Nakuru’s Menengai Crater is haven for hikers and pilgrims

Menengai Crater, located 10km north of Nakuru Town, is one of Kenya’s most intriguing destinations.

It is about one 193 kilometres from Nairobi.

The area is endowed with spectacular scenery, coupled with local beliefs about spirits roaming the area. Locals believe this is a haunted place.

For tourists, a visit to Nakuru Town, commonly referred to as NaxVegas by the younger generation, is never complete without a tour of the Menengai Crater.

It is the second largest surviving volcanic crater in the world, with a surface area of 90 square kilometres.

WANDERING AIMLESSLY

Many unusual happenings are said to take place in the crater. For instance, people are said to have disappeared without a trace here while others have reportedly lost direction for hours or even days only to be found wandering aimlessly around the crater.

It is also believed that the ‘demons’ capture people and animals and hide them in the underworld.

Despite the frightening stories about the Menengai Crater, many pilgrims from all walks of life throng the area to pray and fast at the site for days.

Some take shelter in the cave located on the southern part of the crater for months, believing they are closer to God.

Rare species birds, hyenas, snakes, baboons and antelopes can be spotted here.

It also offers striking and clear picturesque views of Nakuru town, Lake Nakuru and Lake Bogoria.

Menengai is also home to the second largest geothermal power generating plant in Kenya, after the Olkaria plant.

'FLYING UMBRELLA'

According to historians, the Menengai Crater was a bloody battlefield between various Maasai clans competing for pasture on the Rift Valley slopes.

In the battle, the Illaikipiak morans (warriors) were reportedly defeated by their southern Ilpurko counterparts, who mercilessly threw the former into the crater.

Legend also has it that the steam and gases emitted from the crater are the souls of the dead seeking to find their way to heaven. In fact, the crater derived its name from the Maa word “menengai”, meaning the dead.

Rumour has it that in the late 1950s and 1960s, the demons used to farm on a fertile piece of land situated on the floor of the crater. They ploughed and harrowed the land using tractors, planted wheat and harvested all within an hour.

People also claim there is a ‘flying umbrella’ that frequently appears whenever it rains.

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