Plethora of colours at the Barnley’s

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Perched between the massifs of Elgon and the Cheranganis, I don’t think a flower could wilt in the Barnleys’ garden.

Splashes of red-orange buds flame the blue skies. It’s the gorgeous Nandi flame tree in bloom and a simple wooden gate opens into a palette of coloured flowers. It’s the home of the Barnleys’ past Saiwa Swamp from Kitale. I think it’s the plethora of colours that simply stuns one.

Tim Barnely couldn’t have chosen a better spot to start his farm in the early days of the 1940s near the slopes of the Cheranganis. The brochure shows a portrait of Tim as a young man, who started Sirikwa Safaris and opened his farmhouse for guests to enjoy western Kenya.

As a keen birder, it was his dream to make western Kenya a much sought-after ornithological treasure – there are more than 350 bird species recorded here. Sitting on the edge of the West Pokot country in northwestern Kenya, it is the interface of the forest and dryland birds.

The garden is a delight for anyone in landscaping. We stroll through the camping ground that has a thatched rondavel at the end where meals are served. The farmhouse, built of simple brick, is as it was built in ‘them’ days with period furniture of solid wood.

Each room gives a dazzling view of the garden. The living room with its fireplace is a warm abode filled with family pictures and portraits and the whole house is full of magazines and books. At the bottom of the garden, stand three tents, each with two single beds and a verandah.

“The farmhouse was built at a time when kitchens and washrooms were built outside the main house,” muses Richard, the son of the house. There is nothing ostentatious about the house but it’s exquisite. An American guest enthuses about the meals served every evening – everything from the soups to the freshly baked desserts.

The air is so clean that it’s heady. “There are many hikes you can do from here. Our porters can guide you. You can walk to Tata waterfalls or hike to the Cheranganis. It takes an hour to drive to Mount Elgon from here,” says Richard.

Mount Elgon and the Cherangani Hills are two of the five major water towers of Kenya, still pretty much intact with indigenous forests. Unlike Kenya’s other massifs, the Cherangani hills are not of volcanic origin and are one of the best for hill walking.

On the other hand, Mount Elgon is an extinct volcano shared between Uganda and Kenya. It is named after the Elgeyo tribe and the Maasai call it “Ol Doinyo Ilgoon” (Breast Mountain). It takes pride of place as the oldest and largest solitary volcano in East Africa with one of the largest intact calderas.

It has five major peaks -
• Wagagai (4,321m), in Uganda.
• Sudek (4,302m or 14,140 ft) in Kenya
• Koitobos (4,222m or 13,248 ft), a flat-topped basalt column (Kenya)
• Mubiyi (4,211m or 13,816 ft)
• u039Casaba (4,161m or 13,650 ft)

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