Kakamega-Famous for the Crying Stone

Kakamega is a town found in Western Kenya and is 110km from Eldoret. My main enticement to visit this area was to see the famous Crying Stone. I had heart a lot about this mythical stone that cried all year round, yet, it was no where near a  river. To make the story even more weird, it was said have flowing water from atop a stand alone rock, I had to investigate.

Crying Stone:

There is no longer a “Crying Stone” but a “Former Crying Stone”, sorry to disappoint you. It seems to have grown up, stopped crying and now all that is left is a majestic stone with streaks of former tears. I was informed that it had stopped crying and  that its tears had dried up years ago. I was greatly disappointed to have travelled all this way only to discover this. I wondered why the “net sphere” had not bothered to reveal this to me and thus save me this trip. After overcoming the disappointment, we enjoyed the beauty that is this majestic stone, its neighbours as well as walking through caves, which made the trip worthwhile.

I will however warn you that there is a mini hike to get to the ” Former Crying Stone” from the road. Once the public vehicle dropped us off at an unmarked road, the conductor just pointed aimlessly and said that way. We eventually found the stone is located in the midst of a village and we had to pay an “unofficial” entrance fee to the village.

I assure you, the mean looking, unbudging group of people we met a few metres from the stone were not friendly but more so “demanded” a fee to allow us through. Take time to also enjoy the environment that includes caves as well as other beautiful rocks.

Masinde Muliro Gardens:

This is a public park that is found in town and turned out to be smaller in size than I expected. The park however is clean and has a wide array of trees to enjoy,  great seats to relax on as well as well cut grass that allow people to have picnics. There is no entrance fee so feel free to visit, relax and enjoy.

Ride a Boda boda/moto bike

This is a common means of travel in the area and we just had to. This ended up as one of the craziest rides I have ever taken as we rode on an unmarked road that can barely be called a road. By the time we arrived at our destination, we were covered in dust everywhere, including our lungs and our bodies rattled.

It was however disheartening to hear the locals respond that there wasn’t any place of interest to visit or things to do. County government of Kakamega, kindly educate the locals, create more opportunities for them to explore the county as they are the best marketing tool for your area.  We there after progressed to Kisumu, about 48 km. For more on this and other experiences of this trip, check out:

Kisumu: http://wangechigitahitravels.com/kisumu-city/

Elgeyo Marakwet: http://wangechigitahitravels.com/scenic-elgeyo-marakwet/

Kitale:  http://wangechigitahitravels.com/kitale/