Why it looks like this

Kakamega is a market and administrative town in Kenya's densely farmed western highlands. Gold found nearby in the early 1930s set off colonial Kenya's biggest gold rush; the boom faded, but the town stayed as the region's centre, its streets gathered around the market and the highway.

Its other claim is green: the Kakamega Forest, the easternmost surviving piece of the great Guineo-Congolian rainforest belt, lies a short drive from town — a reminder of what once covered the region.