06. - 13.08.2010 8 days TURKANA TRUCK via CHALBI DESERT SAFARI (Price pp  540-Local Payment pp US$180:) 06/08/2010

Lake Turkana joining Safari program
Areas of Interest: Northern Frontier District, Samburu Game Reserve(Gerenuk and Grevys Zebra), Marsabit National Park, Kalacha, Chalbi Desert, Loiyangalani, Lake Turkana, Turkana Villages, Maralal, Nyahururu, Thomson Falls.
Activity: Culture, Ethnic, Samburu village visit (optional extra cost), Boat Ride, Wildlife, Camping, Traditional Turkana Bandas, El molo village visit, Bird Watching, Scenery, Photography, Swimming Facilities (optional at extra cost), Use of Oasis Lodge Facilities (optional at extra cost).

06 August - Samburu
Depart Nairobi in the morning heading north via the shoulder of Africa's second largest mountain, Mt Kenya to the Samburu Game Reserve. Accommodation in our semi-permanent campsite is beautifully set under a canopy of trees or we may pitch tents on the edge of Uaso Nyiro (meaning Brown in Samburu) River. Cold showers are available which are amazingly refreshing in the hot, dusty climates.
07 August - Samburu
The day is spent game viewing in the park.
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, some large enough to be called mesas. This reserve is becoming one of Kenya's most admired stops after the Mara.
The region is home to the uncommon Grevy's zebra with huge fury ears, gerenuk antelope standing on hind legs to feed, Somali ostriches with distinct blue legs and the shy Oryx. Elephant and crocodile are guaranteed sightings, excellent bird watching with numerous varieties of weaverbirds and the martial eagle. Leopard sighting is also a special feature here.

08 August - Marsabit
We head north again along the Trans-African highway to Marsabit (meaning place of cold), an astonishingly cool, green and hilly oasis rising high above the dry heat of the surrounding desert lands. The local Rendille and Samburu people in their bright red outfits, beads and earrings make it a vibrant place.

After setting up camp, we visit the lodge inside the National park and as long as the roads are dry we drive 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. The dense forest in the park is also home to a variety of birds.

09 August - Kalacha
We depart after an early breakfast through the scenic landscape of the arid north with views of picturesque hills. We arrive and camp at Kalacha, a small Gabbra settlement on the edge of the Chalbi Desert.

The Gabbra are an Eastern Cushite people related to the Somali-Rendille in their historical origins in the southern Ethiopian highlands about AD 1000. The men wear traditional shorts and a blanket-cloak and the women wear a wrap-around and head cloth. They are pastoralists, particularly attached to their camels.

10 August - Lake Turkana
We depart early crossing the Chalbi Desert to Lake Turkana which is the largest desert lake in the world and extends for 288 kilometres up to the Ethiopian / Kenyan border. It is surrounded by volcanic rock and desert. We arrive at our semi - permanent beach village where we have our traditional Turkana Huts; making it a perfect place to relax, protected from the scorching sun and heat characteristic of the climate of this remote area.

11 August - Lake Turkana
The day is spent relaxing and you may visit the local lodge to swim or hire a boat to visit the surrounding area (at an extra cost).
In addition, we may visit Loiyangalani and the community settled there while in the evening visiting one of the Turkana Manyattas [optional] for traditional dances at an extra cost if clients wish. An unforgettable experience under a star studded sky so close you can almost touch it.
Turkana, formerly L. Rudolf is now named after one of the tribes who live on its shores and it is in this area that Richard Leakey uncovered the three million year old fossils of 'Homo Erectus.' This pre historic site is now known as the "Cradle of Mankind". The Lake is also known as the "Jade Sea" because of its remarkable blue - green colour. This is a result of algae particles, which shift with changes of the wind and light, so that the water surface shifts from blue to grey to fabulous jade. The lake is home to the largest population of Nile crocodiles in the world. If the weather permits we take a short sunset boat ride to the surrounding areas.
12 August - Maralal
We journey via the Horr Valley situated between Mount Nyiro and Ol Doinye Mara viewing the breath taking scenery as we continue to climb on torturous, rocky hills to Maralal. Near Maralal is one of the most breath taking scenes in all of Kenya - the Losiolo escarpment, an endless stretch as land drops down to the Suguta valley.

Maralal is the unofficial capital of the Samburu people and has a distinctly frontier feel about it, like something out of a 'wild west' movie. It boasts a colourful Samburu market and a game sanctuary that lies just outside of town. Maralal is also home of the Maralal International Camel Derby that happens once a year between July and October and attracts riders and spectators from the four corners of the world
13 August - Nairobi
Heading south again via Laikipia Plains and Nyahururu we may stop at the Thomson falls named after Joseph Thomson who walked from Mombasa to Lake Victoria in the early 1880s. Shaped by the waters of the Ewaso Narok River, the falls plunge over 72m into a rift, spraying the dark forest below. After lunch we drive back into Nairobi by mid-afternoon..

What is included in the price.

- Transport by special safari vehicle
- Services of an English-speaking driver/tour guide and cook
- All campsite fees
- All camping equipment including use of our three-person tents (each tent shared by 2 people), stools, foam mattresses except sleeping bags
- Three meals a day while on safari whether vegetarian or non-vegetarian prepared by our safari cook
- Police Escorts
- Boat and Elmolo village visit
What is not included in the price:
- Game park entrance fees shown separately as ‘local payment’
-Personal travel insurance
- Flying Doctors Service for emergency evacuation cover valid for 2 months [available in our office at US$25pp within 500km Radius or US$50 within 1000kms from Nairobi].
- Sleeping bags [available for hire in the office at US$30 per bag per safari with US$ 40 refundable deposit]
- Hotel accommodation in Nairobi.
- All international &domestic air flights and train bookings [But can be arranged on request]
- All airport/hotel/airport transfers [but can be arranged at extra cost]
- All airport taxes and visas
- All personal expenses and toiletries; e.g. mineral water, toilet tissue, laundry, telephones, beverages, tips, portage, etc.

-Any other extras not stated as included above

WHAT YOU NEED TO BRING ON SAFARI

· Sleeping bag [available for hire in our office for US$30 per bag per safari plus a refundable of US$40 after the safari.
· Money for personal spending and tipping approximately KShs. 2000 a day
· Only a small case or rucksack, as storage space is limited [maximum 20kgs].
· A pair of long trousers and jersey for the cool mornings and evenings in addition to plenty of light clothes for hot days (do not forget a hat), swim suit, a pillow, good walking and biking shoes and sweets
· Torch, sunglasses, suntan lotion, insect repellent/spray but not mosquito coils
· Mineral water for drinking (available at supermarkets)
· Camera, films, binoculars, maps, guide-books and also darts for our dart board at Maasai Mara
· Toilet paper, towel, soap and toothbrush/paste
· All personal travel insurance
· Flying Doctors Service for emergency evacuation cover valid for 2 months [available in our office at US$25pp within 500km radius or US$50 within 1000kms from Nairobi].

· It is good idea to bring any drinks you might want around the campfire as they are not always available enroute
Email: info@eastafricashuttles.com Attn chris Mbogo