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Description

Tourism and wildlife in Baringo

The region has picturesque landscapes that include among others;

• Waterfalls: – Torok and Kessup in Keiyo county, Arror and Embobut in Marakwet county.
• Cliffs: - Rondinin (Simut) and Kipngochoch in Baringo county and Kamriny in Keiyo county.
• Valleys: - The great rift valley (Kerio valley and Suguta valley)
• Hills/Escapement: – Cherangany hills in Marakwet and West Pokot county, Elgeyo Escapement in Keiyo county, Seker hills in Westpokot county, Tugen hills in Baringo county and Mogila hills in Turkana county.
• Gorges: - Turkwel gorge in West Pokot county and Chebloch in Baringo and Keiyo countys border.

 

Wildlife

The region is home to wide rage of wildlife which is a major tourism attraction. The main reserves and sanctuaries are lakes Bogoria, Baringo, Kapnarok, Nasolot, Saiwa swamp, Rimon and lake Turkana. The main type of wildlife includes Elephants, Buffaloes, Crocodile, Hippos and various birds. These are fond in national parks and reserves.

The game reserves and other attraction are popular both to local people and foreigners. Average numbers of annual visitors to game reserves in atypical year are averagely appreciating annually

 

Other attractions

Lakes

The region has three natural lakes namely: – Turkana, Baringo and Bogoria. Water sports such as boat and canoe tours have been introduced in Lakes Turkana and Baringo and attract non-residents tourists.

Lake Bogoria in Baringo County is a popular tourist attraction site due to its active geyser. The geysers produce stream reach in sulphur compounds, which are believed to be medicinal. In the same area are not – which have been harnessed by the local noted industry.

Lake Baringo is, after Lake Turkana, the most northern of the Great Rift Valley lakes of Kenya, with a surface area of about 130 sq km. The lake is fed by two rivers, El Molo and Ol Arabel and has no obvious outlet, despite this it being one of the two freshwater lakes in the Rift Valley in Kenya, the other being Lake Naivasha. It lies off the beaten track in a hot and dusty setting and over 470 species of birds have been recorded there, occasionally including migrating flamingos.

Hippos in Lake Baringo

The area is little affected by tourism and is situated at the southern end of a region of Kenya inhabited largely by pastoralist ethnic groups including Chamus, Rendille, Turkana and Kalenjin.

Fish stocks in the lake are now low and water levels have been reduced by droughts and over-irrigation. The lake has several small islands, by far the largest being Ol Kokwe Island. The main town on its shore is Loruk, while smaller settlements include Kampi ya Samaki.

Museum

Artifacts depicting the cultural history of the regions communities have been collected and are played in museums. Visitors to museums are over 2000 annually. These museums are strategically located along the northwestern tourist circuit.

Ruko conservancy

Ruko Conservancy is a 19,000 hectare area to the North and East of Lake Baringo, consisting of bushland and about 10 kms of shoreline. (Adapted from NORIC)

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