Lord Egerton's Castle and Menengai Crater at Nakuru; church, sight-seeing, and visiting friends on Easter weekend

From the castle, you can see Menangai Crater on the horizon

Lord Egerton’s Castle: A Monument to Unrequited Love

No love story in colonial Kenya is as tragic as Lord Maurice Egerton's, who sustained two refusals by the woman of his dreams. Enchanted her during a vacation in England, Egerton set out to convince her to marry him and move to Kenya. When he invited her to his home, a thatch-roof six-bedroom, she dismissed the house as being as small as a chicken coop. He misunderstood her refusal, thinking she only refused him because he had a small house. So he decided to go enormously majestic.

Egerton built an elaborate four-story castle with 53 rooms, a symbol of wealth and extravagance. Much of the materials were shipped from Europe; the building engineer was from Rome and 100 construction workers were brought in from Asia and Europe. Guests from Zimbabwe and Malawi attended the housewarming party but the woman for whom it was built dismissed it, leaving in a huff only two hours after arriving. She returned to England and married someone else.

Lord Egerton became a recluse, closing his castle to everyone except a small group of friends, doctors, servants, and overseas bands he invited to entertain him. All the visitors had to leave their female companions at least eight miles from the castle. Egerton (1874-1958) put his energies and fortune into agriculture, founding the Egerton Agricultural College, now part of Egerton University. He was also a pioneer aviator, avid traveler, farmer, wild-game hunter, and amateur filmmaker.

I've been at Menengai Crater a few times in the past, but this time I wanted to log an Earth GeoCache.

Menengai Crater, in Kenya's Great Rift Valley, is a massive shield volcano with one of the biggest calderas in the world. It's the largest volcano caldera in Kenya and the second largest in Africa. The volcano formed about 200,000 years ago and the prominent 37-square-mile caldera formed about 8,000 years ago. Volcanic-formed rich loam soils enrich the adjacent farmland around its flanks and the caldera floor is covered with numerous lava flows. The Menengai volcano is considered one of the best-preserved Krakatau-style calderas in the world. Volcanic activity continues and a current geothermal project is underway to produce power.

The geothermal plant (far left), one of many inside the caldera, harvests dry steam from miles below the surface to create electricity.

Curio (souvenir) and food kiosks at the top of the crater

Lake Nakuru, from a distance

I hung out with Dimi and his mom all of Easter Sunday...

... and got to see Trena and her family again.

Celebrating baptisms at church on Easter Sunday

It was a bit chilly for the sunrise, but a blanket and hot cup of chai helped!

Great spot to meditate on God's Word

Once the fog cleared, the beautiful scenery was revealed and a new day began - Easter Monday