The Mau Forest complex begins not far west of Kericho and stretches across the highlands for hundreds of square kilometres. It is the largest closed-canopy montane forest in East Africa and the water tower for half a dozen rivers that feed Lake Victoria and the Mara. Without it the Maasai Mara and the Serengeti would dry out.
For visitors, the practical experience of the Mau is a half-day excursion: drive west, ask at a chief's office or forestry post about a guide, and walk a track through tall podocarpus and African olive. Colobus and Sykes monkeys are common, bird life is excellent, and on a clear morning the silence of these forests is striking. The forest has been heavily encroached over the past decades, and conservation efforts are ongoing — guides can explain what has been lost and what remains.