8-Day Lake Turkana via Chalbi Desert

<p>A transfer from the airport (or hotel) can be arranged for an extra cost.</p><p>Accommodation before the tour starts can be arranged for an extra cost.</p><p></p><p>Depart in the early morning towards Maralal via Nyahururu (option to stop at Thompson falls briefly for extra cost). Lunch en route as we arrive in the campsite in the late afternoon for you to pitch up your tent for the night. (Particularly long drive; cold night). Dinner before washing up dishes and retiring for bed.</p><p></p><p>Maralal is the unofficial capital of the Samburu people and has a distinctly frontier feel about it. It is also home of the Maralal International Camel Derby that happens o­nce a year between July and October and attracts riders and spectators from all over the world.</p><p></p><p>Main Destination: <a href="/product/maralal/"> Maralal</a></p><p></p><p>Accommodation: <a href="/product/budget-camping/">Budget camping</a></p><p></p><p>Meals & Drinks: Lunch & dinner (Breakfast not included)</p><p></p><p>Drinks not included</p>

<p>After breakfast, we start the long journey driving via Baragoi and South Horr to arrive Lake Turkana in the late afternoon. Pitch up your tent on the camp grounds before enjoying a relaxing cool shower after the long journey.</p><p></p><p>Lake Turkana is the largest desert lake in the world and extends for 288 kilometres up to the Ethiopian / Kenyan border surrounded by volcanic rock and desert.</p><p></p><p>Main Destination: <a href="/product/loiyangalani-desert-museum/"> Loiyangalani</a></p><p></p><p>Accommodation: <a href="/product/budget-camping/">Budget camping</a></p><p></p><p>Meals & Drinks: All meals included</p><p></p><p>Drinks not included</p>

<p>The day is spent relaxing. Optional activities (payable direct for extra cost) include visiting the Desert museum, enjoying a swim at the nearby lodge, hire a boat to explore the lake (looking out for Nile crocodiles), visit to el Molo/Turkana villages and exploring Loiyangalani town. The name Loiyangalani, means "a place of many trees" in the native Samburu Language and is also home to the El Molos, an almost extinct community. It is also home to El Molo, Turkana, Pokot, Rendile, Samburu, Gabbra, Watta and Dassanach tribes.</p><p></p><p>Main Destination: <a href="/product/south-turkana-national-reserve-park/">Lake Turkana</a></p><p></p><p>Accommodation: <a href="/product/budget-camping/">Budget camping</a></p><p></p><p>Meals & Drinks: All meals included</p><p></p><p>Drinks not included</p>

<p>After an early breakfast we cross the Chalbi desert (if dry) via North horr towards Kalacha. If it has rained, we shall use another route avoiding the desert. Kalacha is a small settlement on the edge of the Chalbi Desert inhabited by the Gabbra people (pastoralists particularly attached to their camels).</p><p></p><p>Enjoy an evening sun downer and sunset with views of the chalbi desert or watch a Gabbra performance in the evening (optional for extra cost) (windy night). Meal plan; breakfast, lunch & dinner.</p><p></p><p>Main Destination: <a href="#">Kalacha</a></p><p></p><p>Accommodation: <a href="/product/budget-camping/">Budget camping</a></p><p></p><p>Meals & Drinks: All meals included</p><p></p><p>Drinks not included</p>

<p>Break up camp in the early morning as we head south towards Marsabit (meaning place of cold); an astonishingly cool, green and hilly oasis rising high above the dry heat of the surrounding desert lands. En route we stop to enjoy views of the massive Gof Redo crater and desert landscape. The area is home to the local Rendille and Samburu people abundant in their bright red outfits, beads and earrings. This will be a cold night.</p><p></p><p>After setting up camp, we visit the lodge inside the National park and as long as the roads are dry we drive up to Lake Paradise and Little Lake. Here, an indigenous forest and a desert come together to create the most compelling landscape o­n earth. Elephants and greater kudu abound in the dense forest which is also home to a variety of birds.</p><p></p><p>Main Destination: <a href="/product/marsabit-national-reserve/">Marsabit National Park</a> </p><p></p><p>Accommodation: <a href="/product/budget-camping/">Budget camping</a></p><p></p><p>Meals & Drinks: All meals included</p><p></p><p>Drinks not included</p>

<p>Depart in the early morning along the trans-african highway towards Samburu. Lunch en route and arrive Samburu National reserve in time for an afternoon game drive.</p><p></p><p>Accommodation is in our semi-permanent campsite, beautifully set under a canopy of trees or we may pitch tents o­n the edge of Uaso Nyiro River (meaning Brown in Samburu) if they are occupied. Cold showers are available which are amazingly refreshing in the hot, dusty climate.</p><p></p><p>Main Destination: <a href="/product/samburu-national-reserve/">Samburu National Reserve</a> </p><p></p><p>Accommodation: <a href="/product/budget-camping/">Budget camping</a></p><p></p><p>Meals & Drinks: All meals included</p><p></p><p>Drinks not included</p>

<p>The day is spent game viewing in the park. You may also opt to visit the lodge for a swim and cold drink or a nearby Samburu village (payable direct).</p><p></p><p>Samburu is part of a lava plain that includes a diverse landscape of thorn scrub, red dirt, dried river beds, broken volcanic rock, steep hills, and rocky outcroppings. The region is home to the uncommon Grevy’s zebra, gerenuk antelope, Somali ostriches, lions and Oryx. Elephant, crocodile and numerous bird make excellent sighting.</p><p></p><p>Main Destination: <a href="/product/samburu-national-reserve/">Samburu National Reserve</a> </p><p></p><p>Accommodation: <a href="/product/budget-camping/">Budget camping</a></p><p></p><p>Meals & Drinks: All meals included</p><p></p><p>Drinks not included</p>

<p>Depart camp after breakfast viewing game as we drive back to Nairobi via Mt. Kenya region. Arrive back in the late afternoon. Drop off at your hotel/ city center depending on arrangements made.</p><p></p><p>Main Destination: <a href="#">Nairobi</a></p><p></p><p>Accommodation: No accommodation (End of tour)</p><p></p><p>Meals & Drinks: Breakfast & lunch (Dinner not included)</p><p></p><p>Drinks not included</p><p></p><p>End of tour</p><p></p><p>Additional accommodation can be arranged for an extra cost.</p><p></p><p>A transfer back to the airport (or hotel) can be arranged for an extra cost.</p>