Old Range; Broken Radiator; Jade Waters
Friday, January 6th, 2006THE IDEA:
Andrew Miller, aka. Kenya Pete, is a friend of mine who has been living in Kenya for the past year and a half. I told him that I would come to Kenya sometime during his Peace Corps stint so long as we would plan one hell of a trip to a region I had not visited. K.P. put together one hell of an adventure and I commend him on its logistical precision.
THE ASSEMBLAGE:
Correspondence had begun three months earlier to arrange all the pieces of our journey. The idea was to rent a car and drive to Lake Turkana, 500km to the North (known by some as Lake Rudolph or the Jade Sea). This is a remote area bordering Ethiopia and inhabited by the Samburu and Turkana tribes. It is the largest inland desert lake in the world, though the water is heavy in soda and salts. Jon Robbin from Providence joined in as number three and was crucial for his law abiding skills. As for the logistics, K.P. had become friendly with the white Kenyan community, which resulted in his introduction to Roving Rovers ltd. and the Birch’s who subsequently became our guides.
THE CAR:
Roving Rovers is owned by a Dutch Kenyan who has bought up a number of older Range Rovers and Defenders and put them to wrench and torch. The suspensions have been modified, jack points added to the rear and front, roll bars constructed within the body, spare fuel pumps, igniters, chokes, and roof racks on each. Our first car was a little lacking due to its recent purchase (this will be explained later). The cost of the car was $90 per day which included unlimited millage, mechanical support, insurance, etc. We were told that if the car was stuck anywhere in Uganda, Tanzania, or Kenya, a mechanic would make his best effort to travel and remedy the problem (which happened…)
THE GUIDES:
The Birchs were born in Kenya, but with British ancestry, and grew up traveling the country. Collin Birch’s father was a safari guide and thus, his experiance was extensive. They were recommended to K.P. by his boss at his NGO. The Birchs were well known as the experts on this region, having traveled there with clients for the past twenty years. Additionally, they owned a house boat on the lake and had a smaller fishing boat for deep sea Nile Perch catching. Believe it or not, they have only one of two houseboats in Kenya and the only one on the lake. So, they were truly the only ones we wanted to go with.
THE PLAN:
The plan was to drive North until we met them in a designated area. For three nights we were to travel in convoy to some of their favorite camping/hiking spots until reaching the lake. We would then spend two nights on the houseboat and fish if weather permitted. Afterwords, we would continue alone South hitting up Aberdare National Park and finally arriving home.
Read on for the day by day experiance.
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