I have just had the best birthday present I have ever had. At Christmas, our son, Andreas, said ‘I want to take Dad to a place he has never been, and I want it to be a surprise.’
The only information he had to tell us, was that we would be driving to Nanyuki, staying the night at the 100-Year-Old House and taking a flight from there.
He also said we should wear light clothes and restrict our luggage to 10kg each. Recalling a conversation I had had with him some months ago, I guessed that we would be flying north and to either the east side of Lake Turkana or to the Matthews Range of mountains to the south east of the lake.
What I couldn’t have guessed was the amazing surprise Andreas sprang on the Thursday evening when Lut and I were already at the 100-Year-Old House. We had started early in the morning, so that we could have a good chat with Pauline Muthoni, the manager. We had some lunch at Barney’s, the café alongside the Nanyuki airstrip. It is a special place for us, as it marks the beginning of adventures in the north of Kenya. After lunch, we crossed the road to the One Stop estate, where the 100-Year-Old House is.
In the evening, I was sitting at a table on the veranda looking at Mount Kenya that had just thrown off its cloak of clouds. I heard footsteps behind me. I was expecting Andreas and Olive, but when I turned I also saw someone who looked amazingly like our younger son, Jan.
Those of you who have been reading this column for some time might have been wondering what has happened to Jan because, for a few years, he had been a regular contributor to this column. Eighteen months ago, he moved to the UK with his family, and he hadn’t been back to Kenya since they left. But Andreas had got him here for this long weekend mystery tour and family celebration.
At dinner that evening, Andreas told us the plan for the next two days. At 7am in the morning we would fly north by a helicopter of Tropic Air, piloted by Tatiya Naikuni, who Andreas has flown with a number of times. We would cross the Laikipia Plateau, fly over the Kirisia Hills, drop into the Suguta Valley and fly along the floor of the Rift to Lake Logipi and then to Lake Turkana.
After a break and snack on South Island, we would fly 45 kilometres south east to the northern end of the South Horr Valley and to Koros Camp, where we would spend the night. The following day, we would fly south along the South Horr Valley, into the Ndoto Mountains and then on to, and through, the Mathews Range. Still flying south, we would pass Archers Post, then Isiolo, and arrive back in Nanyuki for a leisurely lunch and a night at the Soames Hotel.
Let me back-track and tell you about the 100-Year-Old House. It is a wooden one that was built by missionaries in Nairobi in 1912. I remember where it was – on the corner of Argwings Kodhek Road and Elgeyo Marakwet Road. Eventually, it became the head office of MAF – the Missionary Aviation Fellowship. I flew with them once, to Marsabit, with a pilot who had been a fighter pilot in Eritrea. I was a little disconcerted when he asked us to pray for our safety before take-off. He flew a bit like a fighter-pilot, but he was very good at it.
Back to the story of the house. When MAF needed more space for their office, in 1917 they sold the property to Cytonn Real Estate, who proposed to put a multi-story building there – a proposal that was eventually rejected. But when Ross and Carol Withey heard that the house was likely to be pulled down, they rescued it by buying it, and they transported it, wooden piece by wooden piece, to their One Stop property in Nanyuki. Pauline told us what a tricky job it was to re-assemble all the pieces in their right places. It took six busy months.
The house is on short concrete stilts and its roof is corrugated iron. It has three bedrooms, one of which is en-suite, a comfortable lounge with a fireplace, a spacious kitchen with all the utensils and crockery you would need, and a separate bathroom with a toilet, a traditional claw-footed iron bath and a shower.
The décor has maintained the style of the period when the house was first built. Inside, it has a number of interesting paintings and a scatter of books. Outside, as we discovered, the veranda has the wonderful view of Mount Kenya.
The house is secluded and set in a wide garden of lawns with many mature trees. Pauline and her staff couldn’t be more enthusiastic, welcoming and helpful. The rental price per night is Sh30,500 for six people, Sh27,500 for four and Sh20,000 for two.
Also at One Stop you can rent four Shepherds huts, called Oak, Bramble, Holly and Ivy. There is the Frontier Coffee Bar with a varied menu, a large swimming pool, the Langata Link Shops, Butterbean Farm Shop, a Veterinarian, a Hair and Beauty Salon. Hence the name One Stop.
About 10 kilometres from the town and across from the airstrip, it is an ideal base for exploring the many surrounding attractions or, as for us, a stop-over on the way further north. How we enjoyed our own safari to Lake Turkana will be the theme for next week.
