Kit Mikayi

This weekend I was feeling a bit restless, to say the least, so we decided it would be nice to get out of the house and explore a little of the area around Kisumu.  Yesterday Josh and I got up early and headed out to a local attraction about 30 minutes outside of Kisumu called Kit Mikayi.

Sign pretty much says it all

Kit-Mikayi  is a rock formation, around 40 m high.  Kit-mikayi means "the stone of the first woman", or "stone of the first wife", in Dholuo, the local language.  The stone is sacred to the people of the area and I've heard a few stories of how it got its name.  The legend behind Kit Mikayi is that: Long time ago, there was an old man by the name Ngeso who was in great love with the stone. Every day when he woke up in the morning, he could walk into the cave inside the stone and stay there the whole day, and this could force his wife to bring him breakfast and lunch everyday. The old man became passionately in love with this stone to the extent that when people asked his wife his whereabouts, she would answer that he has gone to his first wife (Mikayi) hence the stone of the first wife.

I have also heard that a woman was so upset at her husband for taking a second wife that she went to this stone to sit and started to cry.  The stone has a mysterious water source from the top that is said to be her still weeping today.

Another more practical explanation may lie in the shape of the stones themselves. The structure represents the Luo cultural polygamous family which had the first wife’s house (Mikayi) built further in between, on the right hand side was the second wife’s house (Nyachira) while the third wife’s house (Reru) was built on the left hand side of the homestead. This rock is also seen to have a nuclear family whereby the father (Ngeso) being the middle stone followed by the bulky Mikayi (first wife), then Nyachira (second wife), followed by Reru (third wife) and further in front they have the child which is representing Simba (which is the house for the first born boy in the homestead).

At the top 

Whichever you choose to believe, the place has a unique history and we were excited to check it out.  We spent the morning climbing through crevices and under rock.  Josh headed into a bat cave which I happily opted out of.  We weren't able to make it to the top of the stone as that requires some serious bouldering but we did get high enough to get a beautiful view of the country side.

The "resting place"

After a quick snack and a few pictures we headed down to a smaller rock formation on the same property.  There was a large tree coming out of the top and Josh wanted to try his hand at some climbing.  With little to no trail I decided to stay on the ground and document the climb instead.  I'm sure glad I did as Josh said there were a few hair raising parts.  He didn't get up in the tree but he got really close!

Josh at the top of the second formation

Overall it was a great day.  I'm so thankful Josh suggested getting out of the house and exploring a bit.  It helped me relax a bit and not be so focused on completing my never ending to do list.  I don't know what's gotten into me lately but I'm craving a project.  Luckily for me I'm headed back to the states soon (8 days) and can probably cook something up there!