Labor Day weekend-Kericho, Kerio Valley, and around

Lipton Tea plantation

This past weekend we headed out of Kisumu for another small trip.  After just recently returning from Mt. Kilimanjaro we didn't want to do anything huge but still wanted to take advantage of the four day weekend.  Instead of heading to a national park, as originally planned, we decided to take a more adventurous route and explore some of the towns in the area.  Our weekend started in Kericho, home to approximately 90% of Kenya's tea plantations.  We stayed right on one of the local plantations at the Walter Reed Guest House.  Although we were not able to schedule a tour of the plantations, we had a great time walking around the many arboretums and relaxing by the fire at night. 

Under a massive grove of bamboo in Kericho

The next day we headed north into the Nandi Hills going through Eldoret and ending up at an overland camp just east of the city.  We were a little disappointed about the grounds as they didn't reflect what we had seen online previously.  Despite the under par and chilly conditions, we enjoyed a relaxing day spent enjoying the local scenery. 

Rainforest in Kericho

On Sunday we headed even further north into the Kerio Valley on a tip from one of the staff members at the overland camp.  Our journey was an adventure the entire way.  Deciding to forgo the paved road, we kicked it into 4WD and took the less traveled path.  Definitely had a great time mudding through some of the local villages where the people looked like they had never seen a car before.  We arrived at the Kerio View about mid morning and promptly checked in.  The views were spectacular.  The hotel is located on top of an escarpment that drops 1000 m into the valley below.  The area is known for paragliding although we were unable to do this due to the season (too wet). (Were already planning a return trip to cross this one off the list :)

The Kerio Valley

Josh gets a little too close to the edge

After checking in, we headed in the car down the escarpment to explore stopping many times along the way to take pictures and admire the views.  We saw the beautiful Tarok falls in the distance and stopped along the gorge to take pictures of the rushing water below.  Our 4-wheeling didn't stop there as we tried our hand at two unpaved roads in hopes of entering the national reserve that was in the area.  After trying for a few hours we finally connect with Kenya Wildlife Service and learned that there isn't any roads into the park yet.  Well at least we tried!

The gorge.  Its a long way down!

Overall it was a very relaxing weekend.  It was nice to not worry about seeing this and doing that.  We made our plans as the day went on and focused more so on the adventure of it all.  We even came home with some great tea and cheese from the area.  Treats we normally don't get in Kisumu!