Lake Turkana Camping Expeditions - 8 Days (ITSC 46)

This rugged 1,900 kilometre is either done in a purposely-built truck or a land cruiser that takes you up into the heart of the Northern desert lands of Kenya. You will traverse along some of Africa's most adventurous regions, see beautiful mountain forest surrounded on all sides by hot desert, eventually arriving in the Jade Sea (Lake Turkana). You will see a great variety of tribes and cross the Chalbi Desert. Please note that during the rains many of these areas become impassible being subject to floods. Therefore in the months of April, May and June it is not advisable to take this tour.

Day 1: Nairobi - Samburu
Depart Nairobi in the morning heading north via the shoulder of Mt. Kenya to Samburu Game Reserve. Accommodation in our semi-permanent campsite beautifully set under a canopy of trees or pitch tents on the Ewaso Nyiro River.

Day 2: Samburu
Morning and afternoon game viewing in Samburu. Elephant abound the park. You may also see Lion, Reticulated Giraffe, Gerenuk, Grevys Zebra and the Beisa Oryx. Dinner and overnight in your campsite.

Day 3: Samburu-Marsabit
We head north again along the Trans-African highway to Marsabit, which is an extinct volcano heavily forested on its upper slopes. After setting up camp, we will visit the lodge inside the National park. You may see Elephant, Buffalo and the Greater Kudu as the lodge is situated on the edge of a water filled crater. We do not go further into the park as thick forest hampers the progress of large vehicles and viewing is difficult.

Day 4: Marsabit - Kalacha
We visit Marsabit town and another volcanic crater before making our way back into the desert and lava flows. We camp at Kalacha, a small settlement on the edge of Chalbi desert.

Day 5: Kalacha - Lake Turkana
We depart early crossing the Chalbi Desert. The desert cannot be crossed if wet but there are alternative roads around the North and South. We arrive at our semi permanent beach camspite just outside Loiyangalani soon after lunch. Here we have our traditional Turkana huts with a cool breeze blowing from the lake for use if available otherwise we pitch tents in alternative campsite. Indeed otherwise a perfect place to relax protected from the searching sun and heat characteristic of the harsh climate of this remote area.

Day 6: Lake Turkana
We spend the day relaxing and bathing only interrupted by a short boat excursion to visit the surrounding areas. In addition, we visit Loiyangalani and the community settled there, while in the evening we may visit one of the Turkana Manyattas for traditional dances under a star studded sky at an extra cost if clients wish.

Day 7: Lake Turkana - Maralal
We journey via South Horr and Baragoi to Maralal, another forested area. The Samburu abound in their red-ochre.

Day 8: Maralal - Nairobi
Heading south again via Laikipia plains and Thomson’s Falls (Nyahururu) we drive back into Nairobi by mid afternoon.