The Glass Room

The next day took us mostly through the middle of nowhere in the wilderness of Laikipia. We passed only a couple of small villages, and otherwise cycled mostly through barren (and beautiful) savannah. The route was marked on the map as "beware of elephants" - but luckily we only encountered some groups of giraffes and zebras next to the road.

After some time, the main road got surprisingly better - which turned out to be an EU-financed infrastructure project. For this some european bureaucrat had decided to spend the grant money on something very important, that was clearly lacking in the rest of the country: tons of road signs warning about animal crossings and road priority. We were surprised not to encounter any - super useful and necessary - traffic lights on this one and only road in the middle of nowhere.

On that stretch of road, we also met three dudes on a motorcycle who were very excited to see us cycling through their country. They asked us if they could film us, and suddenly, we were part of an action video shoot.

Not long after, we arrived at the Glass Room - a very special Airbnb which was just a small room built into a rock, with a bed and a chair and a large window front, offering incredible views of the savannah below. The bucket shower and pit toilet were also built into the surroundings, allowing one to have a grand outlook while doing one's business - always under the watchful eyes of the resident Hyrax clan. (Fun fact: would you have guessed that their closest relatives are Elephants and Manatees? Nature is weird some times.)

Also part of the accommodation was a rustic kitchen building and a large canvas tent, complete with wing chairs and magazines about London (dating back to the 1950s), giving some pseudo colonial times vibes. The property was owned by a British lady but managed by a local Maasai General and his wife.

Since the owner had kindly done some shopping for us beforehand, we were able to indulge in some french toast with beans, banana pancakes for breakfast, and tomato pasta with lots of rosemary we had carried from the Cob Cottages. Other than that, we spent our stay watching the sun rise and set over the savannah, seeing Elephants gather at the water hole and admiring an incredible night sky. It felt very far away from normal civilization.Read more