:31]>> [music] >> At Makuyu, we branch off and head towards Iranga.

[00:02:41]>> [music] >> The road is in good condition and cuts through large commercial farms. When people think of Muranga, what often comes to mind are the areas around the county headquarters, Muranga town, and the cool slopes of the Aberdare Ranges.

[00:02:54]But today, we are heading to a different side of the county.

[00:02:59]>> [music] >> It is usually the drier part of Muranga, but during the rainy season, the landscape transforms into a sea of green.

[00:03:13]A good thing about rain in the rainy season is we get these random streams.

[00:03:25]stream up here. I'm sure Today is going to be a good adventure.

[00:03:35]>> [music] [music] >> This is Eastern Muranga, where the Kikuyu and Kamba communities [music] meet.

[00:03:51]>> [music] [music] [music] >> Before reaching Ithumba town, we branch right towards Muthesia. After nearly 90 km of smooth tarmac, we finally leave the paved road behind.

[00:04:23]We cross into Machakos County after crossing this seasonal river.

[00:04:29]We are now heading into Ithumba Hills.

[00:04:32]To be honest, we don't have a very clear idea of where we are going. Today, we are creating our own adventure from scratch. What we want is simple, a high point with a spectacular view of Masinga Dam and the surrounding landscape.

[00:04:47]We don't know which hill we will climb, but it must have two things, a decent hike and a great view.

[00:04:53]The roads are fairly good.

[00:05:10]It will take much longer than we had budgeted for. So, what we are going to do, we have turned back and now we are headed to a town called Muthesia.

[00:05:22]Though if we had time, this is the one that I'd have loved to hike. But that is the nature of this. Cuz we have a story we want to tell and sometimes we have to adjust adjust to the challenges that we we meet.

[00:05:35]So, yeah.

[00:05:44]Eventually, we arrive at Lungulweni and immediately spot a hill that looks promising.

[00:05:50]Today, in fact, we've come from that side.

[00:06:07]There's another car town ballet mast ballet.

[00:06:09]That's where we were.

[00:06:11]And uh And So, to me back guy, you can see.

[00:06:27]Now, we're going to we're going to hike.

[00:06:31]But, this is amazing. This actually feels like an adventure.

[00:06:39]Unfortunately, we can't begin the climb from here because a deep valley stands between us and the hill. So, we continue driving higher.

[00:06:49]Eventually, we get a clear view of the hill and start looking for a place to leave the vehicle.

[00:06:58]The lady has been kind enough to allow us to park the car here.

[00:07:06]So, now, in true 20 fashion, uh a hike is supposed to be done in the morning. You know, when the sun is still shy.

[00:07:14]See, see at one, when in its all its glory.

[00:07:22]Uh let's see how long this will stay on.

[00:07:25]Uh lucky knee I'm ready.

[00:07:35]I want to see that I'll come here to ballet.

[00:07:37]Maximum effort.

[00:07:46]>> [music] >> That is what you keep fit. When I ask you and he's facing 60.

[00:07:55]Now he does 6 km every day.

[00:07:59]Wait, 5 5 6 200 The adventure continues.

[00:08:20]200 The view is amazing.

[00:08:25]Ah.

[00:08:26]Wow.

[00:08:29]That is nice.

[00:08:30]I can eat a taco money.

[00:08:32]I find filters.

[00:08:34]I can money go clear. Come be so.

[00:08:38]And I think if you go this way, we'll get higher.

[00:08:43]And we'll get a better view of this place. But so far ish.

[00:08:51]>> This area was once covered by indigenous forest, but much of it has disappeared over the years.

[00:08:57]Today, only remnants of some of the great trees remain.

[00:09:01]>> This reminds me of salad to learn the money network in a kimono.

[00:09:04]Where we were told that Machakos in the core and sit too.

[00:09:10]But a lot of deforestation has happened and activities like these by the one I think in the summer car.

[00:09:19]Don't have a permit meaning I make a cut off.

[00:09:22]Not to to compete with sit too.

[00:09:25]But it is a catch-22 because they do need charcoal.

[00:09:29]But also we do need our forest.

[00:09:32]Because our forest are not only beautiful.

[00:09:35]They support us.

[00:09:36]They are water catchment areas. They help with They are our air conditioners.

[00:09:41]Nappier Those little beautiful birds, all those big small birds, big birds, wanyama wanaitia home. Including butterflies.

[00:09:51]And so we have to find a balance.

[00:09:52]Kabisa.

[00:09:54]Because Tukiendelea hivi Atakuwa na msitu.

[00:09:59]So Yeah, food for thought.

[00:10:06]But having said that, what are you going to do to plant a tree?

[00:10:20]It's been a while since I climbed a tree.

[00:10:23]Yeah, and this feels nice. It's a very steady tree.

[00:10:26]The views are amazing.

[00:10:28]The vibe is great.

[00:10:30]Ah, sasa Kenyabakia ni chai.

[00:10:33]Hapa chai ingeweza.

[00:10:36]Huh? Chai eh chai.

[00:10:40]You know in my younger years Ningetaka kufika pale.

[00:10:45]To prove something to myself. Sasa hizi kwanza naogopa. Nilikuwa naogopa.

[00:10:49]But now I don't have anything to prove.

[00:10:53]Sasa nyinyi mnaona naweza kufika pale.

[00:10:55]Si ndio? Fa Use your imagination.

[00:10:58]Kuona nimefika >> [laughter] >> If you look at the hills here, this is not a densely populated area.

[00:11:06]The houses scattered across and people are very friendly.

[00:11:10]Tumeongea na neighbor hapo. Akatusaidia tukapark gari.

[00:11:14]Viluku uko Ule mlima pale ni Kilima Mbogo. We have been there.

[00:11:21]Hizi zenye zinaonekana ndefu ni ranges.

[00:11:24]Kanzalu ranges.

[00:11:25]Na tulifika pale tukitafuta Twister.

[00:11:30]So we have definitely traveled this area. But that's a And that is the same for everywhere in the country. There's so much to explore.

[00:11:50]Right now we're still trying to find our way so that we can get the perfect view.

[00:11:58]>> As we continue climbing we realize that even though we can see our destination, getting there is not straightforward.

[00:12:06]This is a big hill and the routes can be confusing. Fortunately, even in this remote area there are homesteads where one can ask for directions.

[00:12:50]Without local knowledge we would have ended up in several dead ends.

[00:13:04]How many times can we say that you went into the thick of Matakos?

[00:13:15]You know what you need here?

[00:13:17]Umbrella.

[00:13:20]A drink by when I visit them especially for the first time I just want to stay longer.

[00:13:38]And there was a time all of this was a forest.

[00:13:45]But there are still remnants, so you can still enjoy the way the hills are weaving against each other.

[00:14:00]Just like a waterfall.

[00:14:08]For view is a different sound.

[00:14:10]You just start to feel in a clear.

[00:14:21]I think we are here.

[00:14:39]Wow.

[00:14:44]>> [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] >> Look at it. Look at the way the water is forming the at the banks.

[00:15:33]And then we are so high up we can see the shadows of the clouds.

[00:15:58]>> [music] >> At about 1,500 m above sea level, we are rewarded with spectacular views. From here, one can see the vast expanse of Masinga Dam below, [music] stretching over roughly 120 sq km. The dam itself sits at around 1,040 m above sea level.

[00:16:21]The views >> [music] >> are breathtaking.

[00:16:36]>> N/A, not applicable. Uh-uh.

[00:16:51]Yeah.

[00:16:54]>> [laughter] [laughter] >> We might need the audio.

[00:17:13]>> [music] [music] [singing] >> Hey, hey.

[00:17:52]This is a beautiful view.

[00:18:00]Where?

[00:18:36]>> [laughter] >> Okay, so Let me get you on the Uh And >> Mhm.

[00:19:15]Mhm.

[00:19:16]Mhm.

[00:19:18]Mhm.

[00:19:19]Mhm.

[00:19:21]Mhm.

[00:19:22]>> [laughter] >> Oh.

[00:19:28]Mhm.

[00:19:31]Mhm.

[00:19:34]Mhm.

[00:19:36]Indigenous. Now.

[00:19:39]Mhm.

[00:19:40]Mhm.

[00:19:44]Mhm.

[00:19:47]Mhm.

[00:19:50]Mhm.

[00:19:52]Mhm.

[00:19:56]Mhm.

[00:19:57]Mhm. Yeah, you will you will.

[00:20:01]Mhm.

[00:20:03]Mhm.

[00:20:05]Mhm.

[00:20:09]Mhm.

[00:20:12]Mhm.

[00:20:16]Mhm.

[00:20:20]Mhm.

[00:20:21]Mhm.

[00:20:24]Pigs of forest. Mhm.

[00:20:27]Mhm.

[00:20:28]Mhm.

[00:20:33]Mhm.

[00:20:35]Mhm.

[00:20:39]Mhm.

[00:20:41]Mhm.

[00:20:47]Mhm.

[00:20:51]Mhm.

[00:20:57]Mhm.

[00:21:00]Mhm.

[00:21:05]Mhm.

[00:21:08]Mhm.

[00:21:15]Mhm.

[00:21:24]Mhm.

[00:21:26]Yeah.

[00:21:27]Yeah. Yeah.

[00:21:31]Yeah.

[00:21:33]Yeah.

[00:21:38]200 trees?

[00:21:38]>> Yeah. Yeah.

[00:21:39]>> Okay.

[00:21:44]Mhm.

[00:21:45]Yeah. What kind of tree?

[00:21:47]Yeah. avocado Yeah.

[00:21:59]>> [music] [music] >> We cannot leave before conquering the highest point.

[00:22:12]Ngithi rock stands at about 1,520 [music] m above sea level.

[00:22:24]>> [music] >> It's an honor to be able to tell the Kenyan story like this. That's what we do here in Twende. Where we seek for hidden gems and we showcase them with telling our story.

[00:22:44]We're We're saying that um this country is worth preserving. It is worth protecting.

[00:22:51]The The people are worth honoring.

[00:22:55]And because of that it's a privilege. And we take it very seriously.

[00:23:03]I mean, look at this.

[00:23:05]Look at this.

[00:23:06]Being able to bring this cuz I know not everyone can travel. We have different kinds of jobs. Just so happens that this is mine.

[00:23:13]Um but you get to see this place.

[00:23:16]Uh and eventually, hopefully, you'll come here and experience what we are experiencing.

[00:23:27]That's where we're headed to next.

[00:23:30]It takes us uh 30 minutes to 45 minutes. Might even be an hour because the roads are not as smooth. But see in Bali.

[00:23:38]Um Again, you know, when you come to these interior places, you realize the challenges of the roads. But kuna barabara at least. So, that is where we're going. The mouth of the river.

[00:23:49]Going to find out what river that is.

[00:23:52]And also ask the most important question of today.

[00:23:56]Why is it called a mouth?

[00:23:59]Like in the you know.

[00:24:01]This is the exit. You will now join a bigger body.

[00:24:05]So, >> Next week we visit the mouth of Thika River and discover some special boats.

[00:24:26]>> [music] [music] [music] >> Yeah.

[00:24:59]Yeah.

[00:25:04]Yeah.

[00:25:05]>> [music] >> Yeah.

[00:25:10]>> [music]