We drove some 9 hours across Kenya on our first day in Africa, which took us through some tall sky scrappers, slums, super ways, mountains laden with mists and tea plantations, mansions cordoned off by security cables and the vast Kenyan plains where zebras grazed about minding their own.

While on the road to Nakuru, we traveled on a stretch of road that was built by Italian POW in the 1940’s for the ruling British by cutting through the mountain with primary tools. A few kilometers down the winding roads there was a small stop for passing cars and a majestic view point. This was how we saw the first glimpse of the Great Rift Valley.

The Rift Valley in Eastern Africa, cuts across some 96,000 Kms from Israel to Mozambique. Geologists believe that the rift valley is more of a complex system with the earths tectonic forces ripping the African continent into two parts and possibly forming a new plate eventually that will move North wards.

This was a majestic valley to the naked eye which clearly carves the land into two. The process started 1000 of years ago and will probably take another 1000 years. The Great Rift Valley which was a blurb from my geography text book  which I had all but forgotten(yeah! I was kinda of a nerd ;P) came alive quite unexpectedly while on the road in Kenya.

We bought some souvenirs at the rest stop in exchange of using their rest rooms on that cold afternoon which was not the weather one imagines (read stereotypes) for an equatorial African country! Which goes to prove that traveling breaks stereotypes and a land and culture are much more that the one story that people try to compartmentalize it with.

The country of Kenya has many such interesting finds and wonders like the Rift Valley, Masai Mara and an array of wildlife that is hard to believe along with being a developing country taking strides. The sight of this natural wonder, The Great Rift Valley which is literally tearing a continent is a sight like no other!