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Samburu Oasis

Writer's picture: Heather KirkbyHeather Kirkby

After our exciting adventures on Lake Turkana we started our journey south. The terrain continued to be mountainous, dry, vast and desolate. Hours of driving in the wild. As we approached our destination for the night, South Horr, suddenly things turned green. Lush trees and palms and plants. This is not the land of the stone people.




South Horr was the most peaceful of towns. Few people live up here. All the streets are dirt of course, under a canopy of leafy greens. As we arrived there were lots of warriors in full ceremonial dress walking down the road. We learned the next day there was a wedding in town. The next morning we had some sweet encounters with locals. I asked two playful sweet girls why they weren’t in school and they said “it’s Saturday”. Oh, yeah.



After breakfast we went for a solid 3+ hour hike up a river drainage with a local Samburu guide named Peter. Our destination was a waterfall. Justin said on IG it was like walking through a botanical garden. I agree.




At the outset of the hike we had a good dozen kids that spontaneously joined our fun. Hazel is a marvel in this neck of the woods. As the hike continued the fan club dwindled to two young boys, shepherds out with their goats. In most of the tribes, around age 5 the kids start having responsibility for livestock. They will leave the village with little to no water, a stick or machete, and walk all day with the animals. From about age 15 to 30 they are warriors and protect livestock. From 30 onwards they are Fathers of the Nation. Some kids go to school, some don’t. There are still local tribal skirmishes to protect land and animals.

The waterfalls were lovely and it was a great swimming hole too!! So hot I jumped in fully clothed, yay!!

A few days later i was overseeing Hazel’s use of a hammer to wack in tent pegs. I was trying to help her avoid injury. Then I thought of those shepherd boys, half her age, out alone with their goats and machetes. In fact they were gleefully using their machetes to wack branches. It reminded me to walk away and just let Hazel hammer on her own.


Towards the end of the hike our guide explained his hiking stick could also be used to beat back snakes, cobras or aggressive animals. As we neared town, we passed abandoned buildings that had been damaged in tribal clashes and never repaired. This was the only evidence of fighting we saw up north but the tribal territorial roots run deep. Our Samburu guide Peter said with a straight face that he’d be killed if he went to Parkati, the Turkana village we’d visited several days prior.



Our hike ended back in town. We picked up some ear drops, cookies, water and candy and hit the road. About a dozen or more people came over to see white people shopping. The constant irony and joy is that the fascination runs in both directions.


Back on the road we headed south to Ngurunit. We’re still in wildly remote country with arid rocky mountains and vast open spaces. We had one of our lovely roadside middle-of-nowhere picnics. David makes incredible boxed lunches: great carbs, protein, fruit, snacks. One day Hazel said “this is the kind of school lunch I’ve wanted you guys to pack me forever”. Dreams unlocked. And feedback for when we return :)


Arriving in Ngurunit we set up camp in a peaceful shady haven. Dinner was some of David’s greatest hits: delicious spiced beef, yummy mashed potatoes, irresistible cabbage with veggies and fried battered bananas for dessert. Another luxury is we usually have a late afternoon coffee, tea, biscuit to tide us over until dinner time. Asante!!!



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