Why Queen Elizabeth's name is still fresh among Kirinyaga residents
The Castle Forest Lodge in Kirinyaga County where Queen Elizabeth II stayed when she visited Kenya. It is located deep inside Mt Kenya Forest.
Mention the name Queen Elizabeth II and you will realise that it is still fresh in the minds of Kirinyaga residents.
Like her father, King George VI, the fallen Queen loved Kirinyaga and spent some days here, enjoying the breathtaking scenery and the conducive environment.
She will forever be remembered by residents for staying at the Castle Forest Lodge in Gichugu constituency. Her father had ordered it built and he stayed there before he died.
The lodge is at the heart of the Mt Kenya forest on the Kirinyaga side.
Built of timber with a bamboo roof, it is believed to be more than 100 years old.
Today, it is a tourist attraction for local and international visitors.
Elizabeth II is associated with the rich history the building holds.
It was built by the royal family deep inside the dense forest as a hunting lodge for King George VI.
He spent his life in the area that teems with different kinds of wildlife. George would go hunting and retreat to the lodge, which was later to be occupied by his daughter, who later rose to the throne.
The lodge sits on 50 acres, where stray elephants and other animals from bamboo forests graze freely.
Although there is little information about what George did when he stayed at the lodge, other than hunting, older Kirinyaga residents said his daughter visited twice.
Queen Elizabeth II first toured the lodge in 1945 and again in 1952 during the struggle for freedom.
"The Queen secretly stayed at the lodge, which was built by the royal family at the direction of her father. She liked the place because of its favourable climate and the beauty of the forest," former freedom fighter Mzee Benson Njege said.
Elizabeth, then a princess, was heavily protected when she visited, he said.
"We would see planes flying over the forest and when we enquired we were informed that the Queen had landed at the lodge where her father once lived," Mzee Njege added.
