Attractions in Nakuru County
1. Rift Valley Viewpoint
Although the RV viewpoint sits in Kiambu it is given greatest recognition as the universal welcome to Nakuru County, Kenya’s unofficial playground, loved for its slew of attractions. For the travellers who have driven past or stopped at this memorable vista, its physiography and scenery are impressive and beautiful for its sheer scale, exuberance, magnitude and aspect. It is a part of the greater Rift System running from Zambezi northerly to Syria as a complex fault trough with a general north to south orientation. Every hour of day rejigs this extensive and ever-changing landscape with dazzling scenery. Nakuru County no-doubt has a prodigious line up of unique geological and biotic spectacles of cosmic natural grandeur to include lakes, falls, geysers, hot springs, forests, and vast grassland. The viewpoint, conveniently by the side of the A104 Highway, giving one and all a stunning panorama of the valley, is an ideal curtain raiser to Nakuru’s beauty.
2. St. Mary of the Angel Church
Noted as a National Monument thanks to its unique history, this teensy Church, sitting only twelve when fully patronized, commemorates the Italian Prisoners of War captured during World War II. Built in 1942 under the strict supervision of the British forces, the pentagon-carved Church was the “asylum of hope” for the Italian Prisoners of War working on the road building enterprise. “The main reason behind the building of the Church was that the Italians were Catholics and the British Anglicans, so the former needed their own place of worship. In turn, the British allocated them a small piece of land to raise a Church in groups during breaks from road construction” – Standard Group. The first service was held on Christmas Day of 1943. Today, this vestige and its relics serve as a great historic connection to the inimical 1940’s period. Saint Mary of the Angel is also one of the smallest Churches on earth measuring 15 ft., x 8 ft., with four wooden pews and an alter with a pulpit. It’s found along the Mai Mahiu-Naivasha Road.
3. Mount Suswa
Assigned the Maasai epithet Ol Doinyo Nyukie, translating as red mountain, the dormant volcanic dome of Mount Suswa noted for its 12 kms double crater rises 8,000 feet at its summit. Due north 16 kms away sits Mount Longonot, another volcanic dome with an impressive 9 kms wide caldera, reaching 9,000 feet. Mt. Suswa’s vegetation is for the most parts semi-arid, composed of stunted thorn bushes (whistling thorns and Acacia) and patches of grass. The river and stream beds are often marked by lines of trees, with perennial rivers like South Ewaso Nyiro, Siyabei and Kedong all having thicker vegetation along their banks. On the central island block and in the annular trench, the vegetation is that of an evergreen dense woodland. Mt. Suswa is shared mainly by Narok, Nakuru and Kajiado Counties, with just a tiny part of the eastern wall set in Kiambu County. It is possible to drive up Mount Suswa as far as the foot of the outer caldera wall, although a four-wheel-drive vehicles is necessary. The B3 Nairobi-Mai Mahiu-Narok Road that travels across the north face of Mt. Suswa is the most popular approach. Mount Suswa has many memorable sights, that include; Ol Doinyo Nyukie or the red mountain, which is a remnants of the highest point of Mt. Suswa as well as a separate cone on the southwest side of the inner caldera. On the east side of Mount Suswa are located its famed lava tunnels and geysers, first reported by Hobden in 1962. These extend for several kilometres into the mountain and provide a rare survey of mountain geology. North of Suswa sits the charming Mount Longonot that overlooks several ash and cinder cones and hills rising above the Akira plains. Wildlife is plentiful here, particularly on the plains around Suswa, where five varieties of antelopes and zebra can be spotted.
4. Mount Longonot National Park
As alluded to, the Rift floor commencing in the Naivasha area forms part of the structurally and topographically diverse Great Rift Valley. Among the numerous volcanic cones and craters, scarps and studs, the highest tip is formed by Mount Longonot which rises abruptly to 9,107 ft (2776 ms) to exemplify the contrast of scenery and ecology. The fetching landscape of this bulky and pitted dome lying isolated in the spacey Rift Valley also doubles as the most-vaunted hiking trail in Kenya. Longonot is derived from the Maasai idiom “Oloonong’ot” translating as “mountain of many spurs or steep ridges”. For tourism, 52 km2 around the Mount Longonot was gazetted, in 1993, as the Mount Longonot National Park. It offers the avid hiker a breathtaking experience culminating at its crater forest with unbridled views of Lake Naivasha, Njorowa Gorge and outwith. It takes on average 6 hours round-trip to explore Mount Longonot. Major wildlife sighting includes buffaloes, elands, bushbucks, zebra, giraffe and gazelles. A small cover charge (Citizens – 300, Residents – 600 and Non-Residents – USD 26) is paid to enter the park. It is found 90 kms from Nairobi via Mai Mahiu-Nairobi Road.
5. Longonot Earth Station
Unlike going to the zoo, going on safari odds-on entails adventure to booay and difficult to access places. The Mara is no exception! The 250 kms journey from Nairobi to Masai Mara National Reserve takes up to 6 hours. The first 150 kms, from Nairobi to Narok Town, is a smooth drive of absolutely beautiful scenes. About 30 kms from Nairobi City, as the road descends to the floor of the valley on the hair-raising winding road to Mai-Mahiu Town, one of the most dazzling view in Kenya unfolds before you. The knockout view of the Great Rift Valley. In the distance are Mount Suswa and the peculiar chain of ground satellites rising mysteriously in the middle of a bare and deserted plain. The ground satellites at Longonot Earth Station have aroused the imagination of many a traveller, with sundry suggestions of their existence. Commissioned in 1970, Longonot Earth Station was the first specialized terrestrial terminal in Kenya, primarily used to communicate with its opposite-number in-space satellites. In 1968, Kenya and her neighbours became members of Intelsat (Global Satellite Consortium) that granted rights to position earth stations to access Intelsat’s battery of satellites.
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