Eldoret, the town of marvel

Some of the cottages at Poa Place. (Photo: Courtesy, Standard)

I was on the road to Eldoret recently. While on the approximately five-hour long journey covering some odd 300 kilometres, my mind could not help but flash an old feature by Tony Mochama; The Road to Eldoret. The story painted a not-so-flattering image of Eldoret during one of Kenya's worst seasons; the 2007 post-election. Coincidentally, I was on the road to Eldoret during what some termed very heated primary elections.

I, however, saw a different Eldoret. A beautiful town with rolling plains and hills dotted with livestock and greenery. The town is named after a Maa word 'eldore' meaning 'stony river', a reference to the bed of the Sosiani River (a tributary of the Nile), that runs through the town. Eldoret is also the second largest urban centre in Midwestern Kenya after Nakuru and the fifth largest urban centre in the country.