Maralal offers more than just camel derby

The 360-kilometre journey to Maralal town in Samburu County is exciting especially when you travel by road.

The earth road from Rumuruti makes the trip a bit torturous but the beautiful scenery, and the wild game turn things around and you can find it very exciting.

Undulating hills and serene environment can easily make one forget the bumpy road.

As we drove along the foot hills of the ever-green Aberdares, we could experience the cool breeze from the forest, which is a water-catchment area.

I had been on this route before as this was my second visit to Maralal. On my first visit, we toured Wamba, Archers Post and several villages around the town.

There is so much to see in Maralal and its surroundings that our one-week stay seemed short.

Maralal town is known for its rich culture and history, things which have endeared it to visitors.

The annual international camel derby, which attracts locals and foreigners has made the town a popular destination. Other tourist attractions in the larger Samburu County include Samburu National Park, Maralal National Reserve and Buffalo Springs National Reserve.

Maralal town is also the home to Kenyatta House, the building in which Jomo Kenyatta spent his last days of restriction in 1961. He lived there for one year after his transfer from Lodwar where he had been imprisoned.

An indigenous forest, Kirisia, is not far from Maralal town and the locals treasure it because of the medicinal value of the plants and trees in it.

Residents of Maralal have maintained their culture and men and women usual dress in traditional regalia.

Most of the food eaten in the town is from local farmers.

Though cattle rearing is a source of their livelihood, many of the pastoralists have participated in the Samburu Pastoral Livelihoods Improvement Programme, an initiative that is supported by the government, European Union and World Vision, through the National Drought Management Authority.

Even though the residents of Maralal are mostly pastoralists, visitors need not adapt that lifestyle, and they can get accommodation facilities at Samburu Guest House and Ngari Hill Guest House.

During our visit, we spent the night in Ngari Hill Guest House, an eco-lodge which is located on top of the serene Ngari hill, nearly three kilometres from Maralal town.

The meandering path to the top of the hill requires an all-wheel drive vehicle.

Four years ago, the land was bare and soil erosion was rampant. The proprietors planted trees before they constructing the lodge, which was opened two years ago.

“The lodge acts as a resting place for travelers from Nairobi and those who are proceeding to Lake Turkana,” says Daniel Parisa, and of the two people who are behind the lodge. 

“The place is quiet and peaceful,” says Parisa’s partner, Rudolf Van den Bogaad.

“People come here to write books or to meditate and that is why some of them stay for longer periods than they anticipated.”