Drifting Along the Rift Valley

Eldoret, Kenya in the Rift Valley

Day 4 – 2November 2019 in Kenya ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

Eldoret is a principal city in the Rift Valley region of Kenya and the fifth largest in the country. It also serves as the capital of Uasin Gishu County. Lying south of the Cherangani Hills, the local elevation varies from about 2100 metres at the airport to more than 2700 metres in nearby areas . The population was 289,380 in the 2009 census and it is currently the fastest growing town in Kenya with over 400,000 inhabitants in 2019. We really didn’t do very much here except the pitch out tents, cook a meal and chill before going to bed early for an early-ish start the next morning.

Some travel videos of Eldoret from YouTube.

TRAVEL VIDEO | Eldoret Town, Kenya | #TembeaKenya

Eldoret Town Kenya. Kenya's 5th Biggest City

Eldoret, Kenya drive February 2018

The campsite was very lush and had an old fashioned air about it. When we arrived, we were met by the matriarch and her assistants who welcomed us to the campsite, explained some rules and invited us to have tea and buscuits. Charming.

I hadn’t known much about Eldoret before I arrived here but, thanks to search engines like Wikipedia, I know a lot more now. One interesting little factoid about Eldoret is that it is the heart of the extraordinary phenomenon that is Kenyan running. There’s a very interesting Guardian article about it HERE.

The dominance of the Kenyans in distance running remains almost unchallenged. All of the 10 fastest marathons ever run by men on record-eligible courses were run by Kenyans. Its athletes won 11 Olympic medals in London in 2012, topped the 2015 world championship in Beijing, and look set for similar achievements at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

The biggest hassle here is not the snakes, scorptions, spiders not the hippos, Lions and other predators. No, it’s my head. To be more correct, it’s my developing system of organising all my stuff into manageable packs. It’s currently underdeveloped! This man’s that I’m constantly looking for stuff or misplacing stuff. A right pain in the arse. I’ve lost nothing yet though; not even my temper. I remember from my last overland trip that it took a week or so to get a handle on organising possessions into day, night, camping and truck packs. I’ll soon be there!