After visiting the Queen’s main palace in Tana, I was interested to check-out the summer above just outside of town. I had been to the area a couple times before for biking and running. It’s no more than 20km outside of the city, in an area cold the Blue Hills, because of the bluish pines that are still found around there. A summer spent here couldn’t be much cooler than the main palace, based on the altitude, but maybe the idea was just to get out of town?

Still, I could get used to waking-up to these views. Maybe there wasn’t a lot of politicking going on back then, so the queen could just enjoy the time with her family? But the defenses of this place are pretty impressive. Not only is it on top of a serious hill, but the whole compound is surrounded by steep walls with a confusing entry to slow the approach of any rivals. Inside, though, the place is pretty unassuming.

There are two rather modest buildings. The old, more traditional black building with only a simple bed and fire for cooking, and the more modern and Western structure with a dining room on the ground floor and sleeping and lounging quarters upstairs. Out back, you find the graves of the last few generations of royalty. Nice place.