april-2019

26 / TRAVEL / Kenya
TRAVEL / 27
MY MOST EPIC trip to Lake Turkana was with a cartographer
to find a road marked on several early 19 th -century
charts, but missing from contemporary maps. Fully loaded with
fuel, food and medical supplies for this intrepid adventure, the
car’s chassis broke on a giant corrugation on the second day.
That was just the start; we escaped a swarm of bees, navigated
the hazardous pans of the Chalbi Desert, and, with the help of a
local, we finally found the fabled road some 50 km from the
Ethiopian border. It ran through a Swiss-style landscape of
pretty wildflower meadows with blue-tinged towering hills in the
background; the only reminder of this remote African location.
On the way back, this time following a hand-drawn map, we
took an apparent shortcut via the dramatic Mt Poi in the Ndoto
Mountains. My friend said that the journey would take four
hours. We emerged sense-satiated two days later having got lost,
cut our way through overgrown tracks, backtracked and finally
been led out by a local Samburu warrior.
TIME WARP
Such is the nature of northern travel: wild, unpredictable,
exciting, still mostly off-road and largely unvisited. However,
the infrastructure is gradully improving in the area around
Lake Turkana with the construction of asphalt roads, removing
the bone-jarring corrugations that used to herald the start of
Kenya’s most rugged territory.
Going north is like travelling into a bygone era. Shops, fuel
and phone signals are in little or no supply, and accommodation
is sparse, albeit magnificently located. The easy drive from
Archers Post to South Horr is one of the most spectacular
roads in the country, with landscapes morphing every 100 km.
Vistas are giant: buckled ridges with long Great Rift Valley
views and flat desert terrain peppered with stunning peaks,
including Mt Ololokwe and Mt Kulal. The sense of one’s small
place on a very large planet is apparent. And therein lies the
true pleasure of these awesome places.
Due to long drives (10-11 hours to the closest comfortable
accommodation near Lake Turkana), it’s better to treat the
journey as the destination, stopping en route in some of Kenya’s
less-visited parks. Samburu National Reserve, Shaba National
Reserve, the deep green of Marsabit National Park, or the
Sabache Camp, with its spectacular views, make good midway
points for reaching the eastern side of Lake Turkana. You
won’t find the multi-minivan safari – common at Kenya’s
better-known game reserves – here. Instead, isolation, stark
scenery, lazy meandering rivers and night skies littered with
bright constellations are your rewards; interspersed with
elephants, shy leopards and some stunning walks.
TEST THE WATER
Lake Turkana itself has only basic accommodation, so it’s
better to stay south – either at the rustic luxury of Koros
Camp nested in the Ol Donyo Mara mountains – or at the
more westerly Desert Rose Lodge set high in the forest of Mt
Nyiru. Both are some 50 km south of Lake Turkana and have
their own attractions, with awesome scenery and semi- >
“The easy drive from Archers Post to South Horr is
one of the most spectacular roads in the country,
with landscapes morphing every 100 km”
Where to stay
Koros Camp is easy to access,
and an hour short of Turkana.
eastafricanretreats.com
Desert Rose Lodge has amazing
construction, dramatic wilderness
and a tougher drive to the lake.
desertrosekenya.com
Shompole Wilderness is a lovely
option in the Magadi area.
shompolewilderness.com
Coastal retreats are easy access
in the Lamu Archipelago.
themajlisresorts.com; kizingo.com
and mandabay.com
Harder, but so rewarding, is a stint
at the rustic thatched delights of
Mike’s Camp.
mikescampkiwayu.com
Above: The view from
the top of Mt Ololokwe
(top); One of the balcony
terraces at Desert
Rose Lodge (left);
Camels take over the
road leading up to Mt
Ololokwe in Samburu
County (right).
Right page: Desert
Rose Lodge in the forest
slopes of Mt Nyiru (top);
Fire lilies come out
after the rain (bottom
left); A woman with her
baby at Ol Malo House
in Samburu County
(bottom right).
Neil Thomas, Rachel Clara Reed, Mirjam Bleeker