The Hyrax Hill Museum is located 152 kilometers from Nairobi and 4 kilometers from Nakuru’s major business center, around 400 meters from the Nairobi-Nakuru highway.
It’s a terrific destination for weekend outings with the family or school field trips. The first thing you notice when you arrive at the location is the stunning view of Lake Nakuru from the mountaintop. Your breath is taken away by the view. A few of the activities include camping, hiking on a lovely nature route, and looking through the museum’s artifacts. The most popular route is up the hill on the nature walk.
Live exhibits: Some of these contain guinea pigs and tortoises.
The Gallery: It features exhibitions of three different types, including natural history, material culture, and archaeology.
Section on archaeology: This section primarily shows archaeological features that are primarily discovered at the site, a brief description of Hyrax Hill, a model of a Sirikwa settlement, early man stone tools (from early stone age to later stone age), and a map of Kenya indicating the locations of prehistoric sites in Kenya. Additionally, early human skulls from the Homo erectus and Australopithecus Boisei are on display.
Material Culture: The Rift Valley’s pastoral, farming, and fishing ethnic groups are represented by the majority of the cultural artifacts on display. Maasai, Kalenjin, Turkana, Kikuyu, and Luo are among them each of whom settled in the Rift Valley at different times.
Natural History: Showcases the natural aspect of the Nakuru region, including creatures like the spitting cobra, rock hyrax, and water buck.
Open Archaeological Sites: The site’s history stretches back to 1926, when ancient burial grounds and stone bowls—which have since been identified as signs of the presence of an early pastoralist community—were discovered. Later, Dr. Mary Leakey conducted more excavations that resulted in the finding and confirmation of late Iron Age habitation. In the early 1970s, Ron J. Clerk and J.C. Onyango Abuje carried out additional excavation work.
Hill Fort: A little north of the highest point and with a view of the west side, Hill Fort is situated on the rocky ridge of the hill. It comprises of a small patch of cleaned and slightly leveled rocks that is 30 by 15 meters in size. It’s possible that the rough stone wall around it was formerly higher or enclosed by a fence. It acted as a lookout to keep an eye on animals that were grazing on the plain and to spot oncoming foes or friends.
Bird Watching: The Bird Watching Club, which was established in 2018, has taken part in bird watching activities at a number of locations, including Soysambu, the Hyrax Hill Museum site, and Elementaita. To partake in this activity, make a reservation in advance.
Education initiatives: The Hyrax Hill Prehistoric Site and Museums coordinate a number of educational initiatives with various stakeholders. The location hosts a kids’ creativity club that actively engages in a variety of artistic pursuits with the neighborhood.
Community Engagement with Partners: Hyrax Hill Museum works with local communities through a variety of museum initiatives, such as donating wheelchairs to people with disabilities, distributing food baskets to hungry families, and giving girls’ dignity kits. Some of these events are made possible thanks to groups like the Lions Club of Menengai.
