Prior to the International Kissing Day, which was held earlier this month, Travelzoo UK voted Ngong Hills in Kenya as the world’s most romantic movie location.
Ngong Hills was location for the timeless romantic movie Out of Africa. The Ngong Hills, located approximately 70km away from Nairobi, are almost breathtaking in their scenery, with picturesque hills and crisp and clean air thanks to the numerous trees. The hills offer a wonderful nature trail popular with tourists. The grave of Denys George Finch Hatton of Out of Africa, who passed away after a plane crash, is hidden at the foot of the hills as per his wishes. A monument of the grave is at Kaburi Village. Hatton’s grave also brings throngs of people to Ngong.
Out Of Africawas based on the lives of lovebirds Denys George Finch Hatton and his lover Baroness Karen Blixen. Hatton was an aristocratic big-game hunter and Karen Blixen a Danish noblewoman. It was Blixen who wrote about their love in her autobiography. It was later published in 1937 as Out of Africa. In the movie adaptation, Robert Redford plays Finch Hatton and Meryl Streep plays Karen Blixen. Ms Damaris Wanjiku is the present owner of the plot where the monument sits and she acts as the caretaker as well.
The scenic Ngong Hills are ideal for picnics, sight seeing, photography and hiking. Ngong Hills are a group of 7 peaks of a ridge formed along the Great Rift Valley, but only 4 are well known. The name Ngong comes from the Maasai, who believe that their kin were living in the hills, and when they displeased God were punched into the ground, making the sound Ngong. Hence the name.
