Nyandarua County has embarked on a massive campaign to market Lake Ol’bollosat as a tourist destination.
The lake, the only natural water mass in Central Kenya, is famous for its rare bird species and marine life including more than 400 hippos.
Governor Daniel Waithaka Mwangi announced that his administration will partner with the private sector to fence off the lake before embarking on its rehabilitation. The project is expected to cost more than Sh200 million.
“My administration has identified Lake Ol’bollosat as a major tourist attraction as it boasts of over 300 species of rare birds and marine life including hippos and mud fish,” Mr Mwangi told a delegation of pilots who paid him a courtesy call at his Ol’Kalou town office.
The pilots led by Captain Solomon Nyanjui of the Kenya Wildlife Service, who hails from Munyeki in Ol’kalou, and Nairobi businessman James Muigai, expressed interest in putting up a multi-million shilling eco-lodge around the lake.
The governor said Nyandarua has unique tourist sites including the famous Mau Mau caves in Kipipiri and Kinangop sub-counties, the former colonial homes in the famous Happy Valley, the wildlife in the Aberdares, and rare birds in Lake Ol’bollosat.
At the same time, the county’s minister for Tourism Judy Muhia has encouraged communities living around the lake to help in its conservation and avoid encroachment.
Noting that this was the only lake in the entire Mt Kenya region, Ms Muhia said the water mass was a great resource and emphasised the need for its protection and conservation.
The minister was speaking when she conducted a tour of the area for senior government officials to identify the beacons around the lake to facilitate the fencing.
The delegation comprised officials from the KWS, Kenya Forest Service, National Environment Management Authority and Friends of Lake Ol’bollosat led by the project manager, Mr John Wairi.
Ms Muhia appealed to investors to help in putting up hotels in the area so that people coming from across the world to tour the lake can easily get accommodation.
She said there was enough land that could be used to set up tourist facilities, and called upon private sector players to present their ideas and proposals on how they could partner with the government to achieve this.
