The Ngong Hills form a distinctive ridge of seven rounded peaks southwest of Nairobi, immortalised in Karen Blixen's memoir Out of Africa as the place she buried her lover Denys Finch Hatton. The hills remain one of the most popular hiking spots for Nairobi residents, offering a genuine ridge walk with views in two directions at once — the city and Nairobi National Park to the east, the vast expanse of the Rift Valley to the west.
The full ridge traverse across all seven peaks is a moderately demanding half-day hike, with enough elevation change to feel like real hiking rather than a stroll, but no technical difficulty. Wind turbines now line parts of the ridge, part of a wind farm project, an odd but striking modern addition to the landscape.
Planning the hike
- Go with a guide or in a group — isolated hikers have occasionally been targeted by opportunistic theft on quieter sections in the past.
- Clear mornings offer the best chance of spotting Kilimanjaro's outline far to the south.
- The hike takes 3–5 hours depending on how much of the ridge you cover.
- Bring layers — it's noticeably windier and cooler up on the ridge than in Nairobi itself.
For a proper hike within an hour of the city centre, with genuine Rift Valley views and literary history attached, the Ngong Hills are hard to beat.
