THIS PLACE IN CENTRAL

There is nothing that beats feeling loved and connecting to nature at the same time. Oloi tours does this for you and much more. Love is not just about individual person to person sometimes its about family.

this reminds me of a song "all my bags are packed am ready to go".. the excitement was palpable

the route would take us directly through Karatina or better known as Mathira. The town was founded before the British Colonization of Kenya by Gikuyu women who used to trade their crafts and food under a courgette (muratina) tree. Women would direct each other on where to sell or buy merchandise under the Karatina. Mathira means harvest for me. Women from the area would be heard in the market sending each other to harvest something from their farms. The British would hear "Mathira (this and that)" and they thought that was the name of the place

 

This is a busy town and it is host to  Karatina Market which  is reputed to be the largest open market in sub-Saharan Africa


 but first a brief stop by the side of the road believe it or not to try and get the picture of a duck. I know you see it the black dot in the center of the water.
 

 

 
a brief stop at Uchumi to buy some sodas and ofcourse its usually a good exploration site when you have kids
  And then there was Lunch

 

After enjoying lunch at Star bucks the trip continued onward towards Narumoru and finally Our destination

 
the paintings on the walls for an art lover would take one's breath away especially considering they are done by local artists.
 
then there was a debate of whether or not to sleep in a tent and so they showed us  how to set one up
 
 Oloi is definitely gifted with finding fun for kids
  that is the cute bar up stairs
  I suppose I should say what this place is...

 

  a reminder of tradations past

 

 

BUT FIRST....how a trip through a part Mt. Kenya forest.

 
 this is that side that is outside the main park and makes for a wonderful drive as the guide informed
 
the thickness of the jungle entertaining thoughts of just dashing in there and getting lost ...
 
but then the risk of meeting a hyena and not being able to scare it away would be ......intresting
  old houses built in the colonial times...

 

 

 

and a big hug for a brave girl...mhhhh

 the colonial masters as we were informed tried to bomb this Mugumo tree ..its like 100 years old and they could not. so the shrapnel sank inside it and the tree naturally just grew around it. The group was informed that you could not cut it down and ksh 100 to anyone who dared.
  and then the surprise.

but first the big question HOW MANY ARE BRAVE ENOUGH?!!!! We all raised our hands

  down the narrow path .....

 

AND INTO THE OPENING OF THE CAVE

how on earth? We could not even tell it was there in the first place...and we parked right ontop of it. Okay I have to admit the MAU MAU were a clever lot of people but first things first IN WE GO

  It looked dark and huge
  and the little one could not bear it

 

 

 but with a little convincing a bit of magic can be done. Maybe we should think like Shrek ...HE LIVED IN THE FOREST

and oh my goodness they were swallowed WHOLE..

  FOUND THEM exploring something interesting in the dark
  and deeper into the darkness. This thing could fit two hundred people they say and the "White man " had no idea
  SHOULD WE OR SHOULD WE NOT
  heated discussions
 
AND THEN THE VERDICT but some just would not
  daylight seemed kilometers away
  oh that was just my camera settings
  Deeper and deeper you know there is a story about this caves...that they go all the way under the mountain to the other side and come out in Meru..but the scariest is that there is a big big snake that hides up there somewhere...OKAY THAT IS EXCITING
  I SUPPOSE IF OUR ancestors survived it so could we

 

  YOU GUESSED RIGHT WE WERE STARTING To adapt to the cave surroundings

 

  and our brave hearts went looking for SNAKES

 AND THERE WERE HOLES     AND MORE HOLES

 

  and the adventure continues

IT COULD BE YOURS with OLOI.