Lake Turkana

Lake Turkana tribes

Lake Turkana is not a conventional 'safari' destination. It is a place where you visit the tribes that live there and not so much look for wildlife. If you want to see wildlife, you better visit the parks in the south of Kenya. Although if you want to visit both the east and west side of Lake Turkana, you could drive from Loiyangalani on the east side, through to South Horr and Maralal to Lake Baringo. You will have great views of the Lake Turkana when leaving Loiyangalani. Lake Baringo is a great place for bird watching and there is a good lodge in the park. As mentioned before, Lake Turkana is a place to visit the tribes that live there. The Turkana, the Pokot and the Rendille tribes. The terrain they live in is pretty rough, so you will need a 4x4 to travel around. You will need to go off the beaten track to find some villages that are still living in an original way. Also if you go camping, bring all your supplies with you, there is not much available in the villages. If you stay in the lodge in Loiyangalani, the food is good and the beer is cold. The owner is a German that married a Turkana woman lives there already for decades. It is a good place to relax in the middle of your trip. The Turkana and Rendille that live here are already changed a lot to 'modern' live. The more original Turkana live on the west side of the lake. You will need to go to the area between Lokichar and Lodwar to find them. The winter months are the best time to go to the Lake Turkana area, as it will be very hot in the summer time.

Paradise at Lake Turkana

A magic place at Lake Turkana: Eliya Springs. After quite a rough 1.5 hr trip from Lodwar, the arrival at Lake Turkana is amazing. A few (in 2009 still only 1) beautiful Turkana style hut, with nicely decorated facilities and a great double bed with a magic view over Lake Turkana and its sunset. All placed on the Lake Turkana beach. Yes a real beach that can easily match the famous Diana beaches in quality of sand and views. The place is surrounded by beautiful massive sand dunes. Strolling along the shore gets you to great encounters with very friendly local fishermen. The lodge has its own hot water spring, that makes a great warm water swimming pool. The food in the lodge is basic but tasteful, enjoyed in a simple hut on plastic chairs, the real Turkana way. And they have cold beers!
The best of all are the nights, where one should enjoy laying on the beach and, on one of the many clear sky nights, watch the most beautiful star-lit skies one will ever see in his/her lifetime.

Fantastic scenic beauty, very hot all year around, only for adventurous people.