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Border Crossing at Tarakea

January 17th – 20th, 2022

The drive from Twiga Lodge in Usa River to the Tarakea border post is a pleasant one. After driving a while on the busy Arusha – Moshi road we turned off, up towards the green foothills of Kilimanjaro. The road is in good condition with not much traffic as it winds in and out of little valleys and around lush verdant hills. This dropped us pretty much right into Tarakea, a small border town. 

The usual border post to use from the Arusha area to Kenya is Namanga, but we are sticking with our “small borders if possible” policy. And if you cross at Namanga the only road to our destination of Amboseli is the C103, notoriously corrugated and rough when coming from the west. 

The Tarakea border on the other hand is not even an hour from our destination. And where is that you might ask? Well, on the morning of departure it was still unconfirmed. Last minute we had decided try to visit the Kimana Sanctuary, a small private wildlife conservancy adjacent to Amboseli. It forms part of an important wildlife corridor from the Amboseli area to the adjacent Chyulu Hills and Tsavo area. 

I had emailed Kimana on Sunday, and now that it was Monday, we were hoping to hear back that they had availability. As it happened, they did. I got an email from the very efficient Annie in their office, complete with a link to pay by credit card. This is a luxury, as throughout Kenya Mpesa, mobile money through your cell phone is the preferred payment method.

Rolling into the border, we were directed by security where to park. The Tanzania side was easy, and in less than 10 minutes we were waved on to the Kenyan authorities. Security on this side did make a half hearted attempt to ask for a “gift from America,” but when we declined, we were given a smile and directed where to park.

Immediately we were hounded by two touts, who wanted to help us through the border process. This is common, and annoying. Crossing at these small borders is usually easy and requires no runners, assistants or fixers. They always latch onto us and follow us around telling us what to do and where to go, no matter how much you protest. This is all done with no mention of the inevitable fee they want at the end.

We told them both very clearly that we did not want their services and we would not pay them, even if they helped us. This initial resistance is always ignored, but after a few times the older one believed us and wandered off. 

One good consequence of covid has been that there are now hand washing stations everywhere in Africa, and since one’s hands get dirty often here, we use them all the time. After we washed our hands, we went to the first stop, Health Inspection. We only had hours to go on our 72 hour window from PCR testing, but the Health Officer was unconcerned and stamped our certificates. 

Next was immigration. We had East Africa visas pre-approved (good for Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda), and they were able to stamp us in quickly. It seemed they were ready to issue new visas on the spot, though officially Kenya requires an e-visa, pre-applied for and approved.

The last step is Customs. We handed over our carnet, which we obtained exclusively because Kenya requires them for entry. We had also used it in Zambia to avoid having to extend a Temporary Import Permit (TIP), which in Zambia is only issued for 30 days at a time. The customs officer was not at all happy that we had not used it in Tanzania; she was worried that it would look like she was allowing direct import from Zambia to Kenya, without Tanzania in the middle. For a moment we were worried this was going to be a big issue.

Then a guy wearing skinny jeans and a t-shirt came in and started riffling through the binders and ledgers, looking for something, but not looking at all like the formally dressed officers. He caught wind of the conversation and more or less told them it was totally fine and to just process the carnet as normal. Lucky for us, they accepted his advice.

This brought us to the last step, the foreign vehicle permit (FVP). This is a sort of road tax required in Kenya, in addition to the carnet. We were instructed by the customs officer to head off with Mr. Skinny Jeans to get our FVP. They said when we had that in hand, they’d give the final stamp of the carnet and we’d be off.

Skinny Jeans was actually named James, and we were lead by him past the boom marking the official entry into Kenya, outside the border area. During this process we walked back and forth across this security barrier, in and out of no-man’s land, a few times, and nobody said a word. 

We went to a tiny little plywood booth that sold phone accessories, where he had a laptop and a printer at a little desk in the back. A testament to James’s skill, he finally convinced the runner who had followed us this far to leave us. He also seemed very knowledgeable and efficient, and in not too long he had our FVP for us. Back at customs he handed this over, they finished the paperwork, and we were in Kenya.

Why or how this third party, James, was part of the entry process was not clear, but it certainly seemed to work. The FVP was $42 dollars for a one month permit, renewable. James charged us $2 USD for his services, with an official invoice and receipt.

I asked him if I could buy a sim card for my phone, and he said sure. He walked out on the street and chatted with one of the boda boda (motorcycle taxi) drivers, who pulled his sim out of his phone and handed it to me. How much? “That’s between you and him,” James said. I asked the boda boda driver, and he answered with 1000 KSH, which is about $9 USD. I countered with 500, and he said “sure.” Deal done. I didn’t have any shillings yet, but James said he’d pay him and then add that to our mounting bill.

This all happened with fantastic efficiency. Kenya’s border officials and James had really given a great first impression of our visit to Kenya. After settling up with James, we headed north from the border on a nice tar road. Theoretically this area has a fantastic view of Kilimajaro, but the mountain remained elusive, hidden stubbornly in the clouds.

Kimana Sanctuary

It isn’t far to Kimana Sanctuary, not even 30kms, and we cruised along noting the small differences a border can bring. Notably, among other things, a lot more covid masking than in Tanzania. Right before the turn to Kimana we encountered our first elephant fence across the road. How do you have an elephant fence that crosses a road?

There are two telephone poles on either side of the road with an electrified fence running to them. The electrified wire runs up to the top of the high poles and across, high enough that trucks and busses can pass underneath. Then there are long wires dangling down in a curtain from this top wire, ends hanging loosely about two meters above the ground. 

This allows bicycles and boda bodas to pass underneath, but vehicles muss pass through very slowly as the wires drag across them. The tires insulate the vehicles, but if an elephant tries, it will get a shock. So perhaps not elephant proof, but elephant resistant anyway. 

These barriers are where a wildlife corridor crosses the main road, to enable the elephants to migrate but also to discourage them from getting to nearby farms or housing. Such are the realities of human-wildlife conflict and living with these animals.

Turning off we arrived at the Kimana gate in short order. We were greeted by a ranger who checked us in. Remarkably the booking that we had only just paid this morning had showed up on his computer. This sort of efficiency is not common at park gates, and we were impressed. He proceeded to give us a really detailed and helpful briefing on Kimana, our stay and our campsite. Where to get water, where the animals are usually concentrated, what not to do, what we can do, etc. This is totally unheard of, and I was very appreciative of his professionalism, knowledge and the detail he went into.

We also received an off-road permit, how fantastic! These are noted on their website as costing quite a lot, but he said they sometimes give them to campers who are staying at Kimana. The permit is only for sightings, not for general exploration, and we felt privileged. It is very unusual to be allowed to drive off designated tracks. He also said we were welcome to night drive, which he said would be our only real chance at seeing the resident leopard, sighted just yesterday.

This flood of information and atypical freedom really got us excited about our stay here. On top of all this we were provided with the unusual luxury of a map, and with our booking confirmation, Annie had also emailed an excellent guide on how to drive safely around elephants. The professionalism and organization of Kimana really stands out. Sadly, camping will not be allowed here after March this year because a hotel company has leased the area where the campsites are located to build a lodge.

It was midday, outside prime game viewing hours, so we thought we’d check out our campsite first. Decent roads guided us into the mostly flat land of the sanctuary. The northern permitter of this small reserve, only about 5700 acres, is formed by a small river. This area has stands of tall fever trees, thick green grass and ample shade. It was here we found the Elerai campsite, one of only three in the Sanctuary. Each campsite at Kimana is private, an unfenced wilderness camp with a long drop toilet and enclosure for a bucket shower. In all other respects we had to be self sufficient.

The setting is beautiful. The grass has been trimmed at this large site, adjacent to the modest river. We relaxed and had lunch, watching numerous birds species as well as warthogs and impala gaze around us, with elephants viewable in the distance. Magic.

Rain showers were threatening, but the dark clouds lifted briefly, and we got a little tease of the snows of Kilimanjaro. What we saw looked very good, and we hoped we’d get a better view soon.

On our afternoon game drive we found wildlife to be plentiful, with lots of gazelle of both varieties, impala, warthogs, elephants and a herd of buffalo. The terrain is varied, particularly considering the small size of the sanctuary. Our campsite was so attractive and pleasant that we decided to head back early and just enjoy the evening at camp. 

This turned out very well. We watched wildlife from our camp chairs, including some elephants passing closer by, a pair of Verreaux Eagle owls, along with other smaller animals and common bird species. A large heap of wood sat at the campsite, and we thoroughly enjoyed an evening around the fire in this wilderness camp.

We’ve been on the road for a while now and have started to ease our stance on game viewing. Instead of rising before dawn and heading out and game viewing until sunset, we decided to enjoy more time at camp, letting the wildlife come to us. Over coffee and a proper breakfast we could see more elephants, and birdlife continued to be excellent. That morning we observed pied wagtails, a pair of very loud and territorial lilac breasted rollers, brown hooded kingfisher, Egyptian goose, fork tailed drongo, glossy ibis, hammerkop, hornbills and a few others that were too quick to spot. Amazing. 

The mountain remained with its head in the clouds this morning, so still no view of Kilimanjaro. Also, since Kimana is light on predators, we felt that took a bit of pressure off heading out at first light. Kimana is known for elephants. Whereas lions sleep about 20 hours a day, “conserving energy,” elephants eat almost 20 hours a day. This means they are almost always interesting to watch at any hour. 

From time to time a few of the big tuskers are known to enjoy spending time at Kimana; we thought perhaps we might get lucky and see one. A “tusker” or “super tusker” is an elephant with tusks so long they sweep the ground. Not far from camp we found a large breeding herd of elephants, with lots of little babies, and one particularly large elephant with a very nice set of tusks. We counted almost fifty elephants in this herd, and it was a pleasure to watch them browsing through the forest.

Moving on we continued to see good wildlife, eland and zebras and the other usual suspects. A ranger on foot waved us down. He said there had been lions sighted, did we want to see them? We did! He pointed at the only other vehicle in the park, saying they had a ranger with them and we could follow them. Off we went, and in not long we were utilizing our off-road permit, driving into tall grass. 

It was two young male lions, but they did not appreciate being watched and they kept walking through the tall grass. The first ranger we had seen had climbed a tree and was spotting the lions, directing the vehicles where to go. Eventually we broke off the chase, not wanting to drive through too much brush and because these lions clearly didn’t want anything to do with us. Still it was nice to see lions here and good fun to drive off road a bit.

The ranger who had been directing from a tree waved us down, asking for a lift. He pointed out that as there were lions near in the tall grass, it wasn’t safe for him to finish his foot patrol here. We picked him up and offered to bring him back to his base. 

On the way we were chatting and asked if any of the big tuskers were about. We mentioned that we saw a nice tusker this morning, and I showed him a photo from the back of my camera. He scoffed, mock offended, that I considered that a tusker. He asked, “Do you want to see them?” Of course we did. “I will organize for you.” Really?! That sounded great. He said he would ask around about their whereabouts, and we agreed to rendezvous at 1600 to see if we could track them down. This seemed fantastic to have a chance to see one of the few remaining super tuskers.

In particular one of the most famous, Craig, is known to inhabit Kimana frequently. Also Tolstoy likes it here, a relative of the famous super tusker, Tim, who regrettably passed away of natural causes not long ago. The gene for big tusks is hereditary, but due to poaching pressure, there are fewer and fewer big tuskers left. Less than 20 according to the Big Life Foundation, who keeps track of these sorts of things. 

After all this we retired back to camp for lunch. Some thick rain clouds were building north of us, and we pondered whether it would rain. Around about 1400 we saw Jonathan, the ranger, walking into camp. He pointed at the rain and said that we had better go look for our tusker early, before the rain made the roads impassable. We packed up from lunch quickly, and the three of us hopped in the Cruiser. 

Off we went, the sky getting ever darker, and the first rain drops began to smack against the windshield with vehemence. Jonathan was giving Jenny directions while I fussed with my camera gear, wanting to be ready in the event we got lucky. The rain came harder, and at this point it seemed lucky would just mean we didn’t get stuck. 

Jonathan was excited, telling Jenny to drive faster. He told us that the road we must take is black cotton soil, and if we don’t cross it before it gets too wet, we’ll get stuck for sure. He was almost bouncing in his seat, grinning, “Will we make it?!” 

The rain came hard. The wipers wiped furiously and we could still barely see, but the Cruiser was following the narrow track regardless. At one point Jonathan told Jenny to drive faster, but any increase on the accelerator just spun the wheels in the mud faster, not propelling us forward at any increase in speed. The Cruiser pulled through, and Jonathan declared us through the worst of it, though the road was still awash with two small streams of water in each rut, and rain pummeling down hard.

We went here and there, left and right and came to a place where a downed tree blocked the track. Jonathan and I got out in the downpour to survey. He declared it impassable and directed Jenny off road, weaving through rocks to go around the obstacle.

The rain deigned to ease from a torrent to mere downpour, and we rolled up to a rangers’ small outpost. Here two more rangers came out and consulted with Jonathan. They decided we should wait a bit for the rain to pass. This was all very suspenseful. Would we get stuck? Would the rain ease? Would we see the big tusker? Jonathan too seemed to be feeling the tension.

Finally the rain relaxed to a drizzle, and it was declared we could begin. The two other rangers set out on foot, and we were to follow in the Cruiser. After a little less than a kilometer we were told to stop, from here we’d all proceed on foot. 

It still drizzled. I tucked my camera and telephoto lens under my rain jacket, and we set out. The rangers said the bull herd had been closer, but in the storm they had moved to a swampy area, where they were now feeding.

After a bit of trudging through the mud, we were lead to the top of a small rise. Borrowing our binoculars they were able to spot one of the elephants among the leaves. Jonathan decided we were not close enough and we should go further. Walking off this rise and to the next, the rangers noted we were safer up in the rocks. We kept quiet as we marched in the rain, further and further from the safety of the LandCruiser and toward a herd of old bull elephants. It was invigorating to be tracking these big elephants on foot.

One elephant with very nice tusks emerged from the swamp, and by standing on some rocks and ducking around some thorns, we were able to get short, nice glimpses of him. One ranger stayed with us as the other two went out to scout the rest of the herd. All the rangers were smiling, clearly enjoying our afternoon’s adventure.

We moved closer, and they pointed out the biggest tusker, hidden behind some trees. They insisted that he would come out. We waited. Now it seemed that the rangers wanted us to get a good look, as a point of pride, not just a hazy photo of a grey elephant in the bushes.

The herd began to emerge from the swamp. One elephant sensed our presence and came over to the foot of our hill, ears wide signaling his unease, and trunk held high, sniffing to confirm our presence. One of the rangers whispered, “That is not good for our security.” and, “The vehicle is very far away.” We were all very quiet, and eventually this elephant was satisfied. Whether he decided we were not a threat or that he couldn’t confirm our whereabouts, I don’t know. 

And then the big one came. A huge elephant slowly moving out from the foliage, tusks reaching nearly straight down, hardly any taper to them at all. When he finally fully revealed himself, he was closer, and his tusks were incredible, long straight shafts of white ivory. 

This was the famous Tolstoy, flanked by other big bulls. What a sight. It was really exciting, and I got to perch on a rock and snap away with my camera. The rangers were excited too, I think glad that their efforts had paid off and that they too were getting a good show. 

After a while I had taken my fill of photos and we all agreed it was best we should get back to the vehicle before the herd cut off our retreat. We hiked over to the back side of the hills, out of view of the herd, while excitedly discussing our sighting.

The whole thing had been exhilarating. It seemed improbable that we’d have the good fortune to be in the right place and time to see one of the great tuskers in the first place. With the severe thunderstorm and hiking across the bush the whole thing had seemed pretty likely to result in a simple walk in the rain. We were super pumped, what a great experience.

We said our goodbyes to the rangers looking over this part of the park, tipping them for their service. Jonathan directed us back on a longer route, but on firmer ground so that we did not get stuck, and we dropped him off at his quarters. After that fantastic experience we decided to quit while we were ahead and forego the evening game drive. Half the roads were impassable from the rain now anyway. 

Back at camp we were able to continue our wildlife viewing, it seemed that the large herd of elephants we’d seen in the morning was working its way through the forest on the opposite side of the river. They’d noticed us and were keeping a wary distance. We watched elephants and birds, made a fire and enjoyed more great camp time. The pair of owls returned at dusk, they must be residents here. 

The campsite in Kimana was proving to be really excellent, taking the steam out of our usual game drive verve. But when the wildlife comes to you, in just a beautiful setting, it’s hard to convince yourself to leap up at zero-dark-thirty or finish the day late to cook dinner in the dark. We didn’t even take advantage of our night driving privileges.

As we were getting ready to retreat to the tent, the elephants started to get quite near. I wonder if they had been waiting for us to retire? We climbed into the tent and almost immediately one of the larger elephants started feeding right at the perimeter of the camp, not ten meters away. We could hear the chewing of leaves, his trunk ripping up grass, and the occasional elephantine rumble. It was absolutely enchanting to be able to sit in the security of our tent and watch this elephant so closely. 

A little later, when it was very dark, we could hear a couple of elephants in some sort of scuffle nearby. There was a trumpet and then clacking of ivory as their tusks clashed together. This went on sporadically for some time until our camp elephant friend made a fuss crossing the river and seemed to break up the fight. What a day.

The next morning I rose to finally get a view of Kilimanjaro. It seemed the thunderstorms we’d got had also given the mountain a nice dusting of snow, and we were able to see everything but the very cap of the mountain. Beautiful. 

As we packed up, a flock of very noisy violet wood hoopoes visited us, and we ticked yet another bird species in this ornithologically dense campsite.

On the morning’s game drive elephants, warthogs and antelope kindly posed in front of Kilimajaro for us. There was still high cloud cover, but this added a dramatic look to the tallest mountain in Africa. 

After a pleasant lap around Kimana’s 5700 acres we headed for the gate. We thought we’d head out towards where we’d seen Tolstoy the day before to see if we would luck out again. Instead, on the way we managed to get stuck in the mud, on the same track where we’d narrowly avoided getting stuck yesterday. A bit of shovel work and we were out though, not more than five minutes. The furious spinning of wheels deposited clumps of black cotton mud all over the cruiser, even on top of the solar panels.

Amboseli National Park

After checking out, we fueled up and got the car washed. Car washes can be found anywhere in Africa. Anywhere. Now to the famous Amboseli National Park. It was only a few kilometers down the road before we turned off onto the C103 that heads to the park’s main gate. Some kilometers of bumpy corrugations brought us to the entrance.

Surprisingly, the entry fee was cheaper than both our guidebook said and a blog we have been referencing frequently. That doesn’t happen very often! We checked in for only one night. Kimana had spoiled us, big tuskers, wilderness camping and views of the mountain too. But we couldn’t pass up this iconic park.

We had decided to only stay for a night since Kimana had been such a resounding success. This was enough time for an evening game drive and another the next morning. We had elected to stay inside the park for simplicities sake, even though by all reports the Kenyan Wildlife Service (KWS) campsite is quite modest. 

Amboseli is famous for elephants and for having a fantastic view of Kilimajaro. The mountain lies in Tanzania, but the best views are without a doubt from the Kenyan side. Amboseli is also very flat, and with most of the park being devoid of trees, you can see the mountain from almost anywhere, and herds of elephants are visible far across the plains. 

It had rained recently, and the park was green, not the dustbowl that we hear it sometimes becomes. In addition to the usual grazers, we lucked out and had a lion sighting pretty shortly after heading out. Lions are rare in Amboseli, and in Kimana they had even said that Amboseli’s lions had migrated out of the park. Not today I guess. The lions were busy sleeping, and pretty far off the road, so we let them be.

The rest of the drive was an endless parade of breeding elephant herds. So many elephants! And many well posed in front of that riveting mountain. We also saw greater and lesser flamingos, hyenas, buffalo, and a brief serval sighting. 

Hey, birds are cool too! It’s not all elephants and lions..

A few safari guides stopped their vehicles and chatted with us. We got the feeling that the safari guides here in Kenya are a bit more hip than those in Tanzania. A little younger, with big watches and carefully trimmed beards, sometimes even with sunglasses, rare among Africans. These cool guys were very friendly and almost always wanted to talk about our car. They loved the cruiser and really appreciated the effort it takes to drive all the way from southern Africa. 

There was severe flooding in the area a few years ago, and the central part of the park, where many of the fancy lodges are located, had flooded badly. This destroyed many of the lodges. Now we saw buffalo grazing in front of long abandoned chalets, zebras wandering among the wreckage and baboons sitting unmolested on verandahs. All very odd to see this ghost town of fancy safari camps. 

Back at camp for the night, we settled in. There was even another group of campers here, but plenty of room for all. The campsite is fenced, located in the same area as the rangers quarters. A camp attendant sold us some firewood, price negotiable, but we settled on 500 KSH. The ablutions were in a sorry state and had no water. I don’t think they expected to have any visitors. We took our own water to bush shower in their dry shower stalls, still very refreshing and nice. 

The next morning we were off again, heading for Observation Hill for brunch. The large herds of elephants we’d seen the evening before had dispersed somewhere else. Still there were plenty of elephant, hyena, various grazers, and bird life was really excellent. All the animals were very docile around the safari vehicles too, not jumpy at all. 

To Tsavo West via Lake Jipe

Brunch at the top of observation hill was wonderful. We brought binoculars and surveyed the plains around us, though the mountain was cloaked in clouds again. We couldn’t dally too long. We planned to drive to our next destination, Tsavo West’s Lake Jipe entrance. 

This is a little used gate at the southern end of Tsavo West National Park, but it is reportedly a scenic drive to get there and an idyllic, lakeside camp. On our way out of Amboseli we were treated to another lion sighting, this time seven or eight sleeping cats. They must have fed recently as there were grazers nearby, and they couldn’t be bothered to lift their heads.

The road to lake Jipe had us backtracking, not far, to where we’d crossed the border. Here we turned off onto a dirt road. This road had many moods, starting out rough and jarring, but frequently in very good shape and smooth going. It changed often as we cruised through scenic Kenyan countryside. We passed many farms with tall stands of maize ready for harvest and small villages with a few simple shops. Locals gave us genial waves as we passed by. 

Bumping along we continued to be educated by David Quamenn’s Spillover (yes, we are still working on it), now on the topic of HIV’s jump from primates to humans. Remarkably scientists have documented at least twelve different times HIV has spilled over to humans. Twelve times. Our minds reeling with this information, after some time Lake Chala came abeam. This was intended to be our lunch stop, but we were hours late. We stopped for a look. 

From the road Lake Chala is invisible, just a hill. Now there is a clear signpost, and we were surprised to find a gate with a man asking for a fee. In the past, we understand, this has been a free attraction, but some industrious locals are turning it into a small business. 

It looked fairly official though, with fees posted and a small parking area. They wanted to us to park and they’d run us up to the lake on boda bodas, but we demurred, telling them that our lunch was in the Cruiser. They were fine with that. We paid our fee and drove the narrow track up to the lake.

Lake Chala is a crater lake, about 4 sq. kilometers in area. Interestingly it has no rivers flowing into it. All water is fed from underground inflows, chiefly from Kilimanjaro. The lake straddles the border of Kenya and Tanzania, and we made coffee and had lunch looking across at Tanzania. 

A few locals were up there, customers of our friends down at the gate. The staff here are busy building a long drop, and their sign says they offer cold drinks and food, though I think that was aspirational, as we saw no facilities for this. Still the view was beautiful, and below us we watched falcons floating on the breezes of this steep sided crater lake.

We had to press on though. We were already late, as usual. Further south we briefly went back onto a tar road, finding it, the A23, to be brand new and not located quite where it was on the map. Africa is changing rapidly. We found our way, turning off after a few kilometers to continue heading to Lake Jipe. The road now is narrow dirt with steep ditches on the sides, evidence of the drainage needed to handle big rain. Making our way south we passed sisal plantations and land being cleared for more farms. Finally we arrived at Lake Jipe. A fence separates a nearby village from the park. We later learned from the rangers this fence isn’t to keep the wild animals in the park, but is in fact to discourage villagers from gazing their livestock within the park boundaries. 

Arriving at the gate we discovered quite a scene of construction. A ranger came out and greeted us. He was very friendly and professional. When we told him we wanted to camp, he was a little sheepish, knowing that the construction had disrupted this area quite a bit. He said that normally the public campsite is right there, he pointed at a tree, but now this was a car park with a pile of rubble and heavy equipment nearby. There was also a substantial construction crew living onsite. They were building new bandas, but for the time being the public campsite was in disarray. 

He understood this wasn’t ideal. He said we were welcome to camp, but if we did, he would still be required to charge us the full camping and entrance fee. I was very disappointed, having heard about nice lakeside camping here. Jenny had no such expectations and, reasonably, no interest in camping in a construction site.

She had noted on iOverlander that there was a lodge just outside the gate with camping, and we made to check it out. If it worked out, for a fraction of the price, we might camp there and then enter the park the next day. If it didn’t pan out, we could come back to the park. If we camped at the KWS Lake Jipe campsite in the park, we’d be subject to the full park and camping fees, $144 in total. 

Instead we ended up at the Lake Jipe Safari Lodge, which is maybe a kilometer up from the lakeshore. They were very happy to see us and welcomed us for a mere 2000 KSH. The facility had small bungalows, a bar and restaurant, a swimming pool and a small camping area on grass. This seemed an improvement, and we decided to stay here, again the only guests.

After a swim in the pool and a nice shower, the staff started a fire for us in the communal fire pit. We had a late dinner sitting around the fire. The night security guard had been stopping by to tend the fire, not trusting us with this task. His name was Elijah.

Every time he’d come by to add some wood or adjust the fire, he’d sit with us for a few minutes and chat and then head off on his duties. Later in the evening he stayed and chatted for a while, and we had a fantastic conversation with Elijah. Here are a few excerpts:

“Do you have campfires in America?” We explained that yes, we did. But also that we could cook inside on gas and had gas heat. 

We discussed wildlife, and as we were talking, we had the pleasure of hearing lions roaring not far away. He assured us we were safe, though we were not concerned, that there was a fence and that, “I am very comfortable with lions. They are very friendly animals. When I am tending my livestock and I meet a lion, we are friendly. If he has eaten and is resting you can walk to him. You see, I am Maasai. We know all the animals, how they behave, and we are friendly with them.” He went on at length about how nice lions were and how comfortable he was around them, even on foot.

As he explained the animals, and later village life and food, he frequently punctuated his explanations with, “Are you getting?” We were getting. I loved this.

Jenny, continuing an informal survey that she has asked others, “What about buffalos?” Elijah replied with a stern look, “Buffalo is not a friendly animal,” and left it at that. This coincides with all other answers we’ve received on the buffalo question. They appear to be big dumb cattle, but are actually dangerous and cantankerous animals, which is annoying, when a cow like animal wanders into your camp and you have to treat them as a mortal threat.

Directed at me, Elijah asked, “How many wives do you have?” 

I laughed, “Just one is enough for me!” 

We asked him if he had multiple wives. “My father, he has five. But me, I am not married.”

“A girlfriend?” Jenny asked. 

He giggled, “There is someone.” 

We asked if he wanted multiple wives. “Do you know the jerry can? The one for fetching water?” We did. 

“The jerry can holds ten liters, no more. My heart is like a jerry can, it is full. Full of my love for my girl, there is no room for any other. It is full, so for me, there is only one wife.” 

This, we thought, was fantastic, and since then Jenny and I have been declaring to each other, “The jerry can of my heart is full of my love for you.” Happy Valentines Day.

Nitty Gritty

Border Formalities

Pretty much as I described above. We had no issues going through, except the short concern about the carnet. We didn’t use it in Tanzania because in Tanzania all vehicles are required to get a TIP anyway. If you were going to keep your vehicle in Tanzania for longer then perhaps using a carnet would be advised.

Even when entering Kenya using a carnet for the vehicle everyone also must get a foreign vehicle permit (FVP). These are usually issued for two weeks, but we asked for longer and they offered one month. This is renewable. Jamez said he could renew it for us and we can Mpesa him the fee. It can also be renewed at Kenya Revenue Authority offices, but not all of them, only those in major centers. We have yet to renew (due in two days…), so I can’t confirm how this goes. I also don’t know how this works if you store your vehicle in Kenya, at Jungle Junction, for example. 

SIM cards in Kenya

My understanding is that SIM cards need to be registered to your passport. Last time we came in 2018 it proved to be extraordinarily difficult to get one as a foreigner, and after several unsuccessful visits to various Safaricom outlets I finally just bought a SIM off a local, registered in his name. This time around we got one SIM from Johanna, who had kept theirs from Kenya, and a second one from the boda boda driver. He also provided all his details so that I could set up Mpesa. I assume this is not legal, but I can’t imagine how it’d get us into trouble. Without all the personal details, name, pin, identity number, etc, you cannot set up/use Mpesa. [edit: I have been informed that you can easily get a new sim registered as a foreigner at official Safaricom (or airtel) shops. This would make Mpesa easier to manage as well.]

Amboseli Park Fees

Amboseli Park fees are here, $60 USD pp per/24 hrs. Officially this is single entry, meaning that if you stay outside the park you have to pay again to enter for a second game drive, but unofficially we have heard of people staying at the community campsite outside the gate to be allowed double entry. Camping inside at the KWS public campsite is $30 pppn. The public campsite is rustic but functional enough. Ablutions were not all that clean, and there was no water, but that was a temporary state. The campsite is fenced and has a nice enough atmosphere, but isn’t a destination on it’s own for sure. Firewood available for purchase from the camp attendant. The KWS website for various parks is easy to use and look up fees for whatever. 

Kimana

It is tragic that camping will no longer be available at Kimana. Even so, assuming they continue to allow day visitors, it is well worth a day visit. Their website is here: https://www.kimanasanctuary.com. Camping was $50 pppn, which includes entry and firewood. For what you get this is a deal.

Given the new business charging for entry to Lake Chala I don’t think you could camp at the rim, as others have done in the past. The fee is 150 KSH per vehicle and 50 KSH per person. This is on the northern road on T4A. The road was in good condition, we did not see the southern road. Side note, what is up with the ‘per vehicle’ charges everywhere in Africa? This makes no sense to me…it’s no like it’s encouraging car pooling.

Kimana’s excellent write up on “how to drive around elephants” is below. Highly recommended:

Lake Jipe

Lake Jipe Safari Lodge is owned by the Lavender Garden Hotels. There are some unflattering reviews on iOverlander for this place and all those people are wrong. Or at least we felt so. We were charged 2000 KSH total for two people. Firewood included. Ablutions by the pool were decent, 3.5/5 with cold showers, the ablutions nearer the campsite were not good. 1/5. They told us to use the pool ablutions. Staff were very friendly.

I’m sure that when the bandas are done that camping at Lake Jipe within the park will be lovely once again. Note that you do need to pay park fees to camp here, in addition to the camping fee. As we arrived late in the day that didn’t make sense for us, when added to the construction site feeling.