Female adventurists curing our wanderlust one trip at a time

You have a dog, you have a car, you have a passion for traveling. There aren’t many places in Kenya where you can take your four-legged best friend.

Until I came across Olurur House. 

Ah Champagne ridge, Ngong Hills. One of my  favourite places in Kenya. In case you don’t have any idea where Champagne Ridge is, Kona Bairidi is the go to landmark when getting directions.

Kona baridi, Champagne Ridge

Depending on where you’re coming from and how fast you drive it’s less than 2 hours away from Nairobi.  FYI Forest Lane Road has gotten progressively filled with pot holes so be prepared for a sore ass (not unless you have a car with amazing suspension.)

Olurur house is located a few kilometers down a dirt road on the left of Kona Bairidi. A quaint one bedroom cottage, set on a cliff with sweeping views of the valley. The downstairs consists of a kitchen (cooking utensils included), a small dining area and some couches you can cozy up to in front of the fireplace.

You even have a table outside on the balcony where you can sip away on a cold beer during the hot day or chai in the chilly mornings. Nothing better than kicking back and watching the sun set with a cold ass Tusker and having your dog taking in the view with you.

The upstairs consists of a double bed with an amazing view of the valley (so this house is a perfect for people looking to escape Nairobi). There is a bathroom, small sitting area and a balcony (if you love stars sit up here and enjoy the clear skies!)

Can’t beat that bedroom view!

During the day this room gets super stuffy since the sun shines directly into the house. We spent most of the afternoon lying on the cold floor downstairs and drinking beer (as you can tell, I LOVE my beer).

Once the sun sets, the temperature does drop, this is when we took advantage of the fireplace, the caretaker was nice enough to light the fire for us.

One of the best views for breakfast

The pros:

• This adorable cottage is less than 2 hours away from Nairobi.
• You can’t beat that view, it really is stunning. At night it’s incredibly clear so for people who love the stars this is a great place for astrophotography.
• The cost of the cottage reasonable, for one night you’d pay KSH 10,000, for two nights it would be KSH 8,500 per night.
• For those who want to travel with their furry friends this place is pet-friendly, apparently they have a cat who resides in the house but we never saw it.

The cons:

• The fridge runs on gas and it, unfortunately, wasn’t working, luckily we had a cool box full of ice to keep our stuff chilled. The owners were nice enough to bring their mini freezer which is connected to the gas too, that didn’t work as well.
• The shower runs on gas too, we had to swap the gas canister downstairs with the empty one in the bathroom in order to have a hot shower in the morning.

 

All in all Olurur house was a perfect escape weekend, we really enjoyed our stay. And will definitely be back. Just clarify with the owners that the fridge is working and the gas canister for the upstairs shower is full.

If you wish to visit this quaint place contact Vivien on 0708 100393 or visit their Facebook page:  Olurur House