07:30 Hrs: The tour of Happy Valley begins outside 680 Hotel, in Nairobi, where you board a van and drive towards Wanjohi Valley. The drive through Ju Ja to Thika and branch off towards Mang’u - fly-over route through the tea plantations and Kamae/Kieni forests, reveals the lesser traveled parts of the adventurous Kenya, and sets tone to unprecedented discoveries.
The drive along Kenyatta road, just after Kamae forest, through the Kinangop Plateau, part of the Happy Valley, is soothing and relaxing and viewing the superb landscape is enjoyable.
Top of the agenda is visiting the houses of Happy Valley residents, fondly referred to us Happy Valley Set. The guide will narrate an eccentric account of the Happy Valley set, their lifestyle.
The drive eventually leads us around Wanjohi Valley which is rich in historical memorabilia and culture. Add to the combination; great landscapes, cool weather and upcoming floriculture economy and you will understand why it is on a roadmap to becoming the second destination in Kenya.
In the early 1900s, the Kinangop Plateau (after the building of the railway) served as the headquarters of “Happy Valley, a settler community that included many titled aristocrats from England. They were given loans to buy land on very easy terms. They built stone brick houses in the plateau and kept sheep and cattle on their vast farms, as they enjoyed life in the best way they knew how. Parties were held in rotation from house to house, particularly at “Clouds”.
Members of the Happy Valley set included the 3rd Baron Delamere and his son, the 4th Baron Delamere, The Hon Denys Finch Hatton, the Hon Berkeley Cole, Sir Jock Delves Broughton and the 22nd Earl of Erroll. Others were Lady Idina Sackville, Alice de Janze, Lady Diana Delves Broughton, Gilbert Colville, Hugh Dickenson, Jac Soames, Nina Soames, Lady June Carberry, Dickie Pembroke, Julian Lezzard and Baroness Karen Blixen. Col Alistair Gibb only features in the theatre thanks to his outstanding house in the valley that still stands, remarkable well. However, the debauchery of the 1920s aside, some good was also noted from among the settlers. Conservationists like Joan Root and her husband, Alan,Joy Adamson and Dian Fossey are mentioned for their good work that has drawn many a tourists visiting Kenya and especially Naivasha.
The houses visited includes Clouds, Alice de Janze’s House in Satima (whose farm dips into Wanjohi River and some of the trees and flowers she planted still remain), Karandi House and Alistair Gibbs House in Gatondo, Ndiara area. Gibb’s house can with its iconic taste and stature, can be made to a museum, visitor centre, and even an accommodation option. There are interesting walks up the Aberdare, to Mau Mau caves, which has now been gazetted and will hopefully be protected for the vital wetlands that it is. The house was once home of Alistair Gibb (a cousin of the current Lady Delamere) whose Father Alexander Gibb owned the construction company (Alexander Gibb & Partners) founded in 1922 by the noted Scottish Civil Engineer, Sir Alexander Gibb, who also had a branch in the former Kenya Colony. Today the Company GIBB International Ltd. still exists. It and associated companies have been involved in development projects in East and Central Africa since the early 1940s
Lunch, dinner and breakfast is served at Maverick Camp, Rondavels and Homestay
A taste of Kikuyu cuisine and culture is an additional treat to the already mesmerizing valley. “~Wanjohi Valley offers a mesmerizing blend of travel narrative, social history and personal quest ~ - Juliet Barnes – Ghosts of Happy Valley.
