this is the life!

After paying our bill and bidding farewell to the other overlanders going southbound, we were off to Lake Turkana! Christoph and Chiho led the way in their Landy, followed by Thomas in his Land Cruiser and then us in Foxy. We stalled Foxy just as we were leaving the campsite, hopefully not a bad omen for the journey!

After a pleasant morning drive, we stopped at the Trout Tree Restaurant for lunch. Set amongst a forest (you eat in treehouse-type platforms), it has earned quite a reputation for being a popular weekend getaway for Nairobians. The setting was exquisite and we watched the monkeys play in the trees while we chomped on our tasty trout (lucky me, nobody ate their fish heads so I ended up with 5 on my plate).

We drove on a bit further and then stopped at the equator again, but this time on the Kenyan side. As if on cue, a mob of men selling t-shirts, Maasai Mara spears and other paraphernalia swarmed us. One of them, a jolly talkative fellow, was wearing a pin featuring Barack Obama, who is half-Kenyan. He claimed to have "family relations" with the Obama family and was evidently proud of it.

We arrived in Isiolo around dusk and headed for the recommended campsite in our guidebook. Unfortunately there was going to be a huge wedding reception there later that night, with over 200 guests, live music "until at least 3 or 4 in the morning", and even security guards checking everyone's invitations. An American diplomat was marrying a local woman and it seems everyone and their second-cousin was invited.

So we decided to retrace our path a bit and camp at Rangeland Camp instead, just outside Isiolo town. There was no water or electricity there and the staff members were simply quite rude. But we didn't mind. We were on a long road journey and it was only day one, and nothing could sour our mood.

Christoph got busy with his axe and we had bbq'd lamb chops and vegetable stew for dinner. Along with cold beers and Cokes (Thomas has an identical fridge/freezer like ours), we finished off with some dark Lindt chocolate around the campfire while admiring the stars. This is THE LIFE!


Start: Jungle Junction, Nairobi, KENYA. 09:30
End: Rangeland Camp, Isiolo, KENYA. 16:30
Distance Traveled: 295 km
Road Conditions: -
Temperature: dusty, cool