Kenya's lake Turkana over land safari

Lake Turkana Safari

Lake Turkana Camping Safari via chalbi desert. – Ref GTC 035
Duration: 7 nights 8 days
Departs Fridays

This rugged 1,800-km expedition in a purposely-built truck takes you up into the heart of the Northern Frontier District. You will traverse along some of Africa’s worst roads; see beautiful mountain forest surrounded on all sides by hot dusty deserts, eventually arriving at our camp on the shores of the Jade Sea Lake Turkana. Ours is the only camp situated right on the beach of the lake with spectacular views of the South Island.

The camp comprises 12 double traditional Turkana palm leaf huts, a dinning/lounge, kitchen, showers and toilets. A 20-seat boat is based here and is available for sunset cruises and exploring the surrounding areas. On this Kenya over land safari you will see a great variety of tribes during the tour and cross the Chalbi Desert if dry. During the rains it becomes an enormous shallow lake.

Day 1 – 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 edge of Uaso Nyiro River.

Day 2 – Samburu:
The day is spent game viewing in the park. Elephants abound; you may see lion, reticulated giraffe, gerenuk, grevy’s zebra and oryx.

Day 3 – 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 kudu as the lodge is situated on the edge of a water-filled crater. As long as the park is dry we drive through thick forest to the famous Lake Paradise. There are some very steep hills which are impassable if wet.

Day 4 – 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 the Chalbi Desert.

Day 5 - 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 campsite 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 an alternative campsite. Indeed a perfect place to relax protected from the scorching 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 [optional] for traditional dances under a star studded sky at an extra cost if clients wish. Unforgettable experience.

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

Day 8 – Nairobi:
Heading south again via Laikipia Plains and Thompson Falls (Nyahururu) we drive back into Nairobi by mid-afternoon.

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