Beautiful Tourist Places to Visit in Kitale, Trans-Nzoia, Kenya, Africa

Beautiful Tourist Places to Visit in Kitale, Trans-Nzoia, Kenya, Africa

Kitale is a town and the seat of Trans-Nzoia County in the western part of Kenya, lying around 1,900 metres above sea level. Positioned amidst of the Mount Elgon and the Cherangani Hills, Kitale coordinates with 1°01′ N latitude and 35°00′ E longitude. Kitale is basically an agricultural town, known for the productions of tea, coffee, Pyrethrum, maize and sunflower. Kitale is famous among visitors as home to the recognized the National Museum of Western Kenya and its nearness with the Saiwa Swamp National Park.

Kitale is also noted as a prominent educational town in western Kenya as it houses many reputed institutions like the St. Anthony’s Boys High School, St. Brigid’s Girls High School and St Anthony’s Boys High School.

History of Kitale:

A small village Kitale was promoted as a town in the year 1908 during the British rule when it received the Uganda Railway line from Eldoret. Current the town holds a thriving economy, served by agricultural activities, manufacturing and service industries.

How to reach Kitale?

Kitale hosts an airport but flights are only seasonal, from Lodwar and Nairobi, served by Fly540. Better if one can reach the Eldoret International Airport from Nairobi and then take bus or taxi from the airport to Kitale.

Kitale is located around 70 km northwest of Eldoret and 390 km northwest of Nairobi.

Public buses, tuk tuk, matatus and bicycle-chauffered travelling option, Bodaboda are used for local travel in Kitale.

Culture, Shopping and Food in Kitale:

Kitale is a colorful town with people belonging to different communities with their own dialect and food habit, which can be seen at the National Museum of Western Kenya in Kitale.

Kitale is famous for the shopping of agro products and eateries prepared by those well.

Things to do in Kitale:

Visiting museums
Hiking
Village tours

Places of interest in Kitale:

National Museum of Western Kenya:

The National Museum of Western Kenya is one of the major landmarks as well as tourist attractions of Kitale. Established in 1926 by Lt Col. Hugh Stoneham, it is a natural history museum, holding a great collection of ethnographical materials in addition to personal collections of Stoneham.

Saiwa Swamp National Park:

The Saiwa Swamp National Park is the Kenya’s smallest national park, occupying an area of 3 km². Established in 1974, situated in the proximity of Kitale city, the park is especially noted for the population of rare aquatic antelope, Sitatunga.

Kapcherop Forest:

Situated around 35 km northwest of Kitale, the Kapcherop Forest is spread over an area of around twenty square kilometers with rich dense vegetation, typical local bird and animal species. It can be explored best through a guided tour.

Mount Elgon National Park:

Shared between Kenya and Uganda, the Mount Elgon National Park sprawls over a total area of 1279 km sq. km, in which the Kenyan part occupies 169 km². Apart from housing a wide range of animal and bird species, the park is a focal point of tourists for caves, waterfalls, hot springs and cliffs.

List of other places of interest in and around Kitale includes:

Treasures of Africa Museum
Kitale Nature Conservancy
Ol Kinyei Conservancy
Amboseli National Park
Crater Lake Game Sanctuary
Ol Jogi Wildlife Conservancy
Selenkay Conservancy
Observation Hill
Lake Nakuru
Crescent Island Game Park
Lake Turkana
Shaba National Reserve
Kerio Valley National Reserve
Masai Mara National Reserve
Mara Triangle

Best time to visit Kitale:

Generally the first three months of the year are ideal to travel Kitale in Kenya while the weather will be supportive for outdoor activities.

Accommodation options in Kitale:

Holding many natural tourist attractions, Kitale houses many upgraded hotels to serve visitors, especially nature lovers visiting the town yea round and also the most hotels in Kitale offer advance booking facility through online for visitors’ convenience. List of the prominent hotels in Kitale include: