Day trip to Hells Gate, Olkaria Geothermal Spa & Lake Naivasha: cycling, gorges and hippos

The morning opens with a thin steam drifting above the Rift Valley escarpment as a private van eases out of Nairobi toward Naivasha. By the time you crest the rim, the valley has already laid out its geology—sheer red cliffs slicing into wide plains—and Hells Gate’s basalt fins rise like the ribs of an old volcano. You disembark, swap city shoes for a mountain bike or walking shoes, and let the landscape set the tempo: slow at the geothermal pools, brisk in the wind across the parks, quiet when a hippo exhales on the lake.