Hello,

Just wondering if anyone has details of where to get our carnet stamped when we travel from Ethiopia to Kenya via Lake Turkana?

I read something about getting it done in the Times Towers in Nairobi?

Thanks!

Ask Chris at Jungle Junction (the overlanders' campsite in Langata, Nairobi). But yes, it is done in Times Tower- though with help from Jungle Junction it will be much easier. Also read this post from the Slow Donkey blog

GEEKS: Kenya, Nairobi, Jungle Junction. Thursday 24 September. Week 21, day 158. | Slow Donkey

If coming from Omorate, Ethiopia down the eastern side of Lake Turkana make sure you have sufficient water and fuel (and food) for at least 1,000 kms - and are mechanically sound. This route is far from help, and it is tough even in a 4x4.

Also, you need to sign in at the police post at Ileret, Kenya (the first settlement you come to in Kenya) and make sure your details are recorded in the Incident Book. This is in case the Immigration authorities in Nairobi ask how you entered Kenya and need proof.

You will need to register your arrival with Kenya Immigration once you arrive in Nairobi. This is done at Nyayo House in central Nairobi. Then Customs at Times Tower also in central Nairobi where you will also have to pay for foreign vehicle road tax.

Have you already organised COMESA Third Party insurance in Addis? If not, you will need to obtain Kenya Third Party Insurance - and you are likely to get stopped by the police en route to Nairobi to check your insurance. The likely first place you will be able to obtain Kenyan Third Party insurance is Nanyuki. When we did this route down Lake Turkana from the north, we had arranged COMESA Yellow Card insurance beforehand as we were aware of the problem of entering Kenya down the Lake Turkana track and the issue of Third Party insurance.

Thanks so much for the info!

I have just completed a journey to Lake Turkana from Uganda and back with a couple of friends.

They are building a wind-park at Loyangalani so you can travel on tarmac to Isiolo, continue on the new tarmac road to Moyale and exactly 94km (!) before reaching Marsabit there is a junction left with a piste leading directly to lake Turkana / Loyangalani.

This piste is not yet on many maps like Michelin, Worldmapping-project or Open-Street-Map. Might be on google but believe me, it is there and smooth !

As heavy trucks are passing there to transport parts for the windpark, they grade it everyday and you can easily travel at 100km/h on it. The last 30km to Loyangalani is a horrible rocky piste though which took me 2 hours arriving in the middle of the night !

I was travelling on a tiny 100cc Bajaj bike so you can do it with every vehicle. From Loyangalani on it gets sandy though, specially if you are planning to cross the Chalib desert. There is fuel, water and food in Loyangalani at any time and if you go to that last hotel before continueing to Ethiopia on the exit of town ( don´t remember the name but its the biggest place in town near the football "stadium" ) you can rent a nice hut for 10$ with warm shower and access to a proper swimming-pool fueled by a natural spring. You can also fill up at a newly build petrolstation at the junction I was mentioning on the Moyale tarmac road.

That piste will only be graded daily until the windpark is finished, which will happen probably in the next months.

Greetings from Kampala,
Chris

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