Eliye Springs, also known as Ille Springs, is a remote village on the western shore of

Lake Turkana Lake Turkana (), formerly known as Lake Rudolf, is a lake in the Kenyan Rift Valley, in northern Kenya, with its far northern end crossing into Ethiopia. It is the world's largest permanent desert lake and the world's largest alkaline lake. B ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

, near the mouth of River Turkwel. It is located 50 kilometres east of

Lodwar Lodwar is the largest town in north-western Kenya, located west of Lake Turkana on the A1 road. Its main industries are basket weaving and tourism. The Loima Hills lie to its west. Lodwar is the capital of Turkana County. The town has a popul ...

and 40 kilometres south of

Kalokol Kalokol is a town on the western shore of Lake Turkana in Kenya. The town is the administrative headquarters of ''Kalokol Division'' of Turkana County. Due to the proximity of Lake Turkana, fishing is the main economic activity in Kalokol, which ...

. The local springs for which it is named produce lush

vegetation Vegetation is an assemblage of plant species and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific botanical or geographic character ...

along its section of the otherwise barren lakeshore, and support a community of about 5000 people with fresh drinking water. However, due to neglect, the spring's water has been found to have ''E. coli'' and other harmful agents. Hotel Room At Eliye Springs Resort On Lake Turkana

Hotel Room At Eliye Springs Resort On Lake Turkana

Around 1981 there was a hunting lodge on the side of the lake made up of a series of grass huts and very basic facilities. By 1982 this fell into disrepair and the owner left but some staff remained hoping to collect unpaid wages. The huts provided refuge for intrepid travellers who enjoyed the clear warm waters and sunsets. Food had to be bought in Lodwar and the journey to Eliye Springs in 1982 took about 2 hours. The Lodge has since been placed under new management and attracts a growing clientele of tourists to the beautiful non-humid white sand beach. A sand surface airstrip nearby supports small chartered aircraft.

Early Human History and Cradle Of Mankind

A Skull of very early human ancestry called "Homo heidelbergensis" dating between 200,000 and 300,000 years old with Exhibit Item Number "Eliye Springs ES11693" can be found at the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

. In a preliminary report (Brauer & Leakey, 1986), the new fossil cranium KNM-ES-11693 from Eliye Springs at the western shore of Lake Turkana was presented as a further representative of archaic Homo sapiens : "The specimen comes from reworked deposits which exclude its being stratigraphically located. However, in spite of the dating problems, the well preserved and heavily mineralized fossil exhibits many morphological features by which it can be assigned to archaic Homo sapiens". ES-11693 is compared to African early and late archaic Homo sapiens. Although the new hominid presents a unique mosaic of archaic and modern features, it appears to have a closer relationship with the late archaic H. sapiens grade, in which such hominids as Omo 2 and Laetoli H. 18 can also be grouped.

References

Populated places in Rift Valley Province Lake Turkana {{EasternKE-geo-stub