Ltim Explosive Crater and some of NRT's Newest Destinations at Biliqo and Melako
Lets face it Covid has been a bummer so far. International tourism is for now, at a standstill and we read about illness in other countries, speculate about treatments and do our best to follow all the protocols the government suggests. Only one thing left to do; Explore!
We have been taking huge advantage of the opportunity in recent months and getting out to two of Northern Rangeland Trust’s (NRT) new and exciting community destinations.
The first was to the Beliqo Belesa Community, the headquarters of which is located about 70km East of Archer’s Post. Beliqo is one of those superb locations that you might hesitate to recommend only because you want to keep it for yourself. We camped near the headquarters for the conservancy on the banks of the Ewaso Nyiro River. The river braids here into elegant rivulets that jump between enormous granite boulders and meander under impressive Doum Palms and monstrous River Acacias. Beliqo is a phenomenal walking destination. While we were there we saw Giraffe, Gerenuk, Waterbuck, Elephants as well as tracks of Buffalo and Leopard. The birdwatching was out of this world as well but it was the feeling of utter wilderness that sold the location to us completely. We visited the hot springs nearby which was superb and heavily visited by Elephants. While at the hot springs and after looking at a map of the area we began to appreciate how much there was to explore in the area. Here Below are some images from our stay at Beliqo.
At Melako we stayed in their brand new Banda’s which are very impressively built along the mighty Merlie River (lugga), a short drive East from Merille town. The Banda’s and the kitchen were very well provisioned and the staff were hugely kind and helpful. The cook was a very big character and while his approach to cuisine was alternative (he baked a cucumber in an entire roll of our feta cheese) he made up for it with his larger than life personality and an eager willingness to follow some of our own cooking ideas.
On one day we went out to explore a crater that the locals called Ltim. It was an unexpected delight. Situated also on the edge of the Merille River, the crater balanced beside the great course like a pimple that had diverted its course. There was no direct track to the crater from the bandas so we drove back to Merille, up to Laisamis and then south east to the crater. The crater edge had round granite encased in what appeared to a softer crumbly substrate. We had never seen anything quite like it. Within the crater there was a great deal of water, vegetation and birdlife. We climbed down to the water, had a brief swim and admired the moorhens, whistling ducks and daub chicks also enjoying some seaside leisure. Where we climbed down, we found water was soaking in through the sides of the crater. A local ranger who had guided us in told us that it came from the lugga and was a permanent source of water even durring the driest periods. The whole thing was very bizarre and so when back to Nanyuki we dug up ‘The Geology of Laisamis’ a Ministry of Mines book that Kerry’s dad just happened to have gotten years back. Inside the cover there was a satellite image of the Merille River and on closer inspection a round crater that looked exactly like Ltim. It was! The book explained that Ltim and others in the area were Maar Craters formed when magma superheats ground water causing a massive steam explosion. We were making blockbuster Geological discoveries! (sort of),, And having a big blast as we did it!
Below are more pics from Malako:
