Trans Nzoia

Let’s talk about agriculture – possibly the first term that comes to mind if you were asked to summarize County 026 in one word. A large producer of maize, wheat and dairy products, Trans Nzoia should be one of your first choices should you wish to pursue farming. Then again, if you’re into exploring Kenya, it should definitely appear on your bucket list more than once.

An area of cool climate, the county’s administrative capital is Kitale aka ‘the basket of Kenya’. We think it’s so called because the county’s maize produce exceeds any other’s. Located between the Mt Elgon region and Chereng’any hills, this growing town is known to produce both cash and food crops for local use and export.

Aside from food, did you know that Kitale is home to one of the first ever developed inland museums in Kenya? Initially named the Stoneham Museum after its first owner, Lieutenant Colonel Hugh Stoneham, the then private museum was established in 1926. It then was renamed National Museum of Western Kenya in 1974 after it was bequeathed to the National Museums of Kenya before being renamed to Kitale Museum. The museum’s historic fort consists of an extensive collection of insects and books authored from as early as 1894 from Stoneham’s home library. In the same year that the library was built the railway reached Kitale, one of the few branch lines that departed from the original Uganda track.

For those eager to explore even deeper, well, there’s lots for you to check out in 026. Let’s begin with the range of hills that is one of Kenya’s largest water catchment areas – the Cherang’any Hills. A range of verdant attraction that owes its existence to faults and shifts in the Great Rift Valley. It offers magnificent day hikes that will get your blood pumping, as much from the beauty of these lush peaks as the hike!

Then you can head north towards Endebess to head into the Mt Elgon National Park. A dream for nature lovers, it is home to over 420 bird species and if you’re looking for something special, you can try and catch a glimpse of the rare and endangered semi-aquatic Sitatunga antelope or De Brazza’s monkey. From there take a trip to Kenya’s smallest national park – Saiwa Swamp, located 5km off the Kipsaina junction. You’ll see lots of game including the Dik Dik (the smallest of antelopes) which mates for life. Did you know that when one of the pair dies, the mate left behind soon gives up on life and follows its mate into the afterlife?

Be sure to carry your camera with you to Trans Nzoia—there’s lots to behold!