Does anyone want to convoy with us (Land Rover Defender) down the Omo Valley/Lake Turkana east side route? We are currently in Lalibela and will be in Addis on 30 November 2013. We would want to start down from Omorate on or about the 10th December 2013.

I have seen the thread about unrest at Lorogon, but that is well west of Lake Turkana.

Hello Wazangu,

We're planning to take this route next year so we can not join you. But we are looking forward to your report and experiences on this route. Do you have a website?

Kind regards,

Berry van Welzen

Hi,
We are in Konso now. We are with 2 belgian people who unfortunately has car problems (broken gearbox). We planned to drive the Turkana route together with them, but that is not possible anymore. The plan is that we pull them to Moyale and from there they put their car on a Isuzu truck and get to Nairobi where they get a new gearbox.
At this moment our plan is to drive the Moyale route. But it seems that the last days are a bit dangerous because of the end of the Safari Rally.
Anyway, we can drive back to Omo valley (omorate) after we pulled the Belgians to Moyale.
We need to be in Kampala the on 17th of December. Do you have interest to be a few days earlier in Omorate?
You can text or call us on our Ethiopian phonenumber: 00251936744397

Regards,
Hans en Dorien (Hans en Dorien | Op weg naar Kaapstad)

Sorry, we are already in Kenia.
Tommorow we go to Sumburu nat park.

Hope you find someone for the Turkana route

safe travels!

Hans en Dorien

I am currently in Khartoum, and would like to team up with someone to drive the Turkana route in late Dec 13 / early January 14. I will probably be in Addis around Dec 25-28, give me a shout if anyone is interested.

Planning to drive up north beginning/mid January, hope to see you in Nairobi/surroundings to hear about your experiences!
Good luck & safe travels!

We have just come down the eastern Lake Turkana route - two people in a Land Rover Defender. We had no problems, but make sure you are mechanically sound and are fully fuelled and with enough fresh water. The Ethiopian authorities at Omorate are friendly and helpful and the whole exit process from Ethiopia took half an hour. We wild camped in Sibiloi, and then camped at Koobi Fora (limited fresh water available). First fuel (from a barrel) is at Loiyengalani, but don't bank on there being fuel there - we had sufficient to get from last available fuel at Arba Minch in Ethiopia to Maralal/Isiolo in Kenya. We camped in Loiyengalani at Palm Shade, and then at "Samburu Sports Club" in South Horr. There was unseasonal rain here in the north, so we stuck to the main track from South Horr to Maralal via Baragoi. However, at Baragoi we picked up two armed policemen as there have been a few incidents in the stretch between Baragoi and Maralal. We are not sure this is wholly necessary. However, the police station at Baragoi were very helpful and we only gave a tip to the policemen (equivalent to a day's pay - approx 1000KSH each).

We called in at the police post at Ileret - the first settlement in Kenya - and ensured they recorded our arrival in the Incident Book. This was not for any safety reasons, but because there are no border controls on the Kenya side. This avoids any arguments with immigration officers in Nairobi (or police en route) - you can ask them to check with the police station at Ileret if they wish to argue about when you entered. Once we arrived in Nairobi, we went to Immigration (Nyayo House) and obtained our visas and were logged into the country. We then went to Customs (Times Tower) and did all the formalities involved in getting the vehicle into Kenya - Carnet and a "Foreign Vehicle disk". The whole process in Nairobi only took a morning.

This route down the Omo Delta and Lake Turkana is absolutely incredible and to be recommended, but you do need to be totally self-sufficient. We didn't see another car for 2.5 days, and did 616 miles without touching tarmac. The National Museums of Kenya staff at Koobi Fora are very helpful, as are the Kenya Wildlife Services rangers and wardens in Sibiloi National Park, but they are not there to rescue lost or broken down overlanders (although they would help in an emergency, I'm sure). It would be a long walk, however to either the Park HQ or Koobi Fora. We do recommend that you just swallow the cost and go through the Park. We also recommend the Tracks 4 Africa mapping. It is sound for the area, and includes many/most of the minor tracks.