Kerio View Hotel offers accommodations and dining with a superb view from the escarpment. Iten, Kenya
Flora and Fauna:
Shown above as thumb-links from top left are Mocking Cliff-Chat, Fan-tailed Raven, Blue-eared Starling, Black-and-White Colobus, Red-winged Starling, Speckled Mousebird, Bush Violet, Podo, Rumex, and Ring-necked Dove.
Kerio View with its restaurant and hotel is a popular destination in western Kenya for a number of reasons. From the dining room and gardens the view of the Kerio Valley and the Great Rift far below is spectacular. The rooms are comfortable and the food delicious. Many visitors stop while on safari, while many others come for more specific reasons. Iten is a top training center for runners, especially long-distance marathoners. Pleasant temperatures and the high altitude (2300 meters) might promote higher oxygen carrying capacity in the blood. Besides endurance sports this location also draws extreme sport fans: paragliding. From mid-morning until the afternoon winds become too slack or chaotic young men and women leap from the precipice while harnessed to large kite-like sails. For an hour or more the enthusiasts can share the skies with vultures and ravens while enjoying the amazing view.
Transport to Iten is easy via minibus (matatu). From the town center Kerio View is reached up a short but steep road. Just east of Iten on the road to Kabernet there is a scenic view pull-out. Many birds, montane flora and wildlife can be seen along the road down the escarpment. A few kilometers down the steep, mountainous road is the Lelin Campsite with good nature watching. This is a dangerous stretch of highway. Implore your driver to be safe and if he refuses get out and walk!
Bird watching and tremendous scenery at Kerio View. Lake Kamnarok (left) and the Kerio Valley Reserve far below have elephants and other wildlife. Thumb-links for some nature that might be seen are shown below: Bee-Eater, Parisoma, Tropical Boubou, Red-headed Weaver, Popcorn Senna, and Madder.
