#kenya
#driving
#rift-valley
#community
#maasai
#loop
Nairobi
Nairobi (loop via Suswa road and Ngong)
Nairobi to Mai Mahiu, Suswa Road and Back via Ngong
210 km
Total Distance
5 hrs
Drive Time
Easy–Moderate (all tarmac)
Difficulty
Year-round
Best Season
I had a plan for this drive. It involved a nice spot well before Mai Mahiu, a rough road about 10 kilometres off the main highway. I did not make it. The road asked too much of the car and I turned back.
So I found myself in Mai Mahiu with the afternoon still ahead of me and no particular agenda. That’s when I came across Ubuntu Life.
It started, as the story goes, with nine mothers. Their children — all with special needs — had been enrolled at a new care centre in town, and suddenly these women had time on their hands for the first time in years. They went to the founders and said: now that our kids are out of the house, can you help us do something productive with our time? The answer was a room, three manual Singer sewing machines, and a question about what to make. Shopping bags, coffee sleeves, bandanas, coasters. That was 2009.
By the time I visited, that 15x15 foot room had become an 11-acre campus. Over 400 Maker Mums now produce bags, shoes, and beaded bracelets, the bracelets made in collaboration with womenn sold to buyers across Kenya and internationally. The Children’s Wellness Centre on the same campus is the only facility in the Rift Valley region where children with special needs can receive medical care, therapy, and education under one roof.
I had a snack at the Ubuntu Café, an open-concept kitchen where the food comes largely from the campus farm. Then it rained.
When the rain cleared, I took the Suswa road north toward Ngong. It’s a quieter route than most people use, largely empty. There is a really nice view point somewhere on the road, it’s unmarked so it’s just something you will def notice.
I marked it on my maps and kept driving. Ngong. Then Nairobi.
Not the drive I planned. A better one.
One more thing about Ubuntu Life — the stitch.
Every canvas and leather product they make has a small diagonal tab stitched at an angle. I didn’t know what it meant when I saw it. Turns out it’s not decorative.
Mai Mahiu sits at 1° South, 36° East. That diagonal stitch is set at exactly 36 degrees, the longitude of the town where every bag, shoe, and bracelet is made. It’s the GPS coordinates of the Maker Studio, embedded permanently into every product that leaves it.
It also represents the topography of the Great Rift Valley itself, the cuts and scars in the earth from tectonic shifts and geothermal activity. The same landscape you drove through to get here.
The beads on the bracelets are a nod to the Maasai, who use glass beads in everything from clothing to ceremony. The brand’s blue and orange palette comes from the paint colour on rural Kenyan homesteads (blue) and the red of Kenyan soil (orange). And on the sole of every Lamu Mule and Afridille, there’s a world map — with a heart etched over Africa, marking exactly where the shoes were made.
Every detail is intentional. That’s the thing about Ubuntu Life, once you know what you’re looking at, you can’t unsee it.
Along the Way
Scenic Viewpoints
Lower Escarpment
Along Mai Mahiu rd, the first view you get to see is the Rift Valley floor from the lower escarpment. There is s acouple of places you could stop to catch a view of the rift valley.
KM 35 ↑ 2100mLower Escarpment from the Rift
Just before Mai Mahiu, take a left onto a dirt and gravel track, might be easy to miss. There's a small old church on the right that you might find interesting. A short way in, the track opens up to a sweep of lower escarpment and open valley floor that the main road never shows you. It's a rough detour but a short one, and the view earns it. Ground clearance helps.
KM 35 ↑ 2100mSuswa Road Roadside Viewpoint
Somewhere on the Suswa road between Mai Mahiu and Ngong, the landscape does something unexpected. The road climbs slightly, the valley opens wide, and you find yourself at an unmarked pullout with a view that has no business being this good. No sign, no other cars, no infrastructure — just the Rift doing what it does. Mark the spot on your maps. These are the places worth returning to.
KM 120 ↑ 1950mPit Stops
Where to Stop
Food
Ubuntu Café — Mai Mahiu
An open-concept kitchen on the 11-acre Ubuntu Life campus, serving food grown and sourced on-site. The menu is simple. It rained when I visited. The café is part of a social enterprise that employs from the community. Worth building into your schedule rather than treating as a quick stop, because there is much to explore.
Community
Ubuntu Life Campus — Mai Mahiu
Ubuntu Life grew out of a Special Needs Centre founded by two pastors, one from Austin, Texas, one from Mai Mahiu, who came together to provide therapy and care for children with disabilities in the community. When the founding mothers of those children found themselves with time on their hands, they asked to learn something. The answer was three manual Singer sewing machines in a 15x15 foot room. That was 2009. Today the campus spans 11 acres, employs over 400 Maker Mums producing bags, shoes, and beaded bracelets sold globally — including Lamu Mules that made Oprah's Favorite Things list in 2020. You can walk the campus, visit the Maker Studio, and buy directly. It is a working community.
Fuel
Fuel Options Along the Route
Outward leg: if leaving via Waiyaki Way, fill up at Shell or Total along the way before you hit the lower escarpment. If using Dagoretti Road, there's a reliable station at Lusigetti, worth stopping here rather than waiting. In Mai Mahiu itself there are stations at the junction, and another option on the Suswa road. Return leg: Ngong town has the most reliable options if you've run it low. This is a short drive overall so you're unlikely to need fuel more than once, just don't leave Nairobi on empty.
Before You Go
Driving Tips
This is a full-day loop but not a demanding one. Budget time for Ubuntu — a quick visit feels rushed. Give it two hours minimum and you'll leave with something to think about.
The Ubuntu Café sources food from the campus farm. Order, settle in, and let it take the time it takes.
The Suswa road between Mai Mahiu and Ngong is largely open and traffic-light, one of the more peaceful stretches of tarmac within two hours of Nairobi. Enjoy it.
There is no formal viewpoint on the Suswa road section. Keep your eyes open and trust that you'll know the spot when you see it. Have somewhere safe to pull off.
The original plan for this drive involved a stop well before Mai Mahiu, a rough road about 10km in. It didn't work out, which is how I ended up at Ubuntu Life. Sometimes the drive reroutes itself.
Start the outward leg via Waiyaki Way rather than Ngong Road if you're leaving before 8 AM. Ngong Road's Karen junction gets congested early and late, but I guess we are used to it.