Tour Overview
On this Trip, you’ll see the snow-capped Mount Kenya, the Timau wheat and canola farm fields, river Ewaso Nyiro, Mt Ololokwe, Moille Hill, Ngurunit Oasis (natural swimming pool), Matthew ranges, Ndoto mountains, Nyiro Mountains, Lagga(flash floods pathways) Mount Kulal (UNESCO protected biosphere), swim in the pristine beaches of Lake Turkana, Soul lifting sunrise and sunsets in Lake Turkana, Experience El Molo Culture, Sand dunes of the dried lake Chalbi(Chalbi desert), Hurri Hills, Maikona Oasis, Star gazing via clear skies at Kalacha, Mars
Day1. Nanyuki to Ngurunit
Ngurunit, fine sands with thin streams. In Nanyuki, you’ll get a chance to view the snow-capped Mount Kenya up close and personal. The snow resembles an ostrich, and the mountain remains sacred to the local communities.
40KM past Timau town center, you’ll see the thousands of acres of wheat farms and golden yellow covered fields of Canola plants. In Isiolo, we shall stop for an early lunch and a chance to purchase personal effects in the local supermarkets.40KM past Isiolo is the Ewaso Nyiro River, that is fed by rivers west of Mount Kenya, and Aberdare Ranges originating in the counties of; Nyandarua, Laikipia, and Meru
The river serves Laikipia, Samburu, Isiolo, Wajir, and Garissa and joins the Jubba River in Somalia, onwards to the Indian Ocean. Further North is Mount Ololokwe, Moille Hill, and the Laggas of Laisamis.
We arrive in Ngurunit, afterwards if time allows we go for a short walk through the woods to a place with springs with a natural swimming pool. The sands of the waterways are expanse and give you that beach feeling as fine sands get between your toes.
This place is heavenly in every sense of the word Jagged rocks on the front of Lake Turkana, and Southern Islands on the Backdrop. Rise and shine in Ngurunit, a beautiful oasis at the foot of Ndoto mountains and Matthew Ranges. If I was asked where the Garden of Eden was, this would be the place.
The beauty of this place is understood 360 and it’s hard to chronicle it in video and photos. You just have to be here, that’s it..We head back to the camp where we have dinner and spend the night
Day 2. Ngurunit to Loiyangalani
After breakfast, we embark on a trip to Loiyangalani, the main town on the Eastern shores of Lake Turkana.
As you leave a part of your ‘heart’ in Ngurunit, or carry a part of Ngurunit in your Heart, We travel through the Ndoto Mountains and the rangelands of Marsabit. Here we meet the local community, the Arielle Rendille, a Cushitic community with borrowed culture from the plains Nilotes, the Samburu – as they go about their business of herding camels, goats, and cows.
As soon as the Ndoto Mountains end, the magnificent Nyiro mountains surrounding South Horr begin. Onwards, we proceed, close to the UNESCO-protected biosphere of Mount Kulal, a self-regulating ecosystem.
As your mind rapidly expands in comprehension of these breathtaking places, we approach the Lake Turkana Windpower project that transcends 40,000 acres of land that lays sorry and desolate.
Immediately, we wind up the wind power, and the jagged rocks towards the shoreline of Lake Turkana start beckoning. There is no hyacinth here, Lake Turkana is a desert lake and volcanic sands and rocks abound. Driving though, as the lake becomes visible, no sooner does the Southern Islands become visible – the world’s leading breeding ground for Nile crocodiles.
We drive along the Lake Turkana shorelines for 40km to the town of Loiyangalani whose shores are welcoming with fine sands and human activities abound on the pristine beaches.
We arrive at 6 pm or earlier at one of the top resorts overlooking the beach of the Jade Sea. We later have dinner here and rest.
Day 3. Stay in Loiyangalani
Lake Turkana Pristine Beaches: Testing the Shallow waters in preparation for a swim..
After two days of eye-popping and mind-stretching topography and cultural safari, it’s time to take a rest to enjoy the history these waters have to offer.
After Breakfast, we take a short 20-minute drive to a village where the local El Molo people live. It’s a Cushitic community that has again been dominated by the Samburu culture. There is a lot to learn and interact with during this cultural visit.
On our way back to the resort, we will pass by the Desert Museum which has the history of the Homo Habilis man remains. We also get to see extinct fossils like the crocodile, giraffe, and tortoise at least four times larger than today.
We have lunch at the resort, at 3 p.m. We head to the beach and let all that static electricity that has built-in our bodies make its way to the waves. For a mind-calming swim or just splashing the waters. Soon enough the magical Lake Turkana sunsets will fill the lands and we head back to the resort for a relaxing evening and later, dinner.
Day 4. Loiyangalani to North Horr
Chalbi Desert – feel the full force of the elements
On this day we wake up early to witness the sunrise as the rays hit the vast wastelands overlooking the Koobi Fora and Sibiloi National Park – The direction to the Ileret town of the Dasanach Cushitic tribe.
Later with a parked lunch and sufficient water, we head towards North Horr. Here we encounter the Gabra, a Cushitic group that leads a nomadic lifestyle between the Chalbi desert and the Ethiopian border.
The Chalbi Desert was a former lake that dried up 10,000 years ago. The Gabra are resilient people who face the full force of the elements in Kenya’s only true desert.
The Chalbi sand dunes give that ‘Dubai’ desert safari feeling.
Every desert has an Oasis, so the saying goes. True to that, we spent our evening at the North Horr Oasis. The sky is very clear at night, and if one chooses, it’s safe to sleep outside stargazing and connect with the heavens.
Day 5. North Horr to Marsabit Town
Inside Marsabit Park is A crater lake at Marsabit Lodge Lake Paradise, Marsabit Park. After a night with clear skies, that is free from the city’s light pollution. We wake up to a sunrise in the desert as the rays filter through the palm leaves that abound in the Oasis.
Immediately after breakfast, we head to Marsabit town, through Maikona where we see the local people go about their day. Sometimes in camel caravans as they move from one place to another.
Marsabit town, here we come – served buffet lunch at one of the Camps in this administrative capital of the vast Marsabit county. Afternoon we head over to the protected misty Mount Marsabit forest, which proliferates in centuries-old trees, crater lakes, and springs where wild animals come to quench their thirst.
Another rich self-sustaining ecosystem, where you can breathe air that has not been breathed before. After we head to the Hotel where we shall have our dinner and overnight
Day 6, Marsabit Town to Nanyuki
Gof is the local language for Crater, this one is towards Bubisa, The morning after, yea that feeling. the trip, tour, and expedition are getting sealed. We take our breakfast, bag up and back up and check out the hotel. But surprise, we visit one more site towards Balessa that looks eerily familiar.
Yes, Marsabit has a site view of the Craters like the one on the Nairobi – Nakuru highway overlooking the great rift valley. At this place we take photos and take a moment to reflect and let the geography and directions sink in, having gone full circle in these lands in the last couple of days. Your drop-off will be at Isiolo or Nanyuki