Conceiving a name for a place tough process with explanations ranging from wild to weird, Nakuru has not been left behind in this as it is named after a cow disease.
The town which is at the heart of Rift Valley is named after nakuruitis, a deficiency caused by lack of iron in cattle’s fodder.
It all started with Lord Delamare acquiring thousands of acres around the Nakuru-Njoro area under a 99-year lease, he named his farm the Equator Ranch.
[caption caption="Lord Delamere with Mzee Jomo Kenyatta"]
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The settler than began farming by trial and error method by grazing different livestock and introducing new crops in the region.
Despite the abundance of grass and grazing land his cattle became malnourished and begin to waste away mysteriously.
After many years of unsuccessfully trying to get to the root of this problem, it was discovered that much of the land purchased was deficient in minerals, mostly iron which led to cattle acquiring nakuruitis.
Interestingly enough, the Maasai with whom Delamere had closely interacted had known of its existence and avoided the Nakuru, Njoro pastures on account of it.
He later discovered the Maasai referred to the area as “angata natai emmin” which roughly means,“the plain of the female rhinoceros without any milk” (it was rumoured that the deficiency was so high, even rhinos feeding on the grass could not suckle their young.
Eventually, the disease was overcome by the feeding of mineral supplements directly to the cattle.
Delamere’s early experience helped shape the name of the region and so Nakuru it was.
[caption caption="An aerial view of Nakuru"]
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