Border crossing Kenya/Uganda in Malaba.

Arriving at the Malaba border post was quite an experience: in less time than it takes to write about it we were surrounded by a crowd of people, shouting to us not to speak to anyone, showing us badges and telling us to follow them… We eventually realised that these guys were “facilitating agents” and were there to guide us through the border’s formalities. It was rather amusing/annoying: we had been crossing borders for the past 5 months without any help. Eventually we realised that we wouldn’t have peace less we chose one of them to be our guide. And so, Moses became our “agent”. We weren’t to regret his help in parting the sea.

Exiting Kenya went quite easily, except that we almost got heavily fined for not having paid road tax (20 USD) when we entered the country. It took us some time to explain that we had come from Lake Turkana, where there is no border post, and that no-one had told us about road tax in Nairobi when we went to Times Tower to have our Carnet de Passage stamped. We were quite happy to pay the road tax but felt we shouldn’t pay the fine. Fortunately we remembered the name of the customs boss we had dealt with in Nairobi, and fortunately the border officials were nice to us and ended up letting us go. No doubt Moses’s polite patience in dealing with them helped a lot.

Knowing that we would have to pay the Ugandan road tax in Ugandan shillings, we changed the Kenyan shillings we still had. The exchange rate offered t us by the agents was fair . We got USh26 for KSh1.

Moses then took us to the Ugandan side of the border, where we easily got a 2 month visa for USD50 each.

Getting the carne stamped was another story: First we had to get to a copy machine to get a copy of an official form. Moses paid for the copy. Then we had to fill the form and take it to some official who was to confirm the amount entered on the form. The official wasn’t in his office, but Moses had his phone number and managed to find him at the front gate. With that we then had to go to the bank (there is one at the border) to pay the tax and get a receipt. It was a whole complex process, probably to prevent corruption. Without Moses we would have been lost. Eventually we went through Customs, passed the queue (again with Moses help) and had our CDP stamped. We were finally and officially in Uganda.

Moses had made it clear that he was working as an independent agent. We gave him USh10,000 for his help. He seemed happy with that.

Our latest news...

We have just come back from 2 days in the Masai Mara National Park. We overheard someone saying that it is the best time of year to go: there has been a bit of rain, the grass is electric green and animals are numerous. So, we decided to postpone the Rift Valley lakes for a bit, and treated ourselves!

It was fantastic. There were very few safari vehicles in the park. The roads weren’t too muddy yet, and we saw many birds and animals roaming the seemingly endless plains.

Giraffes on the horizon

Mother and daughter

Simba wakes…

… getting up…

… Even the King of the Jungle needs to shit!

Sometimes watching the tourists is just as much fun

On the way back, we took a back road which had a lot of sharp rocks. We had our first puncture in 5 months!

Border crossing in Omorate (Ethiopia/Kenya)

Having entered Ethiopia through the main border of Moyale, we decided to go back down to Kenya through the Omo valley and Lake Turkana. It was a very worthwhile adventure, but it was not too straightforward…

There is a border post in Omorate on the Ethiopian side, but no customs office as yet. This means you can leave Ethiopia officially, but your car can’t. We had to go to the customs department in Awasa, on our way to Arba Minch, to have our Carnet de Passage stamped there.

From Omorate we had to backtrack a short distance before taking a sandy track south towards Banya Fort and the Kenyan border. There is a police checkpoint on the Ethiopian side to check your passports as you leave. From here, it was sandy, rocky and muddy tracks until Maralal, some 500km south. We were travelling with the Amazing Swiss (Marc and Roman) in Wolfi, their Mitsubishi minibus. We pulled each other out of the mud a few times, bush-camped a few more, and made it to Maralal without having felt threatened or having had any major problems with the cars. We were both carrying 180l of fuel when we left Jinka for Omorate. We found fuel “out of the barrel’ in Loiyangalani and Barsaloi, at exorbitant prices.

There is no border post on the Kenyan side. We had arranged our Kenyan visas in Addis before leaving. We reported to the Loiyangalani Police Station to announce our arrival in Kenya, where we learned that we were illegal immigrants and that you are not supposed to cross the border anywhere other that Moyale. The police officer was nice enough though, and didn’t send us back to Moyale, which would have been a real mission. After phoning his senior in Nairobi, he let us continue to Nairobi where we completed the Immigration and Customs formalities.

The immigration ran smoothly, but the CDP wasn’t as easy. We had to go to the Customs Department is located in the Times tower. We were sent to the 12th floor, then the 9th floor, then the 10th floor, then the 4th floor… Only to find out that the right person to stamp the CDP really was on the 10th floor. The problem was that the new official in charge had never heard of CDP. It took a bit of time to find his predecessor (who now works on the 1st floor) so he could explain to his colleague what was required. Patience prevailed and we eventually got our CDP stamped. After a morning of bureaucratic fun, we were finally legal - one week after crossing the border!

The road to Maralal

It was a scenic drive down the length of Lake Turkana, across the Chalbi Desert and then up to Maralal. The going was slow: Wolfi, the Mitsubishi bus, struggled a bit with her lower ground clearance…

Lake Turkana, also called The Jade Sea

The Swiss road building effort in Northern Kenya.

A leaking fuel tank

Crossing the Chalbi Desert

We spent one night bush-camping in the desert and another at Katanga community campsite.

Lunchstop before Maralal

Lone Tree Camp, Chalbi Desert

Katanga Community Campsite...

...with room service.

Caro at Thomson's Falls, our last stop before Nairobi.

Sibiloi National Park, Northern Kenya

This park situated on the north eastern side of Lake Turkana is the least visited of Kenya’s parks. It is remote and roads are rough…

A dry riverbed - not!

Stuck again.

Bushcamping back in Kenya

A few million years ago the water level in Lake Turkana was 100m higher than it is now. The climate was different too - a lush forest teaming with wildlife. Today, the exposed sediments at Sibiloi are a fossil hunter’s dream: giant tortoises, warthogs, crocodiles and wildebeest; early hominid ancestors; and petrified forests. The landscape is dry and uninhabited. We saw some wildlife: Generuk, Topi, Grant's Gazelle and crocs...

Shall we go for a swim?

We spent a night at Koobi Fora camp before tackling the road south…

Lake Turkana from Koobi Fora

Chilling

Border crossing in Moyale (Kenya/Ethiopia)

Moyale is the only official border post between Kenya and Ethiopia. As a result, customs officials are used to the Carnet de Passage and it is quick and easy to have it stamped on both sides of the border.

Passports are also stamped easily by immigration officials, as long as your Ethiopian visa has been obtained in advance. Visas cannot be organised at the border. They have to be obtained from the Ethiopian embassy in Nairobi (or Khartoum, or elsewhere). We obtained ours in Nairobi and we got them after waiting for only one hour. You will need a copy of your passport, the original, an ID photo, and 20 USD. (It was more expensive for American passports holders). We were given a 3 month visa.

There are two sides to Moyale: Kenyan and Ethiopian. They are only a few hundred meters apart so all the admin work can be done fairly quickly.

Remember to start driving on the RIGHT side of the road on the Ethiopian side. We enjoyed the comfort of the tarred road after the long bumpy road from Isiolo! It is also worth noting that, fuel was quite a bit cheaper in Ethiopia than in Kenya.

There is no ATM in Moyale-Ethiopia, but you will probably be approached by people to change Kenyan shillings, US dollars or Euros, on the black market on both sides of the border. We changed just enough to fill-up our tank and get us through to Awasa, where we knew we could find an ATM.

There is no time difference between Ethiopia and Kenya. Ethiopian time is similar to Swahili time: 7am is the first hour of the day, 7pm is the first hour of the night, 12am is thus 6 o’clock, etc. Ethiopia works on a different calendar - I was a bit surprised when my passport was stamped with a date ending in ‘2001’.

PS: The Customs official will want to know which port of exit you are planning to use. This posed us a bit of problem. Our plan was to go back to Kenya after our visit of Ethiopia through the Omo Valley (famous for its tribes) in Southwest Ethiopia, and Lake Turkana in Northwest Kenya, rather than back through Moyale. We had heard it was possible: there is a road, and even a border post in Omorate on the Ethiopian side. Unfortunately, we were told by the Moyale customs official that there is no Customs office at the Omorate post, and that we had no choice but to come back through Moyale.

We did eventually come back to Kenya through Omorate. See more on the Border crossing Ethiopia/Kenya post.

An introduction to NGO life: Our stay with Action Against Hunger (Action contre la Faim) in Takaba

We met up with Lani, an old friend based in Nairobi and working for AAH. She intoduced us to Franky on an evening out in Nairobi and he invited to visit one of the AAH bases at Takaba, in Northern Kenya.

Takaba is a remote village close to the border of Ethiopia and Somalia. It took us 4 hours to drive the 180km of dirt tracks from Moyale to Takaba. Most of the people in the area are pastoralists, living as nomads and surviving from their camels and goats. Takaba is a trading centre, and pastoralists from different tribes come from far and wide for trade.

The road to Takaba

We found the AAH base by GPS after dark thanks to Franky's map. We were welcomed by Franky, Polycarp and the rest of the team and offered a wonderful dinner. We learned that AAH is concerned primarily with improving food security. This includes educating the population on proper nutrition and hygiene, ensuring food supply chains are adequate and not disrupted and improving water security. Franky and Polycarp’s work is focussed on the water aspects and they showed us a number of projects the following day: two new boreholes and pipeline to feed Takaba with drinking water, refurbishment of shallow wells, building of earth dams to store surface runoff and use of biosand filters for water treatment.

A well under rehabilitation

Camels being watered at a new borehole

One of the large earth dams in Takaba

An educational poster near an earth dam.

It was great feeling like the first tourists to visit the area. We were welcomed by NGO’s and locals alike. We witnessed a thunderstorm in the desert and people dancing in the streets in the rain…

We were very impressed at the dedication of everyone on the AAH base, particularly working under such difficult conditions with limited resources. Well done, guys! And thanks again for a wonderful stay.

Our hosts, Franky (front) and Polycarp (behind).

Us with Takaba behind.

The road North

We had heard a lot of bad things about the Moyale-Marsabit road in northern Kenya. It is known amongst overlanders as the worst stretch of road from Cape to Cairo. We had decided to take this main route north to Ethiopia and then to try and come back south through the Omo valley and Lake Turkana further to the west.

We left Nairobi and took the good tarred road to the east of Mount Kenya. The mountain was in the clouds as always but the road was very scenic, lined with lush forest and coffee and banana plantations. As the road heads away from Mt Kenya to Isiolo, the landscape changes dramatically, giving way to typical African acacia savanna. We spent the night at the Range Hotel campsite just before Isiolo. The asphalt ends very abruptly at Isiolo…

Into the Northern hemisphere...

It took us six hours to cover the jarring 250km to Marsabit on the deeply corrugated road. The road is thankfully under reconstruction with many dusty detours taking you through an increasingly barren landscape. We had to re-attach the bull-bar en route, because one of the brackets had cracked.

Steve fixing the bullbar - bloudraad and duct tape!

We arrived in Marsabit in the late afternoon, passing bands of Samburu warriors armed with spears and AK47’s from time to time, some of them looking very angry and serious. We spent the night at Henry’s campsite, where we learned that there had been a cattle theft earlier in the day and that the herder had been killed. Everyone was now waiting for the retribution killing before peace could return. Apparently Marsabit has always been a hotspot because it is at the junction of three different tribal lands and is also the only reliable source of water in the area. We were reassured that as foreigners we were definitely safe.

One of the few rivers we crossed - an Oasis

Acacia sunset at Henry's campsite

The next morning we headed into town to repair the bull-bar and a grease seal on the front left wheel. Fortunately we had a spare seal with us and we were done in three hours. We spent another relaxing night at Henry’s before heading for Takaba the next morning.

Repairs to Scarlet in Marsabit

Family portrait at Henry's Campsite, Marsabit

The road from Marsabit north is very rocky (for us, better that the corrugations on the previous stretch) and descends through a landscape of volcanic cones and craters down to the flat desert plains. Before long we were passing camel trains, shimmering in the distance…

Camels and rocks

Need some space?

And then a lot of Mzungu (White) cyclists with numbered vests? Ever heard of Tour d’Afrique? Its an annual cycle event from Cairo to Cape Town. There are sixty competitors and a number of support vehicles. Every day is a stage on the long road south.

Tour d'Afrique

Petrol/diesel gets more expensive in Kenya as one gets further from Nairobi. Petrol (Benzeen) is available in Moyale (from a drum) and Marsabit. Fuel is approx 25% cheaper in Ethiopia than Kenya. The road from Marsabit to Moyale took us roughly 5 hours.

Where will we be

Our plans for the next few weeks : Ethiopia!

After a few days in Nairobi - which we spent resting, doing laundry, fixing odds and ends on the car : changing the tyres, checking the bearing, disconnecting the immobiliser... - we will be leaving Nairobi tomorrow to carry on north to Ethiopia where we expect to spend between 4 and 6 weeks before returning to Nairobi. We got a three-month visa, here in Nairobi, for USD20 each.

Disconnecting the immobiliser

The country is huge, the roads (we have heard) are slow going. We are keen to experience as much as we can of all its wonders.

Although Ethiopia was one of this journey’s main goals, it is also the place for which we knew the least about what to expect. Over the past few days we have been chatting to other travellers, and browsing through a few books, so now we have a slightly better idea of what is to come.
The country’s history is fascinating and its landscapes seem at times quite dramatic. What travellers tell us is that they have either loved or hated are the people. We are looking forward to live it for ourselves.

We have been told that internet connections are extremely slow and not really worth trying there, so don’t expect much news in the next month or two. We will try and update the blog again on our next visit to Nairobi.

The man-eaters of Tsavo National Park

Tsavo Park reconciles us with East African National Parks. Although the staff at the Malindi’s Kenya Wildlife Office were neither pleasant our helpful, the rangers at Sala Gate were cheerful and welcoming. The park itself is well maintained and the game plentiful.

We arrived at noon and drove along the Galana River for a few hours, and even though it was midday we saw waterbuck by the dozen, elephant, impala, dik-diks, hippos, zebra, crocodiles, a Goliath Heron and an Egyptian Vulture. We stopped for a picnic of bread, cheese and tomatoes next to the river, being careful that there were no crocs, hippos or lions near us. We had been out of the car a few minutes when we heard a rumbling sound and saw dust rising about one hundred metres away… buffalo! Fortunately they were actually running away from us, and not towards us.

Lunch spot by the Galana river

40km of uneventful tracks took us south of the river to the Aruba dam where we soon spotted a lioness under a tree. As far as we know it could have been a lion. We are not sure because the male Tsavo lions do not have manes. It is said that their higher than average testosterone level causes them to be less hairy. It also makes them more aggressive than average, and the story “the man-eaters of Tsavo” known from the movie “Ghosts in the Darkness” illustrates the point. It tells of 2 lions that ate their way through 147 workers of the Ugandan railway at the beginning of the 20th century!

The Ugandan railway line on the edge of the Tsavo National Park : 147 of the workers who built it where eaten by 2 lions ("the man-eaters of Tsavo") at the beginning of the 20th century!

Of course, we stopped the engine to look at our lion at leisure. When she stood up for a stroll, we tried to start the car again to follow her…but the car wouldn’t start! Oh oh… it has happened before: the immobiliser. Simple enough to fix, but in order to do so Steve has to get out to open the bonnet and disconnect the battery. With the lion less than 20 meters away it is out of question….
The lioness finally taking a stroll... thus allowing Steve to get out of the car to fix the immobiliser

After sometime the lion walked a bit further away. Then two safari vehicles arrived from a nearby lodge. They were too busy watching the lion to imagine our situation and the lion busy watching them. Steve decided to get out of the car (with Caro keeping a worried watch over the landscape of tall yellow grasses) and fixed the car!

Quite an adrenaline rush!

The rest of the day was more peaceful, with the highlight being the sight of hundreds of red elephants and buffalo on the Kwanderi swamps and a giraffe scratching its ear.

Red elephants

Rush hour in Tsavo National Park

VIDEO of the giraffe scratching its ear

PHOTO of Steve removing the immobiliser in Nairobi.

Lamu

Lamu’s remoteness is a huge part of its charm. The archipelago is close to the Somalian border and no cars are allowed on the islands. As a result the town is quiet, the streets very narrow, and there are donkeys everywhere; carrying materials and people in the same way it must have been for centuries.

We left Scarlet at the small but busy harbour of Mokowe. After spending the night we boarded the first small ferryboat departing in the morning, which took us across the Lamu Town in 30 minutes for Ksh50 each.

The small but busy harbour at Mokowe

We walked the streets slowly for hours, watching people going about their businesses, visiting beautifully refurbished old Swahili houses (now mostly hotels) and the interesting ethnological museum. We ate coconut rice, chipatis, pilau and fish curry in local canteens (where Caro was the only woman) and wondered about the quality of the tap water while relishing the conversations and atmosphere. What we enjoyed the most was siting for hours on the fort’s steps and watching town life on the main square.

VIDEO of people passing by on the main square.

Lamu's main square

View of the main square from the fort

The fort's entrance

Lamu's streets

Shella beach

One evening we went to the local cinema to watch a Bollywood movie. The pirate DVD was scratched and kept skipping during the first song. People started complaining loudly and eventually the disc was changed and the movie carried on. The seats weren’t very comfortable and people laughed out loud or commented on scenes while smoking their cigarettes. There were a few other women in the audience, although it is the afternoon screenings which are reserved for women.

We also met a local, really an expat from Yemen, who invited us for a drink followed by a visit to his shop. He was selling perfumes and bui-bui, the black robes and veils most Lamu women wear in public. He got Caro to try one on. The shop assistant was very helpful helping me put it on, but I wondered what she thought of the whole scene.

Caro's new clothes - the bui-bui

Our new friend then invited us to his house for a modest dinner of bread, honey and sweet tea. His home he shared with his aging mother and the two shop assistants. He spoke a lot, and although his English was far better than our Swahili or Arabic, we struggled to really understand each other. We gathered that he was busy refurbishing his house and transforming it into a hotel, which we believe will be very nice when finished. We suspect he may have been practicing his English with us, as well as advertising his future guest house. He had also quite obviously been chewing miraa, a legal narcotic, and was becoming very animated and obviously in for a long sleepless night. So when he invited Steve to share a miraa mastication session we had to use treasures of imagination and diplomacy to refuse politely. We felt bad refusing, as he had been so generous with us, but this miraa seems a bit hectic . It is a root chewed by many people in East Africa (mostly men it seems) and it seems to be quite a potent drug judging by our new friend’s glazed eyes and his strange stories of being transported to the White House and chatting with Barak Obama and a golden eagle…

We are amazed at how popular Barak Obama is in Tanzania and Kenya. There are stickers of him on every matatu (bus), prints of his portraits on women’s kangas (sarongs), etc. It seems that people’s expectations are huge, although we haven’t found out yet what these expectations are…