Naibor

The last day in the Loita Hills is spent getting from Olkoroi to the viewpoint at Enchorro Naibor. We occasionally bring groups here to spend the night and already have an agreement in place with the local community there that allows us to sleep out under the stars and use local warriors for night-time security. It was through talking to some of them, on previous visits, that we learnt about the path down to Shompole, which in turn prompted us to look at the possibility of putting this safari together.

Enchorro Naibor sits on top of an escarpment that looks out towards the mountains of Shompole, Ol Doinyo Sambu and Ol Doinyo Lengai, over salt flats and the soda lakes of Magadi and Natron. The contrast between the green, cool hillsides around Enchorro Naibor and the hot, dry, burning wasteland nearly 1,500 metres below, on the floor of the Great Rift Valley, could not be greater.

It is just over 25 kilometres by road from Olkoroi to the viewpoint over a rough and in places almost non-existent track that passes close to the small centre of Mausa. The track ends on the edge of the Rift Valley with distant views east towards Mt Kilimanjaro which can occasionally be seen on a clear morning, over 150 kilometres away. By taking shortcuts through the hills the distance is much less than going by road and normally takes 5-6 hours to complete.

The route takes us into an even more remote area and the scenery becomes even more spectacular. Some of the views along the way are truly stunning and once at Enchorro Naibor it is easy to while away the late afternoon hours, gazing out across the floor of the Great Rift Valley. Sitting here does feel like sitting on the edge of the world and for many it is the highlight of their trip. From here it is also possible to make out the next day’s route towards Shompole and the following night's campsite, south-east, at the foot of Shompole Mountain.

It is at this point that the support vehicles and staff have to make their way to the bottom but to do so they have to drive back to Nairobi and down past Lake Magadi, a journey that takes at least twelve hours. The alternative is a very wild and difficult drive down into Tanzania and around the western shore of Lake Natron. This journey has only ever been done once, when Willetts Safaris were investigating the feasibility of this safari, and it proved to be too problematic in all sorts of ways. It is very frustrating for it would make life a lot easier for our support staff.

If it doesn't look like rain we normally sleep out in the open here. A night spent sleeping under the myriads of stars that fill the African sky is another special experience. The altitude means there is no problem from mosquitoes but it also means the nights can be very cold, often accompanied by a heavy dew, so a good campfire is always very welcome.

On the following day the early morning views, before the sun’s heat blurs everything into a distant haze, makes getting up before dawn to watch the sunrise well worth the effort. It is also worth being up early to make the most of the cooler hours since later in the day, when we get to the floor of the Rift Valley, the temperatures can climb to uncomfortable levels.