The Chalbi, Kenya’s largest desert, has been crossed many times, but never using nature’s power of wind. The shear remoteness of this desert was what motivated our quest to be the first to cross its 90km by means of land kiting.
Land kiting is considered an extreme sport, so combining a crossing of this magnitude was a sure way to feed our hunger for adrenaline and our pioneering spirit!
Part of this adventure was the journey getting to the desert, and the journey getting back, as the love of our country so great, we wanted to see and show as much as we could on the way!
Our first day’s drive was a short one, only three hours on good roads to our first stop at Che Shale Bay north of Malindi town. It is always nice to arrive and meet up with our good friends Justin and Isabelle, who joined our expedition in their Land Rover.
Three days of final route planning, gathering of supplies, and most importantly, fine-tuning the kites, land boards, and land buggy was imperative. The sweeping bays north of Malindi, lined with huge golden sand dunes, are perfect for land kiting as the surface is very similar to the desert, offering us an ideal place to test our gear and make final tweaks.
Birth of a new Sanctuary in Kenya
Heading north through the flat low-land areas lining the banks of Kenya’s largest river, the Tana, we arrived at the Hirola Antelope Sanctuary. The sanctuary was gazetted to save one of the world’s most endangered antelopes that only exist in this small part of the world. Here, we meet up with two friends, Gwilly, heading the sanctuary, and Jamie who would be guiding us to Kampi Ya Simba in Kora Park through Panya (Swahili for ‘rat’) routes the next day. The evening was set for a great ‘sun downer’ by the river, tagging and releasing various catfish species while sipping red wine.
It rained the entire night, but we all slept comfortably protected in our tents. Next morning, a quick cup of coffee and a couple hard boiled eggs, and we were packed and ready to hit the road. Ahead of us lay 100km of ‘Black Cotton’ soil, which turns to one of the most difficult muds to drive through in the world when wet. We set off as happy as boys in a toy shop, each of us with ear-to-ear smiles as we ploughed through the terrain. We had to stop only once to dig a car out and we made the 100km in four and a half hours!
Visiting Kora’s new project
The golden sunlight reflecting off the massive boulders surrounded by wild African bush was astonishing. Arriving after dark at Kampi Ya Simba, a camp George Adamson had set up as a base to rehabilitate and release lions in that area due to their declining numbers as a result of poaching.
George Adamson was killed by poachers in 1989. Since then, the poachers have had free reign, and as a result there are very few animals left, and only one lion in the whole park. The camp has now been rehabilitated by Tony Fitzjohn (George Adamson’s assistant) and Jamie Manuals (our guide in the area). And within two years, the plan is to start reintroducing the first lions of the project.
The sounds of the African night, as we lay under the stars, were invigorating. A dawn wake-up call of tens of different species of birds energized us for our morning bush walk and a leisure afternoon of fishing by the river. In this area of the Tana, there exists an elusive, little-documented fish called The Giant Somali Catfish, our ultimate trophy catch.
The rods were out, and the arduous waiting game had commenced. “I’m in, I’m in,” called Alex, who was fifty meters up river from us. Sure enough, he had something big on his line! Alex, a professional safari guide and veteran of numerous expeditions, thought at first he might have a croc and not a fish. Only after pulling it into shore did we realise what it was! After marvelling at the sheer size and good looks of The Giant Somali Cat Fish, we released it back to freedom.
A ‘paradise’ to be experienced 
Two days later after passing through Meru National Park and Isiolo, we entered Marsabit National Park which turns from hot, flat desert down below, to lush rain forest in the hills above, which is created by mist and not rainfall. We set up camp on the edge of Lake Paradise, a crater lake which has been dry for the past two years as a result of poor rainfall in the area. Instead of being full of water, today Lake Paradise is full of elephant, buffalo, and zebra looking like a colony of ants in the distance. Taking in the sights and sounds of this forest is exceptional – a true Eden on earth!
We’d been driving for half an hour heading down to the outskirts of the Chalbi Desert when suddenly, Lovet (our team mechanic and support driver) screamed in fear as he was answering nature’s call! He had just put his foot two inches from a Puff Adder! A bite from one of these bad boys could spell disaster for us, with the nearest hospital storing anti venom being a long four-hour drive away. The whole team was freaked out, and got our adrenaline pumping for a good while.
What we had all come for!
The desert winds were howling, and it was time for Justin (Land buggier) and me (land boarder) to rig up and start our crossing attempt. It was what we had all come for! With our adrenaline still pumping from the snake drama, and the winds gusting 12 to18 knots from the east, we set off on what would be a four-hour arduous down winder. The surface was extremely flat, but very deceiving as the top layer was one inch of soft dusty red soil.
We were three-and-a-half hours into the crossing, and were cruising literally ‘into the sunset.’ The vastness of the desert is so barren and inhospitable, but yet the parched red soils under the orange colours of the setting sun were stunning. What a treat it was to be kiting out here!
Suddenly disaster! We had almost arrived in Kalacha, our halfway point through the desert, when the Land Rover support vehicle conked out. Lovet was quick under the bonnet to see what was going on. ‘Oh bugger’ were Lovet’s words to describe that the timing belt had busted!
The crossing had to be continued, and we were not going to quit now – no way! We had commitments to our sponsors, and our drive to accomplish what we came to do was overwhelming. Fifty kilometres were left to go, so the next morning at day break we would set off with two support vehicles following us.
The evening was a relief! After a four-hour cruise on our last day, we had completed our 90km desert crossing in two days. Sitting in a natural ‘swimming pool’ (a stream from a fresh water spring), sipping on wine, we relaxed, secure in the knowledge that we had accomplished what we came to do!
Quick visit to the spectacular Jade Sea
Now heading to Lake Turkana, the largest permanent desert lake on earth, we were on our long journey back home. The lake is familiar territory for Alex and myself, whom back in 2006 were part of a team that were the first to kitesurf on the lake’s western shores. The lake is notorious for having the world’s single largest Nile crocodile population, with the largest single specimen ever being recorded at a mere 28ft in length! Unfortunately this time, we would not kite on the lake as we only spent half a day there, and also thought this was a good excuse, as our fear of crocs had grown in five years!
The lake is also known as the Jade Sea, because of its remarkable, almost incandescent colour of water. As we toped the last set of rocky, lifeless hills, it was hard to comprehend how this inhospitable place is in fact the ‘cradle of mankind,’ where the earliest evidence of human presence has been found.
A short one-night stay, camping on the shores of the lake, and we were off for a 250km drive heading south. Climbing from 300m of altitude to 2,500m on steep and intensely rocky tracks, we were heading to the Laikipia Plateau at an average speed of 10km/hr.
Special Mugi
Mugi, in the heart of Laikipia, is a magical place! A private 46,000 acre rhino sanctuary situated on the top of the plateau is full of all of Kenya’s animal species.
We were kindly invited to camp in the sanctuary by a friend and veteran ranch manager, Claus Mortensen. If you know how hard it is to keep rhinos alive in Africa, and protected from poachers, you can appreciate Claus’ work. The sanctuary has electrified fencing, making it a secure home for the rhino, with gaps to allow other wildlife to move in and out. There are a total of 26 rhinos at the moment. We spotted five of them on our first game drive!
Lovett and Chrissie, having been part of our team the whole way, would now be our hosts at our last stop, Lake Naivasha, where they own and run a stunning camp site.
They were finally home, but we still had another 700km to go!
We spent four very leisurely days at Camp Carnelley’s, fishing, eating, drinking and sleeping, before we embarked on our long drive back home to Diani Beach, on the south coast of Kenya.
Diani Beach, one of the most pristine white sand beaches in the world, is where we live and run our surf and kite centre; H2o Extreme.
With special thanks to our sponsors:
Havaianas
Dakine
Von Zipper Sunglasses
Sand Storm Kenya
Published in August 2012
