Poa Place: Where to unwind with jungle scenes in town

It is the only place in Eldoret Town where you will find an amazing touch of what wildlife entails.

The Eldoret Natural and Cultural Centre, popularly known as Poa Place, is a haven of well-preserved flora and fauna in the North Rift region.

The name Poa Place came about as a result of visitors describing the site as poa, Kiswahili slang for “nice”.

The centre is located about three kilometres from town on the Eldoret-Nakuru highway. It was an idea put into action 10 years ago and officiated by the then permanent secretary and later presidential candidate, Prof James ole Kiyiapi.

The iconic centre’s well-kept herbal garden and small forest of indigenous trees host birds, reptiles and carnivores. A couple of lions, 11-year-old Blondi and Paul, 6, are the main tourist attractions in the small park.

Blondi is a lioness while Paul is the ‘king of the jungle’ here. The two were the first carnivores to be brought into the centre, way back in 2011.

One is able to spot the male and female Somali ostriches from the entrance. There are also blue monkeys and baboons, porcupines, India’s exotic peacocks, tortoises, water telappins, Nile monitor lizard, crocodiles and snakes.

If lucky, a visitor will find the male peacocks before they shed their feathers — normally before the breeding season.

There are also a variety of snakes — including the 2.5-metre-long black mambas; gaboon vipers, which do not lay eggs because they give birth to young ones, unlike other snakes; and rhinoceros vipers, which have horns like those of the rhino.

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Other snakes at the centre are brown house snakes, which are used for rodent control in the house and are non-poisonous, puff adders, cobras and pythons.

The cultural centre is made up of different traditional households of sub-tribes living in the North Rift.

However, there are only a few — mainly of early migrants to the region, such as the Maasai — because of space limitations. The households include those of the Pokot, Marakwet, Luo, Kikuyu and Nandi.

Visitors also learn from the tour guides the history of the early and current settlers of the North Rift.

The ground where Poa Place sits was initially partly swampy and the dry land was used for wheat farming.

Here, visitors from as far as Machakos, Nairobi and the Lake Victoria region have a taste of the jungle while in town.

There is a playground where children let off steam after the tour in the animal department and cultural site. They are charged per game. Adults can bask in the sun or lie in the shadows. They can also go swimming.

Entrance fees are fair, depending on whether you are a local tourist or an international tourist, an adult or a child.

There is also a hotel, where a visitor can have professionally prepared modern and traditional dishes from the Kalenjin community.