Kaplogoi: The Orchard of Memory

By William Kiptoo

In 1908, Jacobus Petrus “Koos” Prinsloo arrived in Uasin Gishu as part of the Van Rensburg Trek. This was a group of forty-seven Afrikaner families who left South Africa in search of fertile land after the Anglo-Boer War. They settled on the plateau near Sergoit hill, in Moiben, where he established Farm No. 194. There, wheat, maize, and orchards flourished.

Prinsloo, remembered as a hunter, often ventured into the bush with his rifle, while his wife managed the homestead and raised their fourteen children. His memoirs capture the awe of those first encounters with the land, describing giraffes, eland, zebra, hartebeest, and blesbok grazing gracefully across the plains, with the Sergoit Hills rising in the distance and forests stretching eastward. To him, the beauty was so overwhelming that “anyone who has not experienced it would not believe it.”

The Prinsloo farm became known for its orchards, planted in the early years of settlement. Locals called the place Kaplogoi, meaning “the place of fruits.” These trees, now nearly a century old, remain living witnesses of the settler era.

Though Koos Prinsloo was not deeply involved in community committees or church leadership, his family’s presence left enduring marks on the land. In 1962, just before Kenya’s independence, the Prinsloo family migrated back to South Africa. Their seven-hundred-and-fifty-acre farm was purchased by residents from Keiyo, who retained the name Kaplogoi. Today, a school in the area bears that name, ensuring the orchard’s legacy continues.

More than half a century later, in March 2024, Kaplogoi’s history resurfaced through oral memory. A visit to the village brought me to the home of Mzee Kipkat Barmao Chepkurui, known locally as Kimurei. At ninety years old, his body was frail but his memory sharp.

Surrounded by fruit trees planted in another era, he recalled the settler who once lived there: Prinsloo. He remembered the orchard, the hunting tales, and the quiet reserve of Koos Prinsloo, saying, “That man Prinsloo… he didn’t talk much to locals, but we saw him go into the bush with his rifle. His wife was the one who kept the home.” His recollections matched the written record but carried the warmth of lived experience, bridging colonial memory with present-day community life.

Just weeks later, Mzee Kimurei passed away. His death marked the closing of a chapter, but his testimony became the last living oral bridge to the Prinsloo era. By naming Prinsloo, he ensured that Kaplogoi’s layered past would not vanish with him. The orchard, the homestead, and the stories remain, connecting the colonial footprints of Afrikaner settlers with the resilience of Kenyan families who farm the land today.

Kaplogoi is now a heritage landscape where land, memory, and resilience converge. From the orchards planted by the Prinsloos in the early 1900s, to the oral testimony carried by elders like Mzee Kimurei, to the modern families who cultivate the soil, Kaplogoi embodies the continuity of history. It is a story of how colonial settlement and indigenous voices intertwine, forming a shared narrative of Moiben that endures across generations.