Like the tiers of a great amphitheatre, western Kenya slopes away from Nairobi, the major game parks and the coast, down to face the stage of Lake Victoria. Cut off by the high Rift wall of the Mau and Elgeyo escarpments , the western region of dense agriculture, rolling green valleys and pockets of thick jungle is one of the least-known parts of the country to travellers. Although more accessible than the far north, or even some of the big parks, it has been neglected by the safari operators - and that's all to the good. You can travel for days through lush landscapes from one busy market town to the next and rarely, if ever, meet other tourists or travellers.

 

It's not easy to see why it has been so ignored. Granted, the disastrous history of Uganda up until the late 1980s discouraged the through traffic that might otherwise have thrived. But there's a great deal more of intrinsic interest than the tourist literature's sparse coverage would suggest. What the west undeniably lacks are teeming herds of antelope and zebra, lions at the side of the road and narcissistic warriors in full regalia. What it does offer is a series of delightfully low-key, easily visited attractions such as the national park at Kakamega Forest , a magnificent tract of equatorial rainforest bursting with species found nowhere else in Kenya.

Travel is generally easy. The region has a high population and many well-paved roads, so you'll rarely have long to wait for a bus or matatu, and driving is often a pleasure. If you're inclined to plan ahead, there is a vague circuit that begins in Kisumu and runs through Kisii (of Kisii-stone fame), Kericho, Eldoret, Kitale and Kakamega. You could easily do this in a couple of weeks - or a couple of months. But it's often more rewarding to let events dictate your next move: this area will repay your interest repeatedly if you take time to look around. Much of it, even the areas of intensive farming, is ravishingly beautiful: densely animated jungle near Kakamega and Kitale , regimented landscapes of tea bushes at Kericho , highland pastures and forests in the Cherangani Hills , and dank swamp and grasslands alive with birds by the lake.

There's almost no tourist infrastructure - the west has only a handful of hotels that could, by a long stretch of the imagination, be described as luxurious - but there's no lack of good, modest lodgings . Food is as cheap as anywhere and generally excellent; most of Kenya's tea and sugar comes from the west, and agricultural concerns are paramount.

Ethnically , the region is dominated by the Luo on the lakeshore lowlands, but other important groups speak dialects of Nandi (principally the Nandi around Eldoret and the Kipsigis in the Kericho district) and there are Bantu-speaking Luhya in the sugar lands north of Kisumu along with Gusii in the formidably fertile Kisii Hills.