Paradise Lost is situated in Kiambu, approximately 14 km from Nairobi. It was a pretty perfect location for a Mashujaa Day outing (In case you don’t know, that’s our ‘Heroes’ Day here in Kenya).
There are several activities available to visitors. Here’s what we got up to:-
Originally, our plan was to go cycling, but that’s now a plan for next time. Instead we found ourselves a spot and organized our drinks and music for an awesome chill session. There is a large open area where groups and families were having BBQs, picnics etc.
The tickets show what activities are available, here’s what we observed:-
- We didn’t see anyone fishing, not to say that you can’t.
- We saw the horses and witnessed some enthused kids riding them, accompanied of course. I, however, would not ride one as they look rather malnourished and my over 60 kgs may be a bit much for them.
- We saw a lot of people out on boats. Unfortunately the line was too long so we opted not to wait. It looks fun though, and you go unsupervised/unaccompanied around the ‘lake’ (I don’t know if it is a real lake or something else, but a water body).
- We did not see any camels, they could have been in another area, it’s quite a large place
- As for the nyama choma and cash bar, we carried our own stuff so can’t speak to the the legitimacy of those…
- We DID go into the caves and to see the waterfall….
The Cave and Waterfalls
The caves are over 2.5 million years old and are protected and preserved by the folks at Paradise Lost, in conjunction with the Museums of Kenya. The entrance to the caves is just behind the beautiful waterfall and is large enough for it to be comfortable. If you are claustrophobic (I am but I frequently forget until I am in a situation where my heart stops), you may not enjoy the caves much, it gets hot, stuffy and gets very small very fast. The rest of my group went all the way inside the cave, I was not about that life and only made it about 10 meters in before I started to freak out and opted to go back to the waterfall:-/
After seeing the waterfall and cave, we decided to do some sight seeing. It is a really really nice area with a lot of outdoor spaces and trails, great photo opportunities as well.
There is a nice open area with an incredible view of the lake/water body. We took a break here before going to search for the boating station.
Off we went to look for the boats….we looked and we looked..and rested and looked…we found ourselves back at the waterfall and took the opportunity to ask fro directions..Lol!
Oh there are also toilets spread out across the grounds. There are some funky ones in the main open area where there are a lot of people, but there are also others away from the crowds..Look for those..
We found the boating station, but there was a pretty long line and we weren’t willing to wait. Well, we could have come back, but we were quite beat and ready to call it a day.
It was a lovely afternoon, but there are a few things I want to go back to do including; cycling, boating and camping…I’ll tell you all about it..
