Lake Turkana

Hi there,

I ve just come back from a trip from Lake Turkana's western shores and want to add some few remarks on what's in the LP (East Africa Version 2009). It might hopefully help you and others to assess more properly whether to go or not.
My trip was from Kitale to Lodwar and from there via Kalokol to Central Island NP.
For those who are planning the same route by public transport, some things you should consider:
From Kitale take one of the buses which depart in the morning (around 9am or so) if you want to see the landscapes between Kitale and Tamkal as there is no possibilty to do so on your way back. We took a night bus because we thought we could see these things on our way back but from Lodwar to Kitale ALL buses depart in the evening. Besides, there is no transport at all (unless you are extremely lucky to catch a private car) between any other city on the route except for Lodwar - Lokichar. So if you want to go from, lets say, Lokichar to Tamkal you will have to wait for a night bus. Private cars are really rare on that route.
Lodwar has reasonable guest houses on 'the main road' (where Eldorat Express departs) like the Suburb Guest House (self contained rooms for 400/700 KES single/double). The options in the LP 2009 are fairly out of town afaik.
We paid 8000 KES for the boat to Central Island (overnight) to give you clue. In fact, the island only has one path which is a dead end and takes around 3-4 hrs there and back. So there is actually no real need to stay overnight (there r too many mosquitos anyways :P ). And for us, the NP was a bit of a disappointment. The only 2 crocos we saw were around 1km away (from the top of a hill) although the Crocodil Lake is the only real accessible lake. For the Flamingo Lake, you wont b able to access it, same with the Tilapia Lake (although we didnt even bother to look for a path going to the second). The Flamingo Lake can b seen from top of another hill in the distance but is (as I said) actually inaccesible (at least officially. Dunno if its possible to descent to the lake from the hill since I hvnt tried it).
So basically, I feel that the LP is promising much more than what you should expect.
If you fly in, it might be quite pleasent. Otherwise I think its a bit too remote and only worth going there for the sake of having been somewhere that remote... But in terms of nature, I think Kenya has better places to offer (perhaps Lake Turkana's south-east for example, but havnt been there).

Hi Yesfan,

The posts on Central Island and Lodwar on the new Bunch of Backpackers website may be useful!