Nakuru city's chilled personality that dominates on Sundays

"And on the seventh day, God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done, "Genesis 2:2. 

It is this verse that Nakuru people seem to be inspired by, going by how dormant the city centre becomes on Sundays.

Kenyatta Avenue street, which can be described as the main business centre in Nakuru is usually empty, a stark contrast from how busy it gets on weekdays, with even occasional traffic jams. 

Most of the businesses along this street are also closed.

At around 11 am heading into the early afternoon, Mtaa Wangu notices children walking in town hand in hand with their parents, smartly dressed some even going a step further to wearing matching vitenges as they enter the eateries.

For those who work in the hospitality industry, they have also had to adjust to the status quo. 

Brunch is described as a late morning meal eaten instead of lunch at around 10am-1 pm

But in Nakuru, restaurants that offer Brunch events slate them in from 2pm because it is widely known that Sunday asubuhi watu wa Nakuru wako kanisa.

The transport sector also seems to take the rest day seriously. For those who live in the outskirts of the city for example Sobea and depend on public transport to get to town, you may as well stay at home because getting a matatu to town is a nightmare. 

With very few matatus on the road, you would have to wait for thirty minutes to an hour to get one. And even when it arrives, chances are it is already full leaving you with the option of sitting on a sambaza or waiting longer for the next matatu.

This trend manifested itself last Sunday at the Shujaaz memorial concert held in Nyayo Gardens where the concert started from 3 pm instead of 12pm as was stated on the poster.

In one of the videos captured by Mtaa Wangu, a key organizer of the event Shikoh Kihika mentioned that some of the attendees may have gone to church first before making their way to the event.

At the same time, some businesses never see the need to open on Sundays due to lack of clientele as most Nakuru residents opt to spend the day with family.

The biggest beneficiaries of these empty streets however are usually content creators who throng the streets to engage in street photography and do their TikTok challenges, without having to deal with the inconvenience of cars and crowds of people.