KERIO VIEW
Kipsaraman
| The Kipsaraman Community Museum (Looking NE towards Silali volcano) |
| Ronge Juu Lodging About the only place to stay in Kipsaraman Clean and very simple. Cold water. |
| Fossil hoof prints & an unexcavated bone site in the Kipsaraman area |
Kipsaraman is perched in a spectacularly beautiful location between the
Kerio and Baringo valleys. It is at the end of the tarmac road from Kabarnet
(38 km away) and is the end of the line for the daily bus and local matatus.
The road has some remarkably dangerous bends; it would definitely not
have been built had the former president of Kenya not been a man of the
area.
The Kipsaraman Community Museum is beautifully situated on the edge of
the western wall of the Baringo Valley and offers an unforgettable vista of
Lake Baringo, the Laikipia Escarpment and an expanse of alluvial plains and
volcanic cones that disappear into the blue haze of the northern horizon. It is
an old building that was transported from Nairobi in sections and erected at
Kipsaraman specially to house the bones of Orrorin tugenensis ........ "the
Millenium Man", the oldest (2nd oldest ?) humanoid fossils ever found,
estimated at 6 million years old.
The white sedimentary deposits from which Orrorin (the "original man" in
the Tugen language) was excavated can be clearly seen down in the valley
about 7 km away. These "Lukeino formations" were once the bed of a huge
lake and Baringo, at that time, had luxuriant forests roamed by giant
mammals and reptiles, some of whose bones are displayed in the museum.
The Orrorin fossils are no longer kept here because of their incalculable
scientific value.
Kerio and Baringo valleys. It is at the end of the tarmac road from Kabarnet
(38 km away) and is the end of the line for the daily bus and local matatus.
The road has some remarkably dangerous bends; it would definitely not
have been built had the former president of Kenya not been a man of the
area.
The Kipsaraman Community Museum is beautifully situated on the edge of
the western wall of the Baringo Valley and offers an unforgettable vista of
Lake Baringo, the Laikipia Escarpment and an expanse of alluvial plains and
volcanic cones that disappear into the blue haze of the northern horizon. It is
an old building that was transported from Nairobi in sections and erected at
Kipsaraman specially to house the bones of Orrorin tugenensis ........ "the
Millenium Man", the oldest (2nd oldest ?) humanoid fossils ever found,
estimated at 6 million years old.
The white sedimentary deposits from which Orrorin (the "original man" in
the Tugen language) was excavated can be clearly seen down in the valley
about 7 km away. These "Lukeino formations" were once the bed of a huge
lake and Baringo, at that time, had luxuriant forests roamed by giant
mammals and reptiles, some of whose bones are displayed in the museum.
The Orrorin fossils are no longer kept here because of their incalculable
scientific value.
Interesting, but in places challenging,
drives from Kipsaraman include the eastern
descent to Rondinin and Loruk (Baringo
Valley) and the northern road to Kinyang,
in the Kerio Valley, via Bartabwa and
Kalabata.
drives from Kipsaraman include the eastern
descent to Rondinin and Loruk (Baringo
Valley) and the northern road to Kinyang,
in the Kerio Valley, via Bartabwa and
Kalabata.