Taita Skull Caves

Unusual Attractions in Taita Taveta

Tsavo Skull Caves: Book Rooms in the Hills

Skull caves, often associated with ancient rituals, burials, or natural formations, are universally as interesting as they are spectral, a little ghoulish perhaps, and maybe not everybody’s idea of fun. Some, containing thousands of mummified bodies, including skulls, arranged in underground tunnels are dungeons of fear, where sinister practices quite common in medieval times took place. Either way, skull caves capture the imagination not least because of the vivid cranial remains and the stories they would tell. Likewise, caves occupy a special place in Kenya.

Among the Taita community many of the caves served as the abodes of the gods and ancestors where the remains of elders, commonly skulls, were preserved. On regular occasions, seers and living elders would visit the caves to offer sacrifices and pour out libations to appease the gods so as to ward off bad omen and invite good prospects to the community. Collectively known as the Taita Skull Cave, and sometimes as Mwafunja or Dawida Caves, these series of caves high up in Taita Hills are riddled in myth, tales and legend, with prolific cranial remains to match.

The Taita Skull Caves are located at Vuria Hill, through thick forest and cropland, at the 2257 meters high peak. The forest about Vuria Hill is gazetted, which means it is formally conserved forest managed by Kenya Forest Service. The journey to the caves starts with a short hike to Mwachora hills, where, as legend has it, sorcerers were sternly executed – throwing them over the hill. The natives believed that the sorcerers were evil to the society and this was only punishable by death. From the hills one has a lovely view of the surrounding towns like Wundanyi and Voi town.

Higher above it gets cooler, more often than not veiled in a blanket of fluffy fog. Suddenly you find yourself above the clouds, looking down to surrounding idyllic African savanna opening below the moving clouds. Depending on the route, you may arrive at the smaller Ngomenyi cave first, which is one of the sacred sites of the Taita hills. The cave, like most other sacred caves around the area, is situated in a private farm. Beyond here, you maneuver your way through thick bush, to yet another sacred cave. Both caves are full of human craniums, neatly arranged on a ledge, streak like, largely kept intact by the local community surrounding them.

By the same token, these caves were the dwelling place of their ancestral deities called milungu. It was in these caves that sacrifices were conducted in cases of famines, epidemics, drought and sicknesses. Animal sacrifices, mainly goats, were offered to the spirits of the deities. A council of elders conducted these sacrifices. Incase of domestic affairs sacrificial ceremonies were conducted by an elder of a home or a village and by a clan elder in charge of general clan affairs. Local brew, in the form of libation, was also offered. The sacrifices were meant to appeasing the ancestral spirits, offered in the caves, which were also considered as shrines.

At the last, you arrive at the largest of Taita Skull Cave. Similar to the concept of a catacomb, the dead were stored in these caves. The practice died out near the beginning of the 1900’s when Christian missionaries began to convert the Taita, but the caves remain (along with the skulls) as a symbol of their cultural heritage. The skulls themselves were removed from the skeleton after the corpse had been buried in the ground for a year. In order to facilitate their removal, a sharp rock was placed under the neck above the last vertebra at the burial. And as the body decomposed, the rock became a wedge, which separated the skull from the rest of the skeleton. This way, when the body was exhumed the skull was lifted easily.

Around Kenya are a selection of natural landmarks, cultural shrines, architectural oddities, and technological installations that offer incredible, almost surreal experiences that can make you feel as if you’ve stepped into another world. Hauntingly beautiful to some, eerie sights for others, and still, for others, down right strange, these site provide unique experiences for adventurous travelers.

Index of Unusual Attractions Around Kenya



Baringo County - Olduka (Mogotio) Valley, Busia County - The Alupe Leprosy Centre, Elgeyo Marakwet County - Kipteberr, Isiolo County - Magado Crater, Magado Cave Dwellings, Nantudu Spire Rock, Merti Catholic Church, Buffalo Springs, Harr Girrissa, Kericho County - Van Wicker's Cave, The Kipkelion Monastery, Kilifi County - Hell's Kitchen, Luigi Broglio Space Centre, Ngomeni Shipwreck, Kwale County - Three Sisters Caves, Mrima Hills Rare Earth Mine, Laikipia County - Sirmon & Nyariginu Confluence, Lamu County - The Lamu Donkey Sanctuary, Machakos County - Komarock Shrine, Kituluni Magical Hill, Makueni County - Kenze Gorges, Virgin Mary Shrine, Emali Trig, Holy Nzaui Rock, Mandera County - Marehan Sandstone, Marsabit County - Chalbi Desert, Meru County - Mystical Lake Nkunga, The Giant Footprints, Mombasa County - Kizingo, Mbaraki Pillar, Muranga County - Muranga Gorges, Nakuru County - Longonot Earth Station, Menegai, The Djinn House, Diana Caldwell's Shrine, Nandi County - Sheu Morobi Cliffs, Kopere Rocks, Nyandarua County - The Kinangop Step, Wanjohi Happy Valley, Dragon's Teeth, Nyeri County - Italian Memorial Church & Somali Wall, Taita Taveta County - The Taita Skull Caves, Shetani Lava, Yatta Springs, Nyiri Taru Desert, Crystal Caves at Lake Chala, Salaita (Slaughter) Hill, Haunted Sniper's Tree, Turkana County - Kapedo Falls, Lake Alablab, The Turkana Boy Monument, Samburu County - Samburu Singing Wells, Ngurunit Pools & Slides, Mystical Emuruangogolak, Vihiga County - Wagevere Rock, Nganyi Rainmakers Forest, Wajir County - Shaletey Caves

Situated in south-western Kenya, and part of the Coast Region of Kenya, Taita-Taveta County is known for its stunning landscapes, rich biodiversity, and cultural heritage. The county features diverse landscapes, including the Taita Hills, which are part of the Eastern Arc Mountains, and the vast plains of Tsavo, which are part of Tsavo East and Tsavo West National Parks – Kenya’s largest wildlife preserve.

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Guide to Taita Taveta County

A Summa Digest of Taita Taveta

About Taita Taveta Way Back When

85 Destinations in Taita Taveta County, arranged as one would visit these - north, west then south - with aid of in-depth narratives, images, strip maps and distance chart:

Chyulu Hills National Park, Kisula Caves, Kampi ya Kanzi Lodge, Tsavo West National Park, Kamboyo Lodge, Mzima Springs, Kilaguni Serena Safari Lodge, Ancient Roaring Rocks, Ngulia Hills, Ngulia Rhino Sanctuary, Kitchwa Tembo Hill, Chaimu Crater, The Five Sister's Hills, Shetani Lava, Finch Hattons Camp, Mount Kilimanjaro, Lake Chala, Crystal Lake Chala Caves, Voyager Ziwani Tented Camp, Sniper Tree, Gicheha Ziwani Farm, The Njoro Springs, Grogan’s Castle, Mokine Hill, Lake Jipe, Lake Jipe Eco-lodge, Salaita Hill, The Taveta Military Cemetery, Maktau Indian Cemetery, Maktau Railway Station, Taita Hills Game Lodge, Taita Hills Museum, Sarova Salt Lick Lodge, Mwashoti Hill, Maili 27 Bridge, Mwakitau Hill, Lumo Game Sanctuary, Lions Bluff Lodge, Lualenyi Camp, Ndolwa Game Sanctuary, Dembwa Falls, Bura Mission Church, Vuria Hill, Taita Hills, Wesu Rock, Taita Rocks Hotel, Malowa's Shrine, Taita Skull Caves, Taita Research Station, Kilangarenyi Falls, Ngangao Forest, Kenyatta Caves, Mount Sagalla, Rev. Wray Memorial Museum, Ngutuni Wildlife Sanctuary, Volunteer International Camp Tsavo, Mount Kasigau, Kasigau Base Camp, The Maungu Plains, Rukinga Wildlife Sanctuary, Wushumbu Conservancy, Teita Sisal Estate, Mbulia Conservancy, Tsavo East National Park, Ithumba Elephant Nursery, Yatta Plateau, Tsavo Springs, Emusaya Wilderness Arc, Galdessa Little Camp, Lugard's Falls, Mudanda Rock, Voi War Cemetery, Lion Hill Lodge, Kanderi Swamp, Voi Wildlife Lodge, Aruba Dam, A. Aruba Lodge, Nyiri Desert

Know More About Taita Taveta County: Geography, Land-Use, Highlights, Population, Roads - including distance chart, Airports, Climate & National Monuments

The mean temperature in Taita Taveta is 23 Degrees Celsius, cooler around the hills and hotter on the Nyika where the Tsavos sit. Rainfall distribution is uneven, with the highlands receiving higher rains than the lowland areas.