Hi all!
My husband and I want to tour from Nairobi, Kenya to Addis, Ethiopia but have heard many conflicting stories about safety on the roads in North Kenya.
Has anyone done this route recently that can confirm it is safe for us to tour alone?
Also, is it possible to get a visa with a South African passport at Moyale border post or must this be done in Nairobi?
Thank you in advance!
Clare and Ray

I just rode down from Addis to Nanyuki via Moyale and wasn't even a sniff of trouble. The road is brand new so you can go a fair lick and everyone seemed very pleasant. I met a couple who had driven the Lake Turkana route from Ethiopia and they were also still alive.

Just out of curiosity....are you saying that all the way from Addis to Nairobi is now paved?

That's correct Brend, tar all the way.

There's a tar road, yes ... but of course you don't have to take it. The routes around the east and west sides of Lake Turkana remain unpaved. They can be difficult routes, however, depending on vehicle and experience, so research thoroughly.

__________________
http://ridefar.typepad.com

I'm just about to post our blog update in the appropriate section
for the eastern lake Turkana route.
If anyone thinks a detailed report on conditions and timings, would be useful here, I'd be happy to post one.

Hi wickychicky,
did you make it to Ethiopia from the eastern side of Turkana? i am planning to drive there next month. Did you have a hard time crossing Fort Banya at the border because you did not get an exit stamp on passport from Kenya authorities? (i heard that you cannot get one at this border crossing and that the Ethiopian immiagration may refuse entry because of that).
Also, how is the road on the eastern side of Turkana? in really bad state? are there interesting tribal villages along the way there?
thanks!

Hi there!

It's an amazing trip! Ride Far has given the most pertinent info on your other thread here: http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...ethiopia-95124

On a different forum I wrote a detailed report, which you can find here. Part 1 covered the entry problems people were experiencing for Ethiopia and some other background info, for your part of the trip, these paras are the interesting ones re passport and carnet stamps outside of Nairobi:

... We dashed off south to Eldoret to get our carnet and passports stamped. It was extremely fortunate that when the Head of the Revenue Authority had replied to my email enquiry he had included the right team in Eldoret, because when I got there, they were all out at an external meeting and the junior of the team told us our request was impossible: the vehicle has to be viewed on the day it leaves the country. When I said I'd spoken to the Head, including his name, he raised his eyebrows and asked us to sit down. An hour or so later he stamped and signed our carnet after kindly calling the right people and they told him what to do.
Another strange situation at the passport office when the department head said there was no need to stamp us out, as our permitted time in Kenya expired in a couple of weeks, despite our East Africa visa being valid for another 6 weeks. He told us the border officer must have been rather inexperienced as he would always stamp tourists in for the maximum allowable time. While we found this all a bit strange, we were happy not to have a stamp in case we arrived in Ethiopia and they were still demanding huge, unaffordable deposits for entry.

In part 2 I noted down kms and timings and quality of road:
Up the east side of Lake Turkana (Part 2)

If you need any other info, just let us know!
Hope you have a great trip!