Hiking Ragia Forest Trails and Chasing Ragia falls

Kenya

Hiking Ragia Forest Trails and Chasing Ragia falls

As per Winnie’s Itinerary, we started the journey to Ragia at 5:45 am and arrived at Kinamba, at around 8:30 am. Although Ragia Forest is accessible from Nyandarua county, it lies in the Lari sub-county, Kiambu. It was surprising to see from my weather app that we were in Kiambu county. The guides later explained that although Ragia Forest was in Kiambu county, the residents of Kinamba were tasked with the maintenance of the forest. since they’re the ones using the natural resources from Ragia forest.

The Ragia Forest hike starts at Sasumua dam which is quite huge. I did not have a chance to take a photo that does it justice. We also met these fox looking dogs at the starting point of the trails. Here are the pictures that I took from afar as I have a fear of dogs.

From Chinas Camp gate we followed grassy trails through a bamboo forest. The trails through the were very picturesque before the vegetation turned very grassy. These trails are also used by Elephants and we encountered fresh elephant poop. From the bamboo trails, we joined another trail that descends down to Sasumua River, where we followed the river to the foot of the first waterfall called no.18. The terrain of the first waterfall is long and steep.

The guides have dug steps that resemble staircases to help with navigation. The trail was also muddy as you can see from my hiking boots. For this hike, gumboots will serve you well as hiking boots got muddy and were at the risk of water from the river.

To get to the second waterfall, we ascended the trail and went back to the bamboo trails. From there we joined another trail that descends to the second waterfall. The descent is shorter, steeper and muddier compared to the first waterfall.
The first waterfall had much better views than the second waterfall.