Leakey and Ewoi: The legacies of Baringo snakemen

 Baringo Snake Park with a snake handler

The writer at the Baringo Snake Park with a snake handler.  PHOTO | RUPI MANGAT 

Parts of Baringo County in Kenya’s Rift Valley are harsh terrain and crawling with snakes.

In a village appropriately named ‘’Kampi ya Samaki’’ (the fishing camp) near Lake Baringo, lived two men, different in every way but who shared a fascination with snakes. They worked together with snakes; catching them for their venom and releasing them or caging them for research and for exhibition.