***For context I urge you to read Part 1 of this trip first. It’ll make more sense.***
In the previous article I endeavored to illustrate how such a small conservation area like Kimana Sanctuary can play such a vital role in the larger scheme of things. I hope I got my point across. It should therefore come as no surprise that in addition to everything I experienced while camping out with Peter there was a lot more in store in the coming days. This is that story.
Kimana House
Size can be an extremely relative affair. Trying to thread a needle? The piece of string might as well be a tree trunk. Attempting to tell the story of your country one travel article at a time? You might as well be a grain of sand on a beach. Conservation, just like any other industry, is not immune from lure of the larger, sexy projects but if you dig a little deeper it’s interesting just how some of the smaller conservation areas play a much larger role than one would think. So does size really matter? I’m in to find out.
Strictly speaking this article is not specifically about Lake Bogoria, but it is about something just as good. I already covered the reserve in detail way back when. The part about me not being happy? That part is unfortunately true but we’ll get to that later. This is a story about some of the familiar frustrations I encounter as an independent traveler around Kenya and the surprising rewards of a never-ending curiosity.
What could Part 2 possibly mean? It means there was a Part 1. Starting off beneath the Ndoto Mountains in Samburu County and through to the back shores of Lake Turkana in the shadow of Mount Kulal, the trip back home takes us east through Marsabit County. This is just a quick run-down of the journey home but there’s still loads to see…
Last look at the lake as we head North-West to Kalacha.
This is the 3rd and final part of our overland adventure hugging the southern border of Kenya, didn’t think I’d manage to get it all written down but here we are. From driving the deserts of Lake Amboseli to swimming the blue waters of Lake Chala all roads have led to the most southerly point of this trip in Tsavo West. The adventure is far from over though, actually it’s almost like it’s just beginning…
It’s 9am, I’ve slept fitfully on our our first night out and but we’ve had a great time on the Olgulului Group Ranch exploring Lake Amboseli . A great start to this ambitious trip of 900kms along Kenya’s Southern border and it’s time to crank out a few more miles and at this point I’m blissfully unaware that this will be one of the longest days imaginable.
Three years ago I met a group of young Kenyan adventurers with fire in their eyes and and the determination to create a travel show for Kenyans, by Kenyans. It was during this first meeting that it was suggested “We should do a trip together”. However just like the very familiar “We should do coffee sometime”, it would take some time for us all to pull our respective knickers up and get planning. So finally here we are 3 years later, myself and the Routes Adventure crew, bonded by a common dream to shout as loudly as we can about our amazing country. This time with an idea to drive 900km over 5 days along the southern border of Kenya and Tanzania.
This is Part 1 of this epic adventure…
Photo: Routes, Edit: TKC
It’s easy to discount the familiar; thats why those who live near Mount Kenya have never climbed it and why not everyone at the coast goes to the beach on a daily. I say this because just as I have never written an article on how to camp neither have I written about Olorgesailie. This is strange because I visit here so often I guess it became too familiar to me hence the laxity in writing about it. However I thought I’d share my special spot and made a call out for any Instagramers who wanted to head out for a night and get their astrophotography on and this lit the fire that finally led to this article getting done.
Mount Olorgesailie. Photo: Irungu
Some of you with more time on your hands than you know what to do with might stay up nights wondering how some of my travel ideas come about. Sure, sometimes it takes months of planning but sometimes things unfold in the simplest way possible; like this email I received…
Mr. T: Hi, I took a quick trip up into Namunyak last week and visited a really cool little campsite which is being developed by Museums of Kenya. The really cool part though was their research work on the rare De Brazza monkeys which they have been studying there for a number of years. I am hoping to plan a trip up that way later this year to explore more around the Mathews/Namunyak region. It is big though so will need to give it a few days… are you keen?
KC: Yes! A thousand times yes!
I know, I really should play a bit hard to get sometimes, if I was a lady of the night I wouldn’t make enough cheese to feed a mouse. So thats how 9 explorers, 3 cars, 2 dogs and a mountain of supplies find themselves in this part of Kenya to expose sample its many secrets.
I’ll tell you a little secret; the success of a family holiday is inversely proportional to the amount of time you are actually able to spend apart from each other. It might sound counter – intuitive but believe me after a couple of days together I’m sure many of you know how quickly the fire of familial love can transform into smouldering resentment. You want to spend time together but you also want that sweet space when you need it.
Cue Beach House.
The Kenyan Camper 