Lake Turkana

African safari home

Lake Turkana is 6,750 Sq.Kms situated in the Great Rift Valley in the northwestern part of Kenya. Volcanic activity was frequent during the creation of the Rift Valley and lavas from the Quaternary and Tertiary ages cover much of the floor of the valley in Kenya.

It is one of the most rich regions in terms of history as it has become famous great sources of evidence of modern man's earliest existence. The wildness of the place makes it a destination for visitors coming for Kenya safaris. 650 Km from Nairobi, its home of the Jade sea  300 km long and 60 km at its widest part was named lake Rudolf by the first European explorers.  Many inquiring adventurous have heard of its fearsome terrain and attracted by it or curiosity. Count Teleki and Lieut. Von Hohnel reached its shores in 1888, and was renamed Lake Turkana in 1975.

The eastern shore is reached from Maralal along a road requiring time, patience and skill to negotiate. In places not much more than a track and in places a lava field this road is strictly for the adventurous and for four wheel drive vehicles, the Kenya safari drivers are good in this terrain. 225 km after leaving Maralal you reach Loiyangalani, the only settlement of any size along the eastern shore.

A welcome sight is Oasis Lodge, a simple place but seemingly the height of luxury in its austere surroundings. The first sight of the vast expanse of the Jade Sea is certainly awesome. A lake in a desert is itself amazing but this one with its dramatic scenery even more so. Less than 30 km east of Loiyangalani Mount Kulal towers almost precipitously to 2164m from the lake level of 370 m. Kulal is one of three International Biosphere Reserves in Kenya. The location is always windy but from time to time sudden gales whip down from Kulal to the lake turning its placid waters into a tempest in minutes.

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