Kenya’s Desert, Wildlife, and Beaches in 15 Days – Day 5
After spending 2 nights in Nairobi, Richie, Aakriti, and I embarked on a safari. John drove the customized 4 x 4 pop-up top Land Cruiser jeep and Jumah cooked for us. Firstly, we headed to Nanyuki visiting Ol Pejeta Conservancy on the way. Read about it here. Then, we enjoyed our first ever game-drives in Buffalo Springs and Samburu National Reserves on the way to Marsabit. You can read about it here. In Marsabit National Park, we stayed in Marsabit Lodge for a night before we started our journey to Loiyangalani. It is a small town located on the southeastern coast of Lake Turkana in Kenya. Have you ever heard of Lake Turkana? It is the world’s largest permanent desert lake and the world’s largest alkaline lake.
Highlights of the Day
- Visit Paradise Lake in Marsabit National Park
- Drive to North Horr
- Arrive in Loiyangalani
- Overnight in Palm Shade Resort in Loiyangalani
Paradise Lake in Marsabit National Park
The entrance fees of Marsabit National Park are 30$ for a non-resident adult and 350 ksh for an adult citizen. The special camping site fee for a non-resident adult was 25$. The same costs only 200 ksh for an adult citizen.
Marsabit National Park is a remote mountainous paradise located in Kenya’s desert northern frontier. The park encircles the massive extinct volcano known as Mount Marsabit. Marsabit Mountain is a natural phenomenon, born out of volcanic fire and shaped by mist. The park has three crater lakes. We arrived in the park on the previous evening and stayed in the non-functional Marsabit Lodge. It is located right next to the Crater Pan Lake.
Chalbi Desert
We left Marsabit National Park and fueled up the vehicle in Marsabit town. Then we started exploring the virgin northern Kenya as we entered a completely different topography. As John kept driving, we came across an eerie landscape edged by rocky lava flows. Also, we could see cracked earth and a sandy mixture of white salt and clay. This is Chalbi Desert, which is located on the east of the remote Lake Turkana. It is the northern frontier of the country.
Tip: Carry enough dry food and water as there are no decent restaurants on the way. Also, very few shops were open in the villages on the way.
Loiyangalani and Palm Shade Resort
Loiyangalani mean “a place of many trees” in their native language. The village has 1,000 inhabitants. It is a meeting point of the great northern tribes – Turkana, Samburu, Gabbra and El Molo. The little village is one of the most exotic corners of Kenya. It is completely worth the long 9-h rough journey from Marsabit National Park.
In Loiyangalani, we headed to Palm Shade Resort where they offered us beautiful and secure campsite. It was green, spacious, and the best part was that it was not far from the lake shores, so we could actually went out to catch some amazing golden sunset views. We could use the shared bathrooms which were really clean. We paid only 500 ksh per person for using the campsite only, as we had our own tents. The resort also offers villas with private bathroom at a little extra rate.
Total distance covered: 300 km.
NET EXPENSE FOR 1 PERSON (IN USD)
Let us have a look at the expenses of Day 5 in Kenya – From Marsabit National Park via Chalbi Desert to Loiyangalani.
- Camping site fee: 5
- Miscellaneous: 10
- Petrol: 25
Total expense (roughly): 40 USD
For a more customized itinerary, whether for solo or couple or group of any number of people, feel free to contact me on Contact Us page.
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Lovely to read about Marsabit NP and also Chalbi Desert, neither of which we’ve visited during our trips to Kenya. It’s great to find out about less known itinerary options for a Kenya safari. Paradise Lake looks beautiful and the Chalbi landscape quite unique.
Kenya is more than Maasai Mara to me.
What an amazing adventure! The beauty of the desert is so unique and marvelous, the sunsets are simply stunning. The palm shade lodge looks wonderful and rustic, loving the palm thatched roofs.
Yes, it was a different-worldly experience.
You’re right – that sunset view over Lake Turkana is simply magical. I love traveling through the desert. To me the desert is magical and completely underrated. It sounds like you had a fabulous adventure!
Yes, it was a very different one.
You are very brave dear for having this adventure and I admire your dedication. And i am surprised that your adventures doesn’t need to cost arms-and-legs! Am excited to read your next post Day 6 and beyond.
Love you for such motivation.
Kenya is one of the places I’ll visit in 2019 and I really enjoyed reading this. It’s very likely that I’ll go for this safari too. I’m so glad I came across this article!
I am glad you found it helpful.
Wow this Kenya Safari looks amazing! I love the pictures that you posted because they really show the experience well.
Going to Kenya or South Africa for a safari is very high on my bucket list – I’m really surprised about the cost. I imagined that it would be a lot more than this!
Thank you for sharing your article. Definitely inspired me to look in more detail and sorting my trip to Kenya out.
Thanks. I am glad to know that.
Kenya is one of the places in my bucketlist for 2020! I would like to try the safari too for sure! It looks so fun to do! wow!
You got to contact me before you plan. I have been there in depth and details.
Your Kenya safari looked like it was very hot and dry. I love that you showed different animals that the typical safari tours. To me that says that this tour was very authentic and respected the animals in their natural habitats. Kenya is on my 2019 must-travel-to list so I’ll have to keep this in mind. I also love that the tour took you to different villages when you got to immerse yourself into the culture.
Martha, I will show more of Kenya (the ones from the south – the famous Maasai Mara) in a few week’s time. I am sure you would love those experiences too.
Safari in Kenya is definitely on my bucket list. Your narration was lovely and refreshing. The sunset is so beautiful. I like that you have given all the important details id need
Thanks Sinjana.
Wow! Magical Kenya and amazing photos. These are places I have to visit!
Yes you must David.