For those who are fascinated by the fundamental questions of who we are and where we come from, there is no better place to follow the traces of our ancestors. Some of the most significant archaeological findings of pre and early manhood have been made here and Turkana Land righteously claims the title The Cradle of Mankind. This is the place where all humans stem from, so: Welcome back home!
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Visit to South Turkana National Reserve
Turkana Land is a wide and a wild country, where to the south, especially within the South Turkana National Reserve, elephant, leopard, oryx antelope, gazelle, warthog as well as an exceptionally high number of Kori bustard roam. Along the border with South Sudan in the extreme northwest, the massive savannah grassland of the Lotikipi plains forms another haven for wildlife which isn’t marked as a nature reserve but still is worth visiting.
Exploring Turkana Culture
There are few places remaining in Africa today where you can witness a traditional culture of such beauty and integrity. The Turkana culture is vivified by a unique wealth of dresses, hairstyles, jewellery, sayings, tales, songs, craftsmanship and knowledge. A visit to Turkana Land offers you the chance to experience the fascinating pastoralist way of life.
Rewarding hiking and rock climbing
There are many mountains such as Silali Volcano, Loima Hills, Mogila Range or the Lokichar Hills that invite you for rewarding rock climbing and hiking tours. As camels are abundant in Turkana Land, you might also decide to use them as a support for carrying your equipment. Just be prepared to act as your own trail blazer and you will have the trip of your life time. These are truly virgin grounds which are waiting to be conquered by YOU!
Water Games
Lake Turkana, the infamous Jade Sea offers a huge potential for water sporting, whether you love swimming, boat riding or fishing trips. You could also do a sailing cruise with fishing dhows or try balancing on a traditional raft. Winds are favourable for both. The vast lands of Turkana are also a no-limits playground for cross bike riders, 4WD fanatics and GPS freaks plus anybody else who loves to be out in the bunduz.
Visit to Central Island National Park
As its name suggests, Central Island grows out of the water in the middle of Lake Turkana. Being of volcanic origin, the island owns three crater lakes, one being home for tilapia fish, another one for thousands of flamingos and the third one for crocodiles. Central Island is also an important breeding place for crocodiles and a diverse fauna. This makes it a protected as a national park.
Visit to Eliye Beach
Just 50 kilometres east of Lodwar lies Eliye Springs, a destination that dates back in the 1970s enjoyed astonishing popularity with the international jet set who flew in from Nairobi with private planes to spend a weekend angling on the lake and partying on the beach. Eliye Springs surely is the greatest place to unwind: It has a very laid-back atmosphere, endless palm fringed sand beaches, a massive sand dune from which you enjoy a panoramic view of Lake Turkana, and a lack of mobile network.
Visit the hot waterfalls of Kapedo
On arrival in Kapedo, the border town of Baringo and Turkana County on the road running up from Lake Baringo, visitors probably will rub their eyes in disbelief when they see the major attraction of the region: Two boiling hot waterfalls that plunge over a small escarpment before merging with Suguta River! Kapedo itself is a picturesque village where traditional grass thatched huts prevail.
Visit to Turkana Basin Institute
The Turkana Basin region is a source of unprecedented fossil and archaeological evidence for all major stages of human development. This is the place where man’s story is written. Every human being alive today shares DNA inherited from a common ancestral population that we currently believe lived in or within a few hundred miles of the Turkana Basin, about 60-70,000 years ago.
A visit to Turkana Basin Institute which is situated 60km east of Lodwar will enable you to understand the research being conducted in the Basin to investigating an enormous range of questions about the ancient inhabitants in and around Lake Turkana, including Cretaceous period vertebrates such as dinosaurs and crocodilians; the origins of modern African megafauna; the evolution of Miocene apes; ancestry of the hominid lineage in Africa; the origins of our own genus Homo; the diversification and spread of modern humans in the last 250,000 years; and the transition to pastoralism, fishing, and agriculture.
Visit Kalokol Standing Stones
People don’t expect a mythical experience right next to a main road. But so it may happen at Namorutunga when you drive from Lodwar to Kalokol. A gang of local elders can tell you all about the people of stone which is the literal translation of the local name of the site. As the tale goes, the basalt pillars once where people dancing who were cursed and turned into stone by an angry sorcerer.
Central Island National Park
Fishing & Bird Watching Experience in Fergusson Bay
Ferguson Gulf is a huge bay full of shallow water, confined towards Lake Turkana by a sandy ridge overgrown by doum palm trees – a terrific landscape! Everybody around seems to be busy fishing, thousands of pelicans, flamingos and yellow billed storks as well as the local fishermen who practise their trade with sailing boats, canoes with outboard engines or traditional rafts which supposedly are the most ancient vessels of human kind.
