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Across Tsavo West from the Lake Jipe Entrance

January 21st – 27th, 2022

A lion serenaded us most of the night at Lake Jipe Safari Lodge, which is located just outside Tsavo West Nation Park. In the morning we rose and had a slow start, making a nice breakfast and getting ready to head into the park. All the Kenyan parks also operate on the “24 hour rule”, meaning that your entry fees are good for 24 hours. We didn’t want to check in too early, and be forced to rush out of the park when we left in a couple days.

Eventually we got rolling. The skies remained overcast, and Kilimajaro remained stubbornly hidden. Though Tsavo is further away from Kili than we’ve been the last few days, we hear there are still good views of the mountain. Not so this morning. 

We checked in at the gate and were able to pay our fees by credit card, as you can at almost all Kenyan National Parks. I emailed the Kenyan Wildlife Service  (KWS) to ask where you can’t pay by credit card and received a response, “You can pay by credit card at most park gates.” Not that helpful, because any park that is not “most” will present a problem. Cash payment isn’t allowed at most parks, a policy made to curb corruption. But if credit cards aren’t accepted then this presents a problem, particularly for foreigners. Locals use Mpesa, mobile money, to send payments form their phones. Tourists have a hard time with this as the only way to load Mpesa as a tourist is with cash. When we’re talking park fees, that is quite a a bit of cash and it’s not all that practical, better to use a credit card if possible. 

After we checked in we were off, planning to make an all day game drive to the more popular and reportedly more game dense area in the north of the park. Both Tsavo West and Tsavo East are enormous parks, sharing a long boundary formed by the Mombassa Highway. At the gate the ranger suggested we drive across the southern portion of the park to the Maktau gate, checking out and then back in to head north. However there is a lesser track, thus more alluring, that leads up the spine of the park and we thought we’d try that out. 

There is a certain heightened anticipation when one heads into a new park. There are so many unknowns. Will we have good sightings, will the roads be as mapped, will the campsite be a nice place to be? This suspense is fun and we embrace the exploratory feeling, but you can’t help but hold up new parks to previous experiences. What we are finding about Kenya is so far everything is wonderfully varied. Kimana was very different than Amboseli, and Amboseli nothing like Tsavo. Reportedly Tsavo East and West are also not similar at all, despite lying adjacent to each other.

Tsavo West welcomed us with attractive red earth tracks, beautiful pallets of green and wide open vistas. There aren’t many trees in the southern part of the park, but the acacias we could see looked very healthy with dark green leaves. Then there are shrubs spotted evenly around, bright green from recent rain. The grass was a wonderful pale lime green with a bit of yellow, and together the whole ensemble contrasted against the red dirt roads was enthralling.

Even though the southern part of the park is much less visited we started seeing wildlife right away. It reminded me a bit of the Kalahari in Botswana, where game is often not dense, but persistent. Quickly we spotted our first Besia Oryx, which looks a lot like an Oryx (gemsbok) from Southern Africa, except a bit smaller and a little more tan in color with slightly smaller horns. Also, we saw our first of many European Rollers which abounded throughout both Tsavo West and East, but refused to roost where there was good lighting for a photograph.

Further along we began to see zebras, giraffes, warthogs, Coke’s hartebeest, gazelles and impalas. Perhaps wildlife wasn’t so sparse down here after all. We kept seeing groups of animals, all the different species hanging in loose groupings together, grazing and browsing amongst the greenery. 

We tried a side game viewing track, but after a while it petered out into the bush. A faint track lied ahead, perhaps, but we decided not to risk it and back tracked. This gave us some concern about our lesser track through the park plan, but we soldiered on. 

There was signs of elephant on the road but no elephants to be seen. Side note: whenever I say “signs of elephants” or “elephant spoor”, what I really mean is soccer ball sized turds. Still, there must be a good few of them as we kept seeing quite a lot of fresh and unusually green dung on the road. Our lesser track brought us up to the east/west running A23, which cuts through Tsavo West. This road is brand new and not quite mapped in the correct location on our GPS. We could see the remnants of the old road, and even drove along it for a bit as we probed for our track on the northern side of the A23. Eventually we found the continuation of our spinal track and headed further north into the park. 

The terrain changed, becoming more hilly, with dryer and thicker scrub. Incredibly, we saw a cheetah with two cubs crossing the track. They weren’t too wary of us and we had a good ten minutes or so with them as they paced parallel to our road for a bit. The cubs were a little grown up, bold enough to stare us down for a moment, and the mother looked to be very healthy.  

We arrived at the Tsavo River, which cuts west to east across the park, and the terrain changed again. The flanks of the river have thick stands of doum palms, who’s unusual branching trunks gives them a fantastical Dr. Suess feeling. Brown muddy water was running through the palm shaded river and baboons scattered in front of us as we crossed the bridge.

Now we were in the northern part of the park, with time to explore before heading to the Chyulu Public campsite. We wandered riverside tracks and up valleys, winding among terrain much steeper and more varied than the wide rolling plains in the south of the park. We saw what we think is our first lesser kudu, though it looked quite similar to the greater kudu to us so I can’t be sure.

Surprisingly, we did not see much of the “red elephants of Tsavo” that the park is famed. We did see one, a large female, who was a dark, muddy, and grumpy. A guide heading in the opposite direction waved us down and advised, “Stay clear of that one, that is not a happy elephant.”.

He was right. He drove away and she focused her attention on us. Ears wide and head held high she gave us an intent look and a brief trumpet. Jenny was driving and backed away slowly, while joking that maybe I would get that charging elephant photo I’ve always wanted. Backing up the elephant gave us a couple rushed steps in our direction and a violent head shake of annoyance, showing us who was boss of this encounter. We played our part and stood down, easing back slowly. She was moderately satisfied, walking across the road but still staring us down angrily.

As is often the case, as long as you behave as if they are in charge, which let’s be honest, they are, then you’re fine. We backed down, stopping, and finally when she’d cleared off the road and settled down a bit we edged closer and past. She remained annoyed, but also started eating slowly. An eating animal is usually a happy animal, or happy enough anyway. We had passed our test and continued on our way.

The rest of our game drive did not reveal a whole lot. We saw some new birds, including the alien like vulturine guinea fowl. A few more oryx, zebra and giraffe were around as we made our way to the campsite for the evening.

Chyulu public campsite is a large grassy area on a gentle slope, about the size of a football field. On one side is an ablution block, and around the perimeter are thatched roof shelters for protection from sun and rain, looking a little shabby. The campsite is surrounded by dense thicket and there is no view. We weren’t all that impressed, but it was a perfectly fine place to sleep for the night. Upon inspection we found the ablutions did not have any water. We could have gone to the nearby ranger station to inquire if they could sort it out, but it was getting late for that and we decided to sort it out tomorrow and use our own water in the meantime.

The next morning we headed out for some proper game driving in Tsavo West. We passed by some impressive old lava flows. The raw chunky black rocks have foliage growing out of them, but according to our guidebook are only about 200 years old. Since geology usually happens on an immense time scale it’s interesting to see something a mere 200 years old, a blink of an eye. 

Apparently the nearby Chyulu Hills are products of recent volcanic activity, only 500 years old, one of the youngest mountain ranges in the world. I find this remarkable, they are a sizable small range and for something that significant to pop up out of nowhere must have been something. Five hundred years is not so long and I wondered if there was oral record of it in Maasai history.

You are allowed to walk up the Lava Hill feature, but it seemed a bit early for that. Instead we drove, descending down a rough track into a valley. Here is where the scenery of Tsavo West really started to stand out, there was mist around the peaks to the east, backlit by the sun, and rugged red rocks with thick green foliage jutting up around us. It felt very primordial. Had a pterodactyl flown across one of the cliffs it would not have looked out of place. 

Wandering our way back down to the aesthetically pleasing and unique Tsavo river, we poked our way down a tiny riverside track. Hardly any game this morning, but the scenery was excellent. We stumbled across the Kudu Special Campsite on the south bank of the river. A few giraffe were here, but didn’t like our presence and wandered off. What a great campsite, and we wondered about upgrading ourselves to this scenic spot. Maybe we’d stop by the gate later and ask about doing so.

From here we continued on, making our way back across the river. The bridge had washed out at our selected crossing, but some workers directed us where to safely ford the river. The doum palms looming over while we splashed our way through the rocky crossing would have made for a great photo, but it wasn’t a good place to get out of the vehicle. 

From here we stopped at the Mzima Springs. An informational sign proclaimed this the finest tourist experience in Kenya, if not the whole of Africa. I think they may have overstepped, but it is worth a visit. Here there are ablutions and a couple rangers posted and you can park and walk around the pools of the springs.

Crystal clear water bubbles up out of the ground, forming two pools, still part of the Kilimanjaro subsurface runoff in some form. Apparently hundreds of thousands of liters a day springs forth, and some 10% is siphoned off as the main water source for Mombassa, delivered via a pipeline that runs through the park. We went to the underwater viewing enclosure, a circular tank with steps down below water level, with windows that you can look out into the clear water of the pools. We hoped to see a hippo swim by, but sadly they were all in the lower pool. 

After all this hard work of game driving it was getting towards lunch. Felix and Johanna had told us that Severin Camp allowed day visitors and was a nice place to stop. Arriving at 1130 or so they welcomed us, but said that lunch wasn’t served until 1300. Would we like to relax by the pool until then? Why yes we would. 

The pool area was magnificent and we started to realize this place was pretty fancy. After a cold beer and a swim in the swanky pool a tremendous rain shower came through. We watched sheets of heavy rain hammering down from the covered pool veranda. The staff remarked that this is not at all normal weather for January, and we were happy to be ensconced, if only temporarily, in the luxury of this lodge while the rain passed through. 

The showers at the pool area were each the size of a studio apartment and equipped with fresh towels, shampoo, soap and wonderful private amenities. By far and away the nicest ablutions we have seen to date! 10/5! Jenny threatened to move in permanently, but I managed to coaxed back her out.

Lunch was overpriced, but we enjoyed it a lot anyway. By the time we departed Severin’s Camp we’d been there three hours, and we felt guiltily rejuvenated by our brush with luxury. 

On top of this we’d asked the staff about whether we could call the gate, as opposed to drive there, to ask about booking the special campsite for the night. They didn’t have the gate phone, but instead a phone number for someone more senior in the office. When we called they pointed out that on top of the increase in price for a special campsite there was also a 7500 KSH booking fee (~$70 USD). This we had not realized, though on closer inspection it is posted on the KWS rate sheet. We demurred, having been willing to pay for the more expensive campsite, but that was too much more for just a single night. The higher up on the phone took pity on us and waived the booking fee, telling us to “Just go,”  instructing us to pay the difference for a special campsite at the gate on exit, being $15 USD extra pppn.

This stroke of good fortune I’m sure only happened because Jenny’s charm floated across the radio waves of the cell phone, if I had been making the request I’m sure I would have been summarily dismissed. After a stop to see the stunning view at Poacher’s Lookout we started making our way to the Kudu special campsite. 

A bit more game started to appear, including some wonderful elephants dusted in Tsavo’s red dirt, and a few antelope and giraffes. Closer to camp we came across three young black backed jackals that showed curiosity in us for a while. 

The Kudu special campsite was incorrectly marked on T4A, but is signposted. We followed the track for the specified 4km and came back to that same lovely sight by the river. It is set up high on the riverbank and adjacent is a dry riverbed that must sometimes run into the Tsavo during periods of heavy rain. This dry riverbed was covered in animal tracks, obviously where animals often come to drink. I felt a little guilty that we were so close to it, I’d hate to impede an animal coming down to the river to drink, but since the park designated this a campsite I suppose it must be okay.

Other than a few impala in the distance and the honk of hippos around the corner we did not see wildlife other than birds. With a fire going we bird watched in the last light of day before having dinner. Tonight we busted out one of our few chili seasoning packets that we brought from home to make the American classic meat and bean stew. 

After drifting off to sleep we were woken by sound of many hooves. Looking out in the moonlight we could see the dry riverbed full of buffalos who had come to drink. We marveled at the hoofbeats, the snorts of the herd and the sounds of these big animals making their way to the water. We couldn’t see that well and the sounds added a lot as we peered out into the darkness, trying to discern the movement of the herd. While we enjoyed this nighttime spectacle I remarked, “Whew, buffalos do not smell good…” The smell of the herd was strong. Jenny was silent for a moment, then fessed up, “Um..that isn’t the buffalos.” She was experiencing the effects that chili is famous for, but had passed up the chance to blame it on the buffalos and we had a good laugh about this. 

The buffalos got spooked and stampeded away and the rest of the night was quiet. The following morning was so nice that instead of jumping out on a game drive at first light we coaxed the last coals of the last nights fire back to life while enjoying some riverside birding and morning coffee and tea before heading out.

We planned to head to Tsavo East today and had to be out of the park by 1100 or so. Our morning game drive was not particularly fruitful, but the scenery continued to impress, still with that prehistoric feel. We did see a white morph paradise flycatcher, long white tail feathers floating along behind him. 

Tsavo East via Voi

After checking out at the Tsavo Gate we were deposited onto the Mombassa highway, the main road between the port on the coast and Nairobi. This is also the main artery for all cargo headed to points inland, including the land locked country of Uganda, and even some cargo heading to the eastern DRC. Though they do utilize rail cargo the capacity is not enough, which means this road is full of trucks lumbering back and forth. 

Fortunately, we didn’t have to suffer this long before we made it to the town of Voi, outside Tsavo East. We hadn’t provisioned since leaving Tanzania, so we took the opportunity to stock up here.

After the morning game drive and shopping in Voi we were actually feeling a bit pooped and decided to stay outside the park today and to head in the following day. Jenny typically reads the iOverlander reports and makes a best guess at where to go. This time we settled on the “Red Elephant Lodge” that also offers camping.

The grounds are pleasant, with camping in a sandy grassy lot adjacent to the lodge, with bougainvillea around. Shade was limited so we deployed our awning and settled in. They gave us a key to a room for a toilet and shower. The lodge was funny, it reminded me a lot of an American style motel, with exterior doors to all the rooms, only instead of knotty pine paneling, antlers and wooden bears there was a distinct elephant safari theme to all the furnishings.

The lodge shares a boundary with the park. We were invited to sit on the veranda of an empty room and watch the watering hole. No animals came, but lions roared loudly nearby. We sipped cold beers and hoped they might come. They didn’t, but hearing them so close was fun and got us excited about entering the park the next day.

In the morning the drive to the gate takes only a few minutes. The gate has a small curio shop, the first we’ve seen in any park on this trip. It included some maps of various KWS parks, t-shirts and some guidebooks to trees, birds and animals.

Here I had planned that we’d spend one night in the south of the park, and then traverse south to north, staying a second night in the north of the park, and then exiting at the north gate on the third day. One flaw in my plan, there are no public campsites in the north of the park. I had somehow convinced myself there were, but I was wrong. Two nights at Ndololo it was then. I used this as an excuse to prove to Jenny that I had not done enough research, to which I received much eye rolling. 

At the gate they also had a list of all the special campsites, and all their coordinates. Though we were tempted we passed on the special campsites due to the high booking fee. But posting the names and coordinates of the campsites at the gate?! Amazing. Maybe KWS can do some training in Tanzania.

Tsavo East proved entirely different than the west. It is much flatter. A river bisects the park into northern and southern sections, and going north of the river used to require special permission from the warden. This was were the rhinos lived, and marks the front of a long running war on poaching. I don’t have clear answer on this, but I gather that sadly all the rhinos in Tsavo East have passed, either from complications related to transport and introduction from other parks, or from poaching. 

Pretty much right off the bat we saw our first gerenuk, sometimes called the giraffe gazelle. This antelope has a neck even longer and more elegant than Natalie Portman’s. Uniquely they sometimes stand up on their hind legs to feed. They have an almost alien like appearance and this particular gerenuk, a female, let us observe her for a bit, even standing up to pick off some leaves of a nearby shrub. We didn’t know it at the time, but this also turned out to be the bravest gerenuk of Tsavo East, as all the others we subsequently saw more or less immediately ran off into the bush, and I wish I had taken more photos. 

On our game drive we were properly introduced to the red elephants of Tsavo. The dirt here is a rich orange-brick red, and the elephants dust themselves with this dirt, giving them a red appearance. Also Tsavo’s elephants just seemed bigger and to more frequently have large tusks. They are very impressive animals. Jenny thinks that perhaps we are turning into elephant connisuiers (aka snobs).

We made an ambitious game drive all the way up to the Galana River and Lugard’s Falls. The breadth of the riverbed is massive, though it was not running high today. At the falls, the river has carved incredible contours, arches and bowls in the rock. You are allowed to get out of your vehicle here and we marveled at this art of nature for a while, and also at the incredible flood the river must have been in to deposit debris far up onto the banks of the river.

On the way back to camp we saw several large breeding herds of elephants, all painted in Tsavo red and looking very good. As we wound along a small track that parallels a dry riverbed we came upon a huge flock of chestnut weaver and lesser masked weaver (?) birds. They were in a frenzy, chirping and tweeting up a storm while hundreds and hundreds of the birds frantically wove nests. The trees on either side of the track were full of noisy industrious birds. Amazingly they were not bothered by our presence and we were able to park between the trees and watch them work right next to us. 

The boughs of the trees were weighed down heavily with weaver nests. The cacophony of noise and energy was really impressive as we watched these little birds build dense housing for their mating. 

That night in camp was fairly uneventful. There was one other set of campers, who looked like they were on a proper safari. They had an old Land Rover looking very much the part, along with a beautiful cream colored pup tent and wooden folding safari chairs. They looked like they knew how to do things properly. 

The camp staff declined to sell us fire wood, but did point at a large downed tree in camp and we were allowed to harvest what we could. We have a pruning saw in our kit and this proved invaluable. After some sweat expenditure I had a respectable load of not very good fire wood for the evening.

Ablutions at this camp were passable, at least having water, though cleanliness left something to be desired. Still the shower was refreshing and very appreciated. Don’t look up, what occasional cleaning that does happen does not extend into the lofty rafters. 

The following day we got up at the crack of dawn to head out on a game drive. We had heard lions in the early morning and we thought we might track them down. Our gentlemen safari team next to us was not going to do anything so rash as leave at dawn, instead having a proper morning fire before getting underway. Sleep still tugged at us and we looked on enviously, but reluctantly stuck to our guns and kept to our full safari punishment.

After scouting around for lions we accepted defeat. They were roaring loudly and close by but we could not find them, no doubt just a bit off the road and hidden in the brush. As a consolation, we got a wonderful sighting of four large bull elephants.

The north of Tsavo East used to be off limits without warden permission, and thus this forbidden fruit was attractive to me. Jenny had encouraged, as a consolation prize to me, that at least if we weren’t going to stay up north we’d make an all day game drive in that direction to get a sense of things up there. 

This turned out to be not such a great idea. The rangers had said that the road was open, but we hadn’t thought to ask them if the game viewing was good up there or anything else. After buzzing up to the Galana River we took a turn as guided by T4A, and found ourselves at the old causeway. In the past you had to drive a causeway, that was sometimes flooded for long stretches, across the river. 

Apparently unbeknownst to T4A this causeway sustained damage, making it unusable, probably in the 2018 flooding. Since then, a long bridge has been installed a couple kilometers down the river. We rerouted to the bridge, taking a minute to observe the hippos and crocodiles below. After that it was onto a very nice gravel road and up the escarpment to Tsavo’s northern plateau.

The northern plateau we found unremarkable, with thick scrub brush making it difficult to see anything not on the road. We saw some birds, dik dik and not much else. This monotonous road should have been a clue, but we disregarded the evidence before us. Instead we decided to drive over a pass towards the Athi River, via a waypoint marked on our map as Sheldrik’s Blind.

This road was fairly overgrown, but had very fresh tracks on it, so we assumed it was passable. In retrospect I bet these were the tracks of an anti-poaching patrol or rangers’ vehicle, not a tourist’s. 

The road was long and very slow going. The spur heading to Sheldrik’s blind, no doubt a wonderful viewpoint, was completely overgrown. At the peak we drove down the airstrip, which must not have been used in a very long time. Heading down the track became very rough and we had to use low range. A couple times we got to some very rough stuff and we needed to build up the track with stones. Jenny was driving at the time so this job fell to me. It wasn’t so bad, but in the heat of the day I was glad more work didn’t need to be done. The deeper we pushed down this track the more we thought we shouldn’t have done this, but the prospect of turning back was too disheartening.

The longer we went the more worried I became that there’d be some washout and we’d have to double back the whole long monotonous way, but luckily the road did actually go through. Joining the river we made our way south and stopped to have lunch at a very scenic spot, marked Athi River Crossing on the map.

This is a crossing point where one can supposedly ford the river. The river is quite wide here, but shallow, and there are many low rocky islands scattered across it. I sort of wanted to drive the crossing just for the drama of it but better senses prevailed. 

Finally we began to see at least a little wildlife, including quite a few of those curious looking gerunuks. Still the game viewing did not at all hold up to the effort it had taken to get here. The river views were nice, with the stands of doum palms looking like huge bouquets placed along the river. One very rocky gorge was dramatic to look at, and you could see the incredible high water line from the flooding. 

Late in the day we saw a few fine tusker elephants north of the river. Perhaps not the super-tusker class, but there is no doubt that in Tsavo we have seen more large elephants with girthy tusks than anywhere else we have visited.

The bridge across the Galana was a welcome relief after this marathon of a day. We shuddered over the rocky corrugations along the river and then ducked off on our two spoor track to go check on the flock of industrious weavers we’d seen the day before. They were there, still weaving up a storm in a cacophony of sound and flight. 

Back at camp we found ourselves the only campers. Foolishly we had left our camp table, to claim our spot. The baboons had not thought very highly of this and had left it covered in dirty prints (both foot and butt), and with shit running down the side. Jenny gave it a very thorough scrub down, cognizant of D. Quammen’s recent admonishments about Simian Immunodeficiency Virus spilling over to humans.

Also, here to greet us in camp were a docile herd of impala and a few elephants browsing at the periphery of camp. This was nice, but also kept us on our toes. We didn’t want to wander off for firewood or to take a shower and bump into an elephant at night. Thus caution was the watchword for the evening, we hastily did our chores in the fading light so we could stay close to the fire after darkness fell. Not that the fire keeps animals away, but at least you hope that if an animal approaches you by the fire it’s at least aware of your presence; unlike bumping into the hindquarters of an elephant outside the ablutions, sure to provoke an unwelcome response from anyone, elephant or human alike.

We heard Tsavo’s elusive lions again that night, but we didn’t see them in the morning. The elephants and impala were still hanging about camp in the morning, with the elephants at a comfortable distance. 

It was time to make our way to Nairobi. This is something of a major milestone in our journey. Nairobi isn’t much of a destination in and of itself, but it is the Capital of Kenya, the beating heart of East African finance, industry, and politics. Its hectic streets are rife with UN vehicles, embassy vehicles with diplomatic plates and tinted windows all sprinkled on top of a thick layer of matatu mini busses providing the bulk of public transport. Any remaining holes in the traffic scheme are filled in by swarms of boda bodas flitting through the gaps. 

I had been through Nairobi a few times before for work more than ten years ago and frankly I wasn’t much looking forward to returning. Geographically however it is difficult to avoid, and I was really looking forward to staying at Jungle Junction.

Jungle Junction, or JJ’s for short, has long been the refuge and hub of the overlanders circuit in East Africa. In times before the current Ethiopian civil war, this was a critical stop for anyone on the Cairo to Cape Town route. Now owner Chris Handschuhis still the authority on all overland logistics. Need a workshop? To store your vehicle for days/months/years? Need to know the intricacies of carnet renewal, foreign vehicle permits, shipping and import and export? He’s got you covered. Need your South African gas cylinder refilled (we do)? Chris can arrange it for you.

JJ’s has been such a long standing institution that we felt by visiting we were able to become a tiny part of all the adventures that had passed through there and that Chris and his staff had deftly supported. 

First we had to get there though. In the original plan of coming out the north end of Tsavo East, we would have avoided a good chunk of the dreaded Mombassa highway that is so full of trucks and traffic to Nairobi. There wasn’t enough time to drive all the way through the park and to Nairobi in a day, nor anywhere to camp outside the park. I suspect we could have found a place, but instead we went with a frontal assault. 

Sometimes a well executed bad plan is better than a badly executed good plan. With that strategy in mind we exited Tsavo East at the Voi gate and got on the Mobassa Highway northbound to Nairobi. We slogged this out with an audiobook on and it wasn’t too bad. The key being to not be in a hurry and not be lured into dangerous overtaking maneuvers. 

Somewhere along the way I did not heed my own advice. We had spent far too long stuck behind a huge truck doing some 20 kph on a road that you can go 80 or 90 or even 100 at times. A long clear straight stretch of highway in the opposing lane offered itself and I took the bait, quickly dipping around the offending truck. I had, illegally, crossed a sold yellow line, marked for a drainage culvert that someone in the traffic department must have decided constituted a bridge. Overtaking on a bridge is illegal. As you might have guessed, there was a stand of police (what is the collective noun for police? Herd? Flock? Pod?) waiting for me.

I was waved to the verge and a smiling policeman greeted me. What followed was a long discussion with threats of sending me to court, but not for two days time in the neighboring city. They of course know that this is totally impractical, as almost nobody on this road is destined for the next town, they’re all headed to Nairobi or points beyond. But this is the official law, as I understand it. Kenyan law says that, to prevent corruption, you don’t pay the police directly, but instead go to the local court. 

The impracticality of this means that officers use the threat of this inconvenience to extort very modest bribes. After our long chat he worked his way around to asking us for some “lunch money.” I continued to decline and asked to be given the official fine, and he refused to give it to me. Eventually we reached detente, joking about our travels and him saying he’d like to have our vehicle when we’re done with it, and he waived us on. Quite the irony that even with no bribe paid the police declined to issue a fine, I suppose understanding the impracticality of paying.

I found the whole thing frustrating, as we do not want to support any form of corruption, no matter how modest. But to tell people, travelers or locals, to go to some court in a few days time seems completely ridiculous. I anticipate a certain reader may correct the record on the proper procedure here, and if so I will update the blog accordingly!

With that episode behind us we entered the outskirts of Nairobi and heavy traffic. Fortunately Jenny was driving with her nerves of steel for African city traffic. There are roadworks going on, part of building a modern highway out the southeast quadrant of the city. It was a complete mess and bumper to bumper, stop and go traffic until we reached the southern bypass. From here on it was smooth and pleasant sailing on modern roads. Quite the opposite of my experience in Nairobi over a decade ago and a very welcome surprise.

Toward the end we wound our way through the leafy quiet streets of the Langata neighborhood. This was a Nairobi unfamiliar to me, with relatively light traffic and beautiful trees, gardens and plant life all over. Still all the houses are surrounded by tall walls with steel gates, most trimmed with shards of glass or razor wire. But with all the greenery this faded into the background a bit and the overall effect is pleasant, particularly considering our initial introduction of the chaos approaching from the south east.

Jungle Junction has only a small simple sign that says “JJ’s” on the fence. It is in a mostly residential neighborhood and without the sign we would have thought we were in the wrong place. A hoot on the horn brought the security guard to the gate and we were welcomed in to our city sanctuary. 

Inside the walls is a property of maybe an acre in size of mostly green lawn and edged with nice gardens. There is a residential house that has been converted to the guesthouse, with all the things. There are rooms, a kitchen, full proper bathrooms for guests to use, a living room appointed with games and books, a TV and wireless internet. On the back patio are some tables where you can enjoy the very comfortable Nairobi climate and still get a good wifi signal. There is also a fridge stocked full with beer and sodas that is an honesty bar. Beers from an honesty bar always taste better.

The camping here is on a large grass lawn and there were two other campers. We settled in and relaxed, happy to ease off for a bit. Chris and the manageress, Chantal, are extremely welcoming, friendly and efficient.

Unlike many who stop into Jungle Junction, our list of Nairobi chores wasn’t that long, just laundry and refilling our gas bottles, so we probably wouldn’t stay too long. Nonetheless, it felt great to stay at this overlanders’ institution, and reaching Nairobi was certainly a milestone for the trip. Though we made a dash up to Kenya in 2018, now we had some time and we were in really new territory. We are looking forward to a bit of a rest and planning the next stage of adventures in Kenya and beyond.

The Nitty Gritty

Tsavo West

The Lake Jipe campsite will be moved after the new bandas are done, I’m sure it will be in a nice spot. Until that time I would camp outside the park. I think the drive through the spine of the park is a worthwhile detour, to see the various terrains of Tsavo West. We actually saw quite a bit of wildlife in the south, though this may have been an anomaly or because of the recent rain. My understanding is the wildlife is normally focused in the northern sector of the park.

If we were to go again, I would be sorely tempted to pay the 7500 KSH booking fee to stay at the Kudu Special campsite for the whole time. The Palm Shade camp across the river is almost as nice, but the booking fee is, as I understand it, paid for each campsite, so moving is not practical.

I would highly advise a stop at Severin camp for at least a beer. They seemed to welcome day visitors and we did not at all feel we were second class compared to the overnight guests who were paying what I’m sure is a very high premium. We stayed for lunch, and though overpriced, for the whole experience we felt was totally worth it. The staff were extremely professional and it was nice to chat with them.

Tsavo East

We saw more game in Tsavo East, but the terrain does not have the same primordial feel. If at all possible I suggest visiting both parks.

The public campsite at Tsavo East had a charm to it, but it has no view. It is certainly nicer than the Chyulu Public campsite in Tsavo West. I don’t know why KWS, given all the extraordinary locations available, seems to gravitate to putting the public campsites in ho-hum locations. Why not have it on the edge of the savannah, hidden in the trees with a view across the plains? 

At the gate they had all the coordinates of the special campsites posted, imagine that! We did not inspect any of these, but if you care to map them here are the numbers. Note they are in UTM coordinates, which you can convert to in Basecamp (Basecamp Menu > Preferences > Position Format [scroll to near the bottom]. Then enter all coordinates in UTM, then change your position format back to your normal preference and, voila!) Alternatively I sent these to Tracks4Africa and you can wait for their next update.

Nairobi

I think it may have been wiser to take an extra day heading to Nairobi and camp at Chyulu Hills on the way and avoiding the Mombassa highway. Instead take the back roads to Kajiado and the A104, approaching Nairobi from the southwest. 

I’ll post more on our Nairobi logistics in the next post.