A pictorial journey through West Pokot

Of all counties that I knew the least about, West Pokot would feature up there. The only thing I had heard of until then, was that my friend who lives there drives a lot of hours to get home. And even then, he has to leave his car some kilometers away and walk the rest of the way. 

So I was extremely happy when I realised that going to Turkana by road, would entail driving for hours through West Pokot. Our first day from Nairobi we camped at Saiwa National Park, which I’ve talked about here , and this second day, after a visit to Kapenguria museum in west Pokot, just right next to the County headquarters, we were on our way to Lodwar, where we would camp for the second day. 

I would say that West Pokot totally surprised me. I didn’t have that much in terms of expectations, but not in my wildest dreams would I have thought that it looked like that. It’s a mountaneous County to say the least. 

Having stayed in Machakos and visited lots of other hilly places, I would say that I am used to rolling hills that never end. Hills that take your breath away with their beauty. Hills that have towns form at their feet. Hills where the moon rises from. Hills where the sun sets in. 

But the things I saw in West Pokot can’t be called hills. I would say mountains but probably geographers would tell me that I am over-glorifying them. It is for this reason that I will let the pictures tell the story. You decide. Are these humongous many things, hills or mountains?

Whichever way, West Pokot humbled me and reminded me that I haven’t seen Kenya yet. That our country is indeed exceedingly beautiful with each area being unique and gorgeous in it’s own style.