Nomad Zanzibar 2019

ROAD TRIP
Exploring ideas of where
to go, Simon Marsh decides
that a road trip up North,
well beyond the usual
tourist trail, might be a fun
and unique way to spend
a couple of weeks with his
family and friends.
Our trip was to take us
from Nairobi up to
Shaba National Reserve,
which is contiguous with
the considerably more
famous Samburu and
Buffalo Springs National
Reserves, before heading off to the eastern
side of Lake Turkana and crossing over into
the Chalbi desert, all while revelling in the
places in between.
We had spent a lot of time seeking out
individuals with knowledge of the more
remote areas and bombarding them with
questions. The given answers provided
more questions than answers; we would
need to carry between one and sixty litres
of spare fuel, might get no punctures or
upwards of twenty, water might be available
or we might need to filter our own...the
only certainty was that there were many
uncertainties.
Our first stop was Shaba, previously
home to Joy Adamson. Shaba has a tropical
feel to it thanks to the Ewaso Nyiro river
dissecting it. We pitched camp at the
Funan campsite. As expected, there were
no facilities but it did offer shade under
sprawling Acacia trees, with plenty of water
from the spring and a small stream. The kids
and I mucked in with a will and soon a small
hamlet emerged. With the long drop dug
and the mess tent set up, the priority was to
get the fire prepared. At any African camp
the fire is both the oven and the social hub
and will generally be kept going all the time.
With plenty of firewood, this was relatively
easy and the next priority was to open the
fridge for cold drinks all round.
The next couple of days were spent
pottering around, watching elephants and
gerenuk, looking for crocodiles in the swiftly
flowing river water and paying a visit to
the Save the Elephant Research Camp in
neighbouring Samburu reserve to learn
about their critical work before cooling off in
the refreshing natural spring pool in Buffalo
Springs. The children also discovered the
delights of wallowing in the marsh and
seeing how much mud it was possible to
accumulate upon themselves.
At any African camp
the fire is both
the oven and the
social hub and will
generally be kept
going at all times.
Soon it was time to completely leave the
tarmac so we stopped to squeeze a bit more
fuel into the tanks then hit the dust. There
was very little traffic now, a sporadic truck or
two and the occasional motorbike taxi, but
not much else. After about three hours we
arrived in the sprawling village of Ngurunit
which mainly consists of the Samburu style
rondavel type houses. We had tentatively
booked in at the campsite at the edge of
the village but decided we would prefer
something slightly more detached. Together
with Mbeko, our local liaison, we set off a
short way along the very rocky road until we
identified a nice shaded spot by the river.
Ngurunit has a little known secret which
is the river that comes down from the Ndoto
Mountains and forms a number of crystal
clear pools and some really awesome
natural waterslides. Just a 20 minute
saunter away, we had little in the way of
expectations but it took the two children all
of thirty seconds to work out the dynamics
before hurling themselves fearlessly over the
edge, followed pretty swiftly by the adults.
We spent the rest of the evening trying to
find new ways to hurl ourselves down the
rocks with the aim being to catch the mighty
take off and land neatly in the pool at the
bottom.
The next day after breaking camp and
cleaning up the site it was time to head
up to Turkana, something we were all
excited about. Stopping in South Horr, we
managed to find the well hidden petrol
station and headed through the dramatic
mountain scenery. Once again, our plans
upon arriving in Loiyangalani were vague...
we found a local guide and headed off
somewhere about 15km along the lake
and found a nice shaded spot overlooking
the jade sea and in view of Poi, then set
ourselves up. The more intrepid decided
that tents were an unnecessary addition and
decided to sleep under the stars braving the
scorpions and legendary Turkana gales.
There was little on the way to the desert
other than camels and the occasional village
until we turned into the sand, and then there
was nothing at all. Chalbi desert was once
upon a time a lake and the fossils of fish
are still to be found along with frequent salt
deposits. These deposits doubled as car
traps and so avoiding them, we pitched
camp alongside a sand ridge in the middle
with views of nothing in every direction.
Throughout the journey the lack of light
pollution had provided the most incredible
night sky but the desert stole the show; a
star gazer’s dream come true!
In this part of Kenya, time has largely
stood still, a landscape devoid of habitation
in a world with so many people, being
outdoors all day, no electric gadgets
to distract us and relying on good old
fashioned principles of conversation, fresh
air, excellent food and more than a couple of
cold beers for the adults.
NOMAD MAGAZINE APRIL/MAY 2019 57