The Crying Stone of Ilesi

Outside Kakamega there is an incredibly unusual rock formation called the Crying Stone.  Evan and I went there when we were at the Drama Festival, along with Faith and the cab driver.  The cab driver has lived in Kakamega  for years, but had never been to the stone.  There are a lot of legends associated with the formation, most of which I think are nonsense., involving a king and a maiden, that sort of thing.  I think those are for the whites when they came.  However, there is no doubt that this represents a very sacred and important site in western Kenya, standing along the borders between agriculturalists and pastoralists, giving it added meaning.

A view of the stone.  It's called the crying stone because at certain times of year water will run from the stone.  You can see it in the dark streak in the picture above.

This is a neighboring piece of stone, with some kids who had followed us up the trail.

This thing is tall, and the story is that no one has climbed it.  Not sure I believe it, but the resemblance to a human is undeniable, making it a very interesting formation.

This is Evan at the base, which gives you some idea of the size of this thing.

This is the young man who guided us up the stone, taken from the back.  It is just impossible to get a good picture showing how tall this thing is.

This one kind of helps, that's Evan and the cab driver at the base.

This is me on a nearby flat area, I just thought this was all so cool, and off the beaten track.

Evan under a nearby formation they called the ship, because it has kind of a ship's prow.  Tall and very dramatic.

A little cave we had to crawl through.

This is Faith.  Notice her shoes, she had no idea what I was getting her into, since going to the stone was my idea.  The kids behind her are interesting, too.

Another picture of our young guide as he told us the various legends associated with the stone.

A last view of the stone as we were leaving.  It seems to brood over this valley.  Very strange thing to visit, and I'm glad we made the time to see this most unusual part of Kenya.