In the valley of wild fruits

It’s Monday morning and, on the Chemase turning on the road from Chemelil to Kibos in Western Kenya, it’s market day.

Despite the rain and a sky heavy with clouds, the open-air market is abuzz with activity.

We drive past and keep on the murrum road, flanked by green fields of sugarcane. Nobody would think of gold in the area but that is what we’re looking for. A goldmine in Nandi!

An old brick house stands at the foot of the Nandi Escarpment, weathered by time but still stoic and strong.

Patriarch Cheseret Korir was only a boy when the family moved in and heard stories of gold that the mzungu had found.

The goldmine that the mzungu operated closed down once he left Kenya around the time of the country’s independence.

Then, two years ago, descendants of the mzungu came looking for the place where the house was and found Korir, by then an old man, in Chep Yagan — the valley of the wild fruits.

“We knew there was gold here,” Korir says. “But l could not get it out.”

Five years ago when l visited the goldmine, it was overgrown with bush and the opening was dark and eerie. Now in front of Korir’s brick house is the new goldmine, with miners in smart helmets. Enormous red tanks stand amidst the green of sugar cane fields. 

A Nubian woodpecker flits amongst the branches of the fig tree, adding a stunning array of colours in the sky. High on the escarpment stands another fig tree.

“We usually hike up there and camp. We call it the fig tree campsite,” says Philip Kirui of Wildlife Clubs of Kenya.

“You can see more than 100 species of birds in the area and Lake Victoria in the horizon.”

Curious about the goldmine, we stand by the gate to ask for a chat with the project manager. But he’s busy and so we leave the goldmine for another day. It’s also strictly out of bounds because of the toxic materials used to process gold.

The only bit of information comes from Mzee Korir, and that is that mining for gold has not begun since the infrastructure is not complete. But he’s happy with the investment because it’s brought employment to the area.

“It’s another beginning,” he says philosophically.

Pharoahs in ancient Egypt wore sandals of gold and all through antiquity, until today, gold is, and will always be, one of the most sought out metals in the world. It never loses its form — gold will always be gold.

I can only imagine the scene when the first ores of gold are extracted from the mines and the now peaceful village of Chemase suddenly transforms from a green sugar belt into a city of gold.

In the meantime, we continue with the bird watching. I add the fan-tailed widow bird with its bright red chest on a black coat to my expanding list of birds and also the broad billed roller, which is a resident of the area, unlike the lilac-breasted roller that’s a visitor.

Along the stretch of hills, gigantic boulders top the peak of one hill. It’s the famous, or infamous, Nandi Rock — sometimes called Monkey Stone.

In the days of old, anyone accused of wrongdoing was taken atop the boulders and was only declared innocent if they survived the tumble to the ground — something like 500 feet.

I can’t imagine anyone surviving the suicidal leap.

Email: rupi.mangat@yahoo.com