By Gichuki Kabukuru

Since its gaze ttement in 1967, the KWS staff living in, and even the tourists who occasionally love visiting the scenic Ol Donyo Sabuk National Park had over the years been forced to contend with a perennial water shortage problem.

This disturbing conundrum had continued to recur despite the fact that the Park had an endless flow of clean flowing spring water that goes back to thousands of years.

According to Bernard Koruta, warden in-charge of the Park, “this once seemingly insurmountable hurdle is a thing of the past; our visitors can now drink clean tap water, thanks to the ingenuity and hard work of our dedicated personnel.”

“When I first landed in this picturesque place, I was dumb founded by the fact that during certain months, water became a problem in this hill region owing to the fact that the main source of water would dry up and as such my own men and even campers relied on the Park water bowser for supply. Otherwise they had to wait for another wet season to start drawing water from the common pond,” the smiling Koruta states.

It is then that Koruta, an experienced and resourceful Warden began to spend his hours in search of an answer.

“I hit the jackpot one night when I realized that this persistent water problem would very easily be solved if I put my energies to just tap what exists aplenty in this hilly and mostly misty area,” he avers.

Koruta’s answers came from the place itself, “my exploratory walks each day in this beautiful place revealed numerous fresh-flowing springs, it is then that I did a study which revealed further that this could be put into better use if well tapped.”

At the cost of Ksh.100,000.00, Koruta has been able to move what once seemed like a mountain. “Just imagine the fact that the Park had always had a water pump and a bowser for supply of its water needs to both staff houses and the memorable campsites - A really expensive undertaking.

“All that is now history, today anyone can come and enjoy our Park facilities. We are now using the power of gravity to pump all this water, indeed our problem now is what to do with the electric water pump and the water bowser!” a smiling Koruta poses.

Months after he was transferred to Ol Donyo Sabuk; the genial Koruta can afford to share a broad smile whenever he talks of this fascinating wildlife refuge just 85Km north-east of Nairobi.

“My taps now never run dry, the campsites are also well watered and so are all the staff quarters. In fact, we have even begun a social responsibility program where we share the water with adjacent communities. We are now convinced that water shortage is a thing of the past in this area,” Koruta intimates.

To those who love getting close to nature and who would like to see Nairobi from a birds-eye point of view, Ol Donyo Sabuk is the place to camp and walk one of these fine sunny days.