In a leafy enclosure on the shore of Kenya's sprawling Lake Naivasha, deep in the Great Rift Valley, is the Fisherman's Camp, one of many low-key campsites in this East African backpacker hotspot. Come September, though, it is anything but low-key, as it hosts the Rift Valley Festival: a new not-for-profit international music festival – Glastonbury-meets-safari camp.
Started in 2010 by softly spoken British brothers Ivan and Sean Ross – whose family own the campsite – the festival, billed as a "musical experience in the cradle of mankind", brings together east African and international artists. All proceeds (including sponsorship from Virgin Atlantic) go towards local grassroots education, sanitation and environmental projects. Around 2,000 people – a mix of Kenyans and international travellers – attended in 2010, but by last year the small word-of-mouth gathering had become a 5,000-capacity celebration.
The Rift Valley Festival is definitely off the beaten track. And the drive there (it takes about an hour-and-a-half from Nairobi, depending on the city's dreadful traffic) was a very different experience from battling queues in muddy Somerset.
From the city, I passed through the luscious tea and coffee plantations of the Kiambu and Limuru areas, and came to the vast, spectacular plains and mountain ranges of the Great Rift Valley. Eagles soared overhead and I saw wide-backed, stern-looking baboons crouching by the side of the road. I stopped frequently, to take photos of the mountains and haggle for masks and jewellery.
I almost missed the turning for the Fisherman's Camp, just beyond a run of flower farms in Naivasha. The site is a big grassy plain surrounded by tall trees and there's just one stage, right in the middle. There are no food tents, just one central, very well-stocked bar/restaurant over two levels, which served the best chapatis I ate on my whole Kenya trip. And I ate a lot.
It was daytime, and the festival seemed fairly sedate. Nairobi city workers and their families began spreading out picnics on the grass, while local Masai tribesmen, resplendent in their red shuka wraps, patrolled the site – they had been employed by the festival to act as security, keeping an eye on things and helping people pitch their tents.
The camping area is exactly as you'd expect: various shades of green two-man tents, remnants of camp fires and slightly dodgy toilets. The loos do flush, though, which is better than many British festivals. Once it got dark – which happens quite early in these parts, around 6pm – the party atmosphere started to build. The music started at around the same time and the crowd were up and dancing as soon as it began.
The diverse music programme covers local and international artists, bringing together traditional African roots and global music influenced by African beats. Last year, one highlight was Kenyan musician and Peter Gabriel favourite Ayub Ogada, whose plaintive vocals and nyatiti (a lyre-like string instrument) have been used extensively in film, most notably in The Constant Gardener. When he performed, the energetic crowd stood perfectly still. Osogo Winyo, another Kenyan, had the opposite effect: his beat-heavy, harmonica-led songs had them dancing like crazy.
From the western world, there were brilliant sets from DJ Yoda and one of Gorillaz – the one that isn't Damon Albarn, although I am sure this festival would be his kind of thing.
If you're a fan of afrobeat music, you will love this event. Many acts waived usually large fees to appear and, despite technical glitches, power cuts and deafening thunderstorms that put acts scheduled for 9pm back to 2am, the atmosphere after dark each evening (somewhat compounded by generous quantities of Tusker beer) was, in typical African fashion, one of irrepressible fun.
Big smoky barbecues blazed all night, upturned beer crates became makeshift bars to lubricate the happy, dancing crowds, and the music was only occasionally interrupted by a bowel-rumbling groan from beyond the electric fence put up at night to keep out the hippos that live in the lake.
The setting, beside Lake Naivasha adds a lot. It was hard to grasp the size of the lake while standing on the banks, but at 139 square km, it's so big it can be seen from space. A short distance away from the tents was a wobbly jetty over the latte-coloured water, from which festival-goers could take boat trips to observe the hippos. Some were difficult to see, hiding beneath the surface with only their ears and nostrils exposed, but they reared up when they heard the boat coming. I squealed, loudly, and was roundly told off.
When you're in the Rift Valley, you don't necessarily want to spend your days in festival grounds. Several people who were on safari and staying in fancy lodges (such as the gorgeous, giraffe-surrounded Mara Simba Lodge, where, if you ask nicely, they'll let you use the pool) just came down to listen to the music in the evenings after an afternoon's lion watching.
If the festival's growth over the past two years is anything to go by, this year's event will be even bigger: acts confirmed so far for 2012 include JStar, Frankie Francis and the Owiny Sigoma Band. But the Rift Valley Festival already feels big and special. It is quite unlike anything I have ever experienced – a combination of proper festival atmosphere and safari spirit. Forget Glasto: I'll take hippos over hippies any day.
• The 2012 Rift Valley Festival runs 31 August-2 September. Tickets are not yet on sale but check riftvalleyfestival.co.uk for details. The trip was provided by Virgin Holidays (virginholidays.co.uk), which has a four-night Masai Mara Safari including two nights at Mara Simba Lodge (marasimba.com) from £1,279, including flights from Heathrow, game drives and transfers. A cheaper option is to camp at the festival, or hire a cottage at the Fisherman's Camp (fishermanscamp.com), from about £13 a night. Eleanor flew from London to Nairobi with Virgin (virgin-atlantic.com), which has return flights around the festival dates from £605. For more information see magicalkenya.com
