Kenya
Kenya Chalbi Desert Camel Expedition
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‘Travelling on foot in the wilderness, with camels carrying food, water, and equipment, gives you a chance to regain the sense of harmony with nature that most modern humans have lost. You feel Mother Earth beneath your feet, feel sunlight on your face, breathe in the wind, re-establish your sense of connection to All Our Relations – the flying ones, the four-leggeds, the crawling ones, the clouds, the flowers, the ancient thorn forests, shady drywashes, sacred mountains, wells, watering places, and the very stones themselves. After only a short time in the wild, away from the machine, you start to feel that you have always been here – that you have never left this place. ‘ Michael Asher
This trek, across the Chalbi Desert, northern Kenya, is a unique chance to experience the African wilderness.
The expedition lasts 10 days, covering about 20 km per day on foot, with camels carrying the heavy loads. The total distance is about 200 kilometres.
Scheduled for March- April 2023, this will be only the second time we have run the trek – the first was in November 2019. The project is still partly experimental, and as there have been no regular camel treks in Gabra country previously, it is an experience that few people have ever had.
Day 1
Arrive at Loiyangalani, on Lake Turkana. After lunch we visit traditional Turkana fishing villages, and watch a spectacular sunset from the shore of the lake. Night at lodge.
Day 2
We head up the escarpment, leaving Lake Turkana behind us, and meet the camels and camel-men in a palm-shaded lugga near the Gabra village of Guss. We load the camels and set off through the bush on our first day’s walk. Camp in the desert.
Day 3
Continuing our walk through the bush, encountering Gabra nomads and their herds, we halt near North Horr, in a large oasis of doum palms. We camp by green pools, where camels are being watered, and where we may spot many species of birds, including white egrets, sand-pipers, and hammerkops.
Days 4 and 5
We skirt the depression of the Chalbi Desert, walking along deep water-courses shaded by enormous acacia trees, passing across sandy plains that may be yellow with tribulus flowers after the rains. We cross many luggas, heading towards the dark mystery of the Hurri Hills.
Days 6, 7 and 8
We continue with the caravan for the most challenging part of the journey, three days trek across the desert towards the green plateau of the Hurri Hills, where we may spot ostrich and gazelles.
Days 9 and 10
The final leg of the journey. Passing the village of el-Gadeh, we trek for two days through ancient acacia forests, passing Gabra camel herds and manyattas, and pausing at a deep well. We may see eagles, hornbills and Grant’s gazelle. We make camp in the forest near the airstrip. In the morning we board a light plane for Nairobi.
A Reminiscence of the First Trek – November 2019 – from the diary of Peter Elborn
Day 2 – The Lost Camel
‘A good night, cooler, less windy, a gentle sunrise with some thin cloud. Lumbaye’s [the cook’s] breakfast of freshly baked bread and boiled eggs promised well for the day. The news from the camel-men however was not good. The camels had been allowed to browse and wander during the night, and one of the camels was lost. We would have to wait while it was found.
We had plenty to enjoy while we waited. A large number of donkeys passed by carrying water for a nearby nomad settlement (apparently donkeys, rather than camels, are used for fetching water). Later two teenage boys came by with a large flock of goats. They had walked from the shores of Lake Turkana and had spent two months finding pasture for the animals, selling a goat or two as they wandered.
The lost camel was nowhere to be found. We would go on with just six camels. If our seven camels objected to their loads, we feared that the loads now divided between six might provoke protest – and camels know how to protest. The tribesman whose camel was lost appeared unconcerned.’
For full details, trip notes, costs and dates, contact Michael Asher at masheruk@yahoo.fr