Major Attractions

Widlife

Mammals
Over the dry grasslands ranges a frail population of grazing mammals and predators. The grazers are chiefly Grevy's zebra, Burchell's Zebra, the Beisa Oryx, Grant's gazelle, the topi and the reticulated giraffe. They are hunted by the lion and the cheetah. Elephants and the black rhinoceros are no longer seen, although Teleki reported seeing (and shooting) many. Closer to the dust is the gerbil.

Birds
The Lake Turkana region is home to hundreds of species of birds endemic to Kenya.  The East African Rift System also serves as a flyway for migrating birds, bringing in hundreds more. The birds are essentially supported by plankton masses in the lake, which also feed the fish.

Reptiles
The lake formerly contained Africa's largest population of Nile crocodiles: 14,000, as estimated in a 1968 study by Alistair Graham.

Getting There

The East and West Shores of Turkana are accessed completely separately, and are physically separated by the vast uncrossable Suguta Valley south of the Lake. The east shore is reached via Maralal and Marsabit with the central point of access being the small oasis town of Loiyangalani. The west shore is accessed via Kitale and the central point of access is Lodwar. There are airstrips on both shores for chartered aircraft. This area is used as a launch site for safaris into the remote Omo region of Soutern Ethiopia. Turkana should be visited as part of a professionally organized safari.

Getting Around

There are very few defined roads around the Lake. The lakeshore can be explored on foot, but plenty of water and a good sense of direction are both vital. Boats are available for hire in villages along the shore, and this is the best way to explore the lake. a local guide is advisable.

General Facts

The Lake is a source of life for some of Kenya’s most remote tribes. The Turkana, with ancestral ties to Uganda, live a semi-nomadic existence around the Lake. The country’s smallest tribe, the El Molo, live a hunter-gatherer existence on the shores, in villages of distinctive rounded reed huts.

Turkana has one of the longest living histories on earth, and recent fossil evidence unearthed at Koobi Fora has led to the Lake being referred to as ‘The Cradle of Mankind’.The People

The area is little affected by tourism and is situated at the southern end of a region of Kenya inhabited largely by pastoralist ethnic groups including Il Chamus, Rendille, Turkana and Kalenjin.