The Central Highlands of Kenya rise dramatically north of Nairobi, forming the green spine of the country between the Great Rift Valley to the west and the drier lowlands to the east. Mount Kenya, Africa's second-highest peak, dominates the landscape — its snow-capped summits visible on clear mornings from as far away as Nairobi. The region is densely populated and heavily cultivated, the highland soils being among the most fertile in East Africa: you drive through an almost continuous patchwork of small farms growing tea, coffee, maize, and pyrethrum.
The major towns — Nyeri, Meru, Embu, and Nanyuki — each sit at the foot of different slopes of the mountain and serve as bases for climbing and trekking into Mount Kenya National Park. Nanyuki in particular has grown into a well-equipped gateway town with good lodging, a functioning airstrip, and a thriving expatriate farming community. Naromoru is the traditional entry point for the main climbing routes.
Further north, the highlands give way to the semi-arid lands around Isiolo, a frontier town that marks the boundary between the cultivated highlands and the vast, largely roadless northern territories. This is where the tarmac ends and the north begins — a useful resupply and rest stop for those heading to Samburu, Marsabit, or the Turkana basin.
The Central Highlands were the heartland of the Kikuyu and Meru peoples and the epicentre of the Mau Mau uprising against British colonial rule in the 1950s. Baden-Powell died at his home near Nyeri in 1941, and Lord Baden-Powell's grave at St Peter's Church there has become a minor pilgrimage site for Scout movement visitors.
