In Kitui County which is in Eastern region of Kenya, lies the magical rock , the famous Nzambani rock. The rock is located about 9 kilometers along the Kitui – Mutitu road at the Nzambani market. It is commonly known as “Ivia ya Nzambani”. It is located next to Nzambani Boys Secondary School and Nzambani Primary School. It is standing approximately 185 meters from the ground. This rock happens to be among the top attraction sites in Kitui county and the Eastern region for both foreign and local tourist. The rock has a metallic stairs to facilitate easy movement to the top of the rock. However for those afraid of tall heights above the ground, the stairs are fenced.
But now the main question is, how then did such a huge creature come to existence. One of the elders explained how it came to existence, “Earlier long time ago, this was a field which our people came to graze their livestock, there was nothing other than the long grass. One day four girls came to fetch firewood from the area. As they were looking for firewood, one of the girls whose name was Nzamba, saw a round stone which became so appealing to her eyes. She took the stone and hid the stone in her breast so as to take it to her parents to use it in pounding tobacco. After collecting the firewood, the girls left to their respective homes.
On the following day, the girls went back to graze in the field to fetch firewood as normal, but on the arrival something un expectant happened. The girl Nzamba started to develop in to a stone. While shocked, they asked her where the stone she had collected was. She said that she hid it on the breast and it was the one that had developed. The girls tried saving her but all in vein. They decided to run and call their parents who came and tried to save her but were not able. Later by the end of the day, Nzamba finally turned in to a huge stone. On the following day, the whole community met to agree on what was to done about the girl. The elders agreed to offer a sacrifice of a black sheep and a black sheep so as to return the girl to normal again. However they tried appeasing the spirits three times but failed. The stoned continued to grow each and every day. It is believed that everyday upto now the stone is still growing bigger and bigger”
Have you ever thought of changing your gender from one to another? May be this then is your documentation. It is believed that once one goes round the rock seven times changes their gender. But is this true, one of the villagers Mutemi Kilonzi narrated the story. “ long time ago, a boy came to the elders and told the elders that he wanted to change.
The boy said that she saw that the ladies were treated well in the society and were not doing a lot of manual work, so he was ready at any cost to change his gender. The elders told him to go round the rock seven times. The boy went round the rock seven times and his gender changed to a young beautiful girl. However, up to now, there are no many cases of people coming to change their genders as the rock is so huge for someone to go round seven times.
The Nzambani rock has now been the leading tourist attraction site in Kitui county and eastern region of Kenya. It has been economical value to both the villagers and the county generally as both the local and foreign tourists pays the locals in the society to work as their tour guides as well as providing the information about this magical feature.While on the top of the mountain, you are able to have a nice view of the Kitui town as well as other parts of the country.
In conclusion, Nzambani rock is a magical feature worth visiting and exploring. It has invited both the local and foreign tourist to come and see it. It has also acted as one of the tourist attraction site as well as a source of revenue. The County Government of Kitui is also working to ensure that the history and the rock is kept safe for the generations which will come in future.
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