Kenya Lake Turkana Festival (KLT 2017) TRIPDURATIO 12 DAYS Tour Type: Small Groups Trip Code: KLT Tour Pace: Full On Accommodation Grade: Standard Trip Highlights - Kenya Lake Turkana Festival Local life - Experience a Kenyan festival featuring 10 tribes from the Lake Turkana area Lake Turkana - Spend time on the shores of this beautiful lake - known as the Jade Sea Safari - in the savannah lands of Samburu National Reserve Samburu people - Stay with the community in their lodge Lake Nakuru - Search for black and white Rhino Kenya - incredible contrasting landscapes from the Rift Valley to desert in the north Trip Essentials Accommodation: 7 nights Standard Hotel 4 nights Standard Tented Camp Included Meals: 11 breakfasts, 10 lunches, 9 dinners Start Point: End Point: Transport: Countries: Join trip: Nairobi Trip ends: Nairobi Truck Kenya
Kenya Lake Turkana Festival On this adventure we meet the 10 tribes of Northern Kenya as they come together to celebrate their culture at the annual Lake Turkana Festival. We will see amazing dancing, singing, storytelling and learn about their way of life as they promote peace and prosperity in the region. We go in search of lion and elephant in Samburu Game Reserve, spot hippos in Lake Baringo and see majestic rhino and huge numbers of flamingo in Lake Nakuru. We also spend two nights in a lodge run by the Samburu people to go walking with warriors. Why Book this trip We are the only UK operator offering trips to the Lake Turkana Festival and this really is a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet isolated tribes from the north of Kenya. Suitability We've given each of our tours a comfort rating and a tour pace, walking or cycling grade to give you a general idea about the level of activity on each tour and the standard of accommodation you will be staying in at the end of your day's adventure. Often you'll stay in different styles of accommodation during your tour; so we make an average rating across the entire tour. For more information on where you'll stay each night, please refer to the day by day tour itinerary. Accommodation Grade: Standard Our mid-range accommodation offers a good level of service often with other amenities such as a restaurant, bar, garden or swimming pool. Generally rooms will be comfortable with en-suite facilities. Tour Pace: Full On These fast paced tours move on quickly from place to place and with lots of early starts and long busy days, they re packed with experiences. Your trip itinerary Tour itinerary notes While our intention is to adhere to the day-by-day itinerary as printed below, a degree of flexibility is built in. Overnight stops may vary from those suggested. Your Tour Leader A Tour Leader is an integral part of any Explore tour and your tour will be led by one of our experienced Tour Leaders who have been handpicked and expertly trained. We believe that our Tour Leaders are the key to the success of our tours; they are passionate travellers who are bursting with first-hand local knowledge which they love to share. Your Tour Leader will also take care of all the planning and organisation throughout your journey. Their passionate approach will make this tour fun and inspiring, bringing the destination to life whether you're travelling alone or with others. 1 Trip starts in Nairobi Join trip in Nairobi. Depending on your flight arrival time there may be a chance to explore the city.
Included Meals: None 2 3 4 5 6 Drive to Samburu National Reserve, afternoon safari This morning we leave Nairobi early and drive north for 6-7 hours; skirting the soaring snow-capped peaks of Mount Kenya as we make our way to Samburu Game Reserve. We will stop at a scenic spot en route for a picnic style lunch so that as we soon as we enter the reserve we can go on our first game drive. Samburu is in a sandy arid area that is rich in game due to the Ewaso Nyiro river that dissects the reserve and creates a green oasis of acacia trees. On our safari this afternoon we will look out for lion, elephant and leopard, all of which are regular sightings here. Our accommodation this evening is a small tented camp ideally situated in the reserve. Morning safari and drive across savannah to Sabache community run lodge We rise with the sun this morning and head out on a game drive to explore the park whilst the temperature is cool and the wildlife is still active. Samburu is well known for its population of rarer species such as gerenuks, Beisa oryx, imperial zebras, reticulated giraffes and Somali ostriches. Sticking close to the river we are likely to see large numbers of hippos and crocodile and then as we move out to cross the open plains cheetahs are a special sighting. Leaving the reserve we make our way to Sabache, a community owned tented camp located at the base of a sacred mountain. The camp is run by the Samburu people, a semi-nomadic pastoralist society that are related to the Masai and profits from tourism are used to support community led initiatives and conservation projects. Walks, birdlife and exploring with the Samburu people Sabache is set in a private reserve which boasts a vast array of birdlife, ancient cycad forests and many rock art sites, all of which can be explored today with local guides. Other options include a visit to the Singing Wells, where local Samburu sing as they extract water from the wells, and to hike up the sacred mountain of Mount Sabache with Samburu warriors. Today is a day to spend with the Samburu and to learn about their way of life as we discover this peaceful area. Very close to our camp is the Samburu Lion Project, a locally led conservation cooperative that works with local communities to protect lions and depending on the schedule of volunteers we will try and organise a visit to this special place. All activities today are optional and can be organised and paid for locally. Drive to Loyangalani to start the Lake Turkana Festival Heading north we drive for around 4 hours to Lake Turkana to see the start of the festival. For the last decade different ethnic groups of the Turkana region have come together to celebrate their traditions, differences, songs and to promote peace in the region. The tribes in attendance this year are the El Molo, Rendille, Samburu, Turkana, Dassanach, Ghabra, Borana, Konso, Wata and Burji. The different groups all arrive at the festival site today so we will see them setting up and starting their different rituals of preparation. Full day at the festival We spend today at the festival and will have a full day of events where we will see the different tribes competing against each other in boat races, running races, football matches, fashion shows, musical performances and of course lots of dancing. We will be able to try a host of different local foods, as the communities show off their cooking skills and secret recipes passed down from generation to generation. There are also workshops and presentations from local politicians and tribal elders. The highlight for many festival goer is the party this evening, also known as the 'desert disco', your chance to try out some of the dances we have been seeing all day.
7 8 9 10 11 Closing of the festival, free time for activities on the lake As the festival winds down we will spend the day enjoying the different activities on offer. It is possible to take a boat ride out on Lake Turkana to search for birds and crocodiles, visit a desert museum or take a trip to an El molo village which features shrines where the locals pray for fish, rain, fertility and the strength to kill a hippo! For those wanting to cool off from the heat of the desert our lodge has a swimming pool for a chilled afternoon. There will also be closing celebrations at the festival which we will see and say our goodbyes to the communities that have hosted us during our stay. Scenic drive down to Maralal Leaving Turkana we make our way south for a long but beautiful full day's drive down to Maralal. The terrain is bumpy but the change in scenery during the drive is at times spectacular; as we leave the dusty desert of Turkana behind and start entering the green hills of the Great Rift Valley. Our destination for the night is Maralal, a sleepy town which is used by most travellers as a stopover as they wend their way south. Morning drive to Lake Baringo, boat trips and nature walk We continue our journey south this morning to our lodge on the shores of Lake Baringo. Arriving by lunch time, we have the afternoon to explore our beautiful surroundings, refreshingly green after the time spent in the arid north of the country. The lake is a paradise for bird lovers with over 500 species recorded in the area, these can be seen on one of the many walking trails, led a local expert. There is also the option of a special after dark walk to spot the resident nocturnal birdlife including nightjars and owls. For those who fancy a more relaxing afternoon boat rides can be taken to look for hippos and see the hot springs on Ol Kokwa island in the middle of the lake. Though undoubtedly the best way to lower the heart rate is by sitting in our camp this evening with a cold drink watching as the huge African sun disappears behind the western escarpment. All activities this afternoon are optional and can be organised and paid for locally. Drive to Lake Nakuru National Park; game drives looking for rhino Driving for a few hours this morning takes us to Lake Nakuru National Park, another of Kenya's Great Rift Valley lakes, probably most famous for the vast number of flamingo that feed here. We will spend the afternoon on safari in the park and apart from the flamingo our main focus here is for rhino, Nakuru has strong population of white rhino and if we are lucky we will glimpse a black rhino too. Rhinos were reintroduced in the 1980s and the park has been a shining light in conservation of these majestic beasts, with a breeding program that has enabled other Kenyan parks to be repopulated. We will climb the escarpment of the park, enabling us to see the lake in full and the green acacia forest that line the shore. Tonight we will stay at a tented lodge outside of the park. Travel back to Nairobi, optional safari or tour of Kibera We make our way back to Nairobi today, stopping at viewpoints over the valley until we reach the capital. The afternoon is free but there is the option of visiting Kibera, a large slum area where life for many is tough. However there are some residents who are focussing on empowering the people of Kibera and we can meet them as they take us out in the town. This tour is about meeting people who have incredible stories and finding out how they live their lives and how they are helping others in the area through empowerment, education and employment. There is also the option of a safari to Nairobi National Park, probably the only reserve in Africa where you can see game against a backdrop of a major city. This evening will be a chance to go out in one of the many restaurants in Nairobi for a final group dinner.
Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch 12 Trip finishes in Nairobi The trip finishes this morning after breakfast. Included Meals: Breakfast Accommodation and Meals Food & Drink Included meals: 11 breakfasts, 10 lunches,9 dinners included in the price of this trip. Please be prepared to pay for non-included meals. Please note that costs for drinks and meals can vary depending on location.