What is Eldoret Like?

If you are wondering what is Eldoret like, you should be happy to know that it is a pleasant town to be in. It is easy to see why Eldoret town was established as a white settler town during the colonial period. The region is blessed with good climate, adequate rainfall, and fertile soils. The relatively flat terrain made it ideal for large scale, mechanized farming.

Today, Eldoret has grown into a major metropolis. But even now in 2019 traffic jams are almost non existent.

Weather

The weather in Eldoret is generally pleasant. It does not get too hot or too cold. During the rainy season which runs from May-August, it rains heavily and the temperatures are cooler. The landscape is greener during this period. As it heats up towards December and January, it gets hotter and more dusty. Christmas in Eldoret is very warm and it rarely rains during the rainy season.

Geographical Location

Eldoret town sits on top of the Uasin Gishu Plateau on the Western side of the Great Rift Valley at a height of 2,090 meters above sea level.

Transport and Communication

From Eldoret, it is easy to get to Uganda through the Malaba border by road. Kisumu and Nakuru are the nearest major towns by road.

The Eldoret International Airport has daily flights to Nairobi and back. The airport is used to transport cargo to and from Dubai. Imported goods arrive on the cargo planes, and fresh horticultural produce leaves the airport to be transported to the Middle East.

Economic Activity

Eldoret was established as the center of maize farming, wheat farming, and pyrethrum farming. There isn’t much pyrethrum farming going on these days, but maize and wheat farming are still a major agricultural activity.

Eldoret is also a horticultural center. There are at least three flower farms in Eldoret: Maji Mazuri flowers in Moi’s Bridge, Zena Roses in Plateau, and Sirgoek Flower Farm in Marura. There are also two more flower farms in Kitale, a town 100 kilometers away from Eldoret. In recent years, farmers in Eldoret have taken up passion fruit farming.

Thanks to the abundance of maize grown in Uasin Gishu, Nandi, and Trans Nzoia Counties, a number of flour milling industries have set up shop in Eldoret.

Education

Eldoret town is home to thousands of university and college students. Most of them are studying at Moi University which has a student population of at least ten thousand. There are also thousands of students studying in other colleges like the Eldoret Polytechnic, University of Eldoret, and Mount Kenya University.

Author: Joyce Sambu