I’ll never forget the sense of despair I felt looking out of the window as my flight into Lodwar airport descended, the town’s barren landscape masked in typical desert-like terrain of arid scrub-land.
Lake Turkana had long been on my bucket list, and in just a couple of hours I’d be strolling along the white sandy beaches of the Jade Sea as the lake is commonly referred to.
Yes. Lake Turkana has about 290 km stretch of beach.
This makes it the world’s largest desert lake.
Turkana county met all of my expectations.
Well, except for one—I imagined a neglected region with really nothing but sand and sun, but I was wrong.
Certainly, two nights and three days in Lake Turkana provided me a nuanced perception of the northern frontier region, notwithstanding one I want to build upon on future trips to other parts of the county.
What's Covered in This Article
Where to Stay in Lake Turkana
Turkana County and northern Kenya as a whole has largely been neglected by sitting governments.
So I expected it to be such a pain to get any decent kind of accommodation.
But a quick Google search proved otherwise.
If you’re looking for a boutique stay in Lake Turkana, I recommend the Eliye Springs Resort where we stayed; otherwise, there other options as well.
Located on the Western shores of Kenya’s Jade Sea, and 65KMs from Lodwar town, Eliye Springs boasts of 3 types of accommodation:
Simple Rooms
The rooms are self contained and come equipped with mosquito nets and are ideal for the traveler who has a phobia for the outdoors.
I didn’t get a chance to stay in any of the rooms so can’t report on the experience.
But I guess I’d recommend it for the less-adventurous traveler.
As you can see from the photo below it has doors.
Bomas
These are basically beach-facing modernized Turkana hats in their own compound – boma.
For those open to splurging just a little bit, I would recommend the bomas.
They are are luxurious, and well equipped with reading chairs and tables, as well as sun chairs and tables on the terrace which also happened to be my favorite spot to watch the sun rise every morning.
That they were right by the beach gave us the benefit of the cool breeze on very hot nights with temperatures reaching highs of forty degrees centigrade.
Our experience here was amazing!
Well, except for the mosquitoes. Damn! They were uncontrollable. Not even with a mosquito net. I think they found their way from the bottom on the manyatta.
The one we stayed in was right at the beach and had modern amenities like hot shower, wash basin, and toilet.
As you can see from the pictures, the Manyatta has a sheer curtain in place of a door to maximize effects of the incoming breeze from the lake.
This wasn’t an issue for us but may be an issue for the less-adventurer types.
However, the manyatta has an outside “fence” made of reeds much like any typical Turkana boma.
You can also see on the right hand side there is a lockable gate for extra security.
3. Manyatta
The Manyattas are almost similar to the bomas except that they have external shared bathrooms and do not have a compound of their own.
I didn’t get to experience them, so again no reviews there.
4. Tents
Lastly, there is the option of camping right by Eliye beach if this your preferred option and you love the outdoors.
How to Get to Lake Turkana from Nairobi
You can get to Lake Turkana either by road or by air.
Since I was traveling with my 9 year old, we decided to take a SafariLink flight from Nairobi – Wilson airport. SafariLink flies five times weekly to Lodwar starting with promotional fares of $96 up to $185 one way.
They also offer discounted rates for kids which cost about $15 less than the adult fare. This is the option I went with.
Upon arrival at Lodwar, we were picked up in a 4 wheel drive car by the resort driver with whom we had made prior arrangements.
This is a must especially if arriving by air.
We drove about 15 km on tarmac road before descending onto a sand road for the rest of the ride to the resort by the shores of Lake Turkana.
Things to do in Lake Turkana
1. Watch sunsets and sunrises
Unlike other tourist locations, Lake Turkana is one of those hard-to-reach attractions hence rarely crowded at any point in time. There’s nothing as annoying as having to crane your neck over 100 other people just for a glimpse of the action.
2. Take a day trip to Central Island National Park
This was the most spectacular and adventurous part of our entire trip to Lake Turkana.
To get to Central Island from Eliye, we rented a boat from the resort. A small boat costs about Kshs 18,000 to rent so works best if there’s many of you and you split the cost among yourselves.
The trip to Central Island takes a minimum of 2 hours one way depending on how choppy (or not) the waves are. On the day we went, the waves were really busy but we still went anyway. It was a scary ride to say the least. But the view that awaited us upon arrival was well worth it.
Central Island National Park boast of 3 main attractions:
- Flamingo lake,
- Tilapia lake, and
- Crocodile lake
Crocodile lake in Central Island is home and breeding ground to the largest population of crocodiles in the whole world.
We docked our boat by 2 or 3 crocodiles and proceeded to climb up to Flamingo lake. Unfortunately, on the day we went there was zero flamingos as they had migrated to other places.
What a disappointment. But the views were still amazing.
3. Overnight camp at Central i
Island
Aside from the day trip, there is the option of camping at Choroo campsite which is by the shores of Central Island.
The advantage of camping overnight is that you get a chance to get to Crocodile lake at dawn before the fishermen and everybody else get here.
We were disappointed to get here in the afternoon only to find only 2 brave crocodiles as the rest had gone into hiding under water for fear of the fishermen that were busy fishing here.
4. Spend time beach bumming by the shores of the lake
Unlike most beautiful beaches in Kenya and world over, the beaches at Lake Turkana were unspoiled and uncrowded.
For the 3 days we were visiting, my son and I had the beach entirely to ourselves.
Early mornings and late afternoons, the locals would come for a dip and that was pretty much it.
The staff at Eliye would also visit the beach every so often to cool off before going on with their work at the resort.
Otherwise, the beach was quiet, and the waters very warm.
But I also liked the fact that we could walk inwards into the lake for like 500 meter stretches.
I hope I was able to convince you to consider the northern frontier for your upcoming escapade.
Do you need further advise on how to plan and enjoy your trip? Feel free to contact me above or ask your questions in the comments below.
