Destination

Our 16-day North Kenya photography journey is ideal for photography enthusiasts looking to capture and tell the beauty and diversity of North Kenya undiscovered gems. It gives you chance to explore different indigenous tribes and untamed cultural experiences as we experience the sunrise canoe and photograph the Turkan people in their rural communities

Itinerary

Our Kenya tribal photography tour starts in the early evening at our Nairobi hotel. We will stay overnight at the comfortable Four Points by Sheraton, close to Jomo Kenyatta airport.

Providing you are arriving at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport today, a transfer to our hotel will be provided.

This morning we will drive to Lake Baringo in western Kenya.  This beautiful lake is home to the Pokot people and the Njemps, a smaller group of fishing and agropastoralist people who are related to the Maasai.  On our first afternoon we will visit a community of Pokot people at their family boma in a grove of Acacia trees.

Our lodge for the evening is perched high on a cliff overlooking the lake.

After a sunrise canoe trip with Njemps fishermen where we will watch them bringing in fish and sharing it with local African Fish Eagles, we will return to the lodge for breakfast. During the morning we will venture out onto the lake in canoes to visit an island community of Njemps people for photography.

Returning to the lodge for lunch and a break, our afternoon will be spent cruising the lake in motorised canoes to photograph the resident Nile Crocodiles and waterbirds near to the lodge.

After breakfast we will drive north via Maralal into the spectacular granite peaks of the Ndoto Mountains. These stunning peaks are dotted with fertile valleys, waterfalls and beautiful communities of Rendille people. We will settle into our beautiful tented camp in time for dinner.

At sunrise we will be joined by a group of Rendile Morans (warriors) for photography in the foothills of the Ndoto Mountains. Returning to the camp for a late breakfast and lunch we will enjoy a rest before we spend the afternoon visiting beautiful Rendile villages for photography until sunset.

Today we will leave the Ndoto Mountains and drive north towards the turquoise waters of Lake Turkana. The landscapes will change dramatically here as we leave the relatively fertile valleys of Ndoto to drive over the harsh rock desert towards the lake. Stopping for lunch beside the lake we may see our first Turkana people nearby. After lunch we will drive to Loiyangalani where we will check in to our basic lodge and enjoy a sunset photography shoot with a community of El Molo people living on the lake shore.

We will enjoy a full day of photography with the incredible Turkana people starting with a sunrise shoot by the lake with Turkana elders. Returning to the lodge for meals and for a rest in the middle of the day we will spend the rest of our time witnessing the beautiful dances of Turkana people and visiting Turkana villages for photography.

After breakfast we will pack up our vehicles in preparation for our drive north into the most isolated region of our tour. Crossing the wild rock deserts of northern Lake Turkana we will see the last of our Turkana communities living in one of the harshest desert environments you can imagine. As we reach the entrance gates to Sibiloi the landscapes soften somewhat and we will enjoy a lunch at the park entry before we visit an ancient petrified forest nearby.

From there we will make our way slowly through the national reserve in search of wildlife for this park is home to the extremely rare and localised Heugelin’s bustard. We will also begin to see our first Dassanech shepherds herding their livestock through the park. Our base for the next two nights is the remote Bandas on the northern edge of Lake Turkana.

Today we will visit an extremely isolated community of Dassanech people who live close to the border of Ethiopia and Kenya. If time allows we will return to the lodge for sunset and some wildlife photography of waterbirds and Nile Crocodiles near to the lodge.

This morning we will drive eastward into the Chalbi desert. We will start to see the first of a few singing wells of the Gabra people in the first few hours of the drive. These deep wells see over a thousand animals being brought to them over the course of a day as Gabra shepherds queue their herds to take turns to water their animals. The next day we will spend the day photographing and visiting Gabra communities as we learn how they milk camels, take their livestock to graze and water and how their beautiful homes are constructed by Gabra women.

This morning we will embark on an adventurous drive over the Chalbi desert, crossing one of the desert’s largest salt pans where we hope to find Gabra salt miners. Leaving the salt pan behind we will drive over the rock desert to Marsabit where we will check in to our lodge and enjoy a sunset photography session with a lovely group of local Borana people.

After breakfast today, we will check out of our hotel and drive a short distance to meet a lively, colourful and fascinating group of local Burji people. We will enjoy some of their traditional music and dancing while sampling some of their expertly grown local produce and doing photography. With sadness we will leave them in order to drive south to Mount Ololokwe in Samburu county. Checking in to our beautiful tented camp at the foothills of the mountains we will enjoy a sunset photography shoot with a group of Samburu Morans (warriors) nearby.

At sunrise we will enjoy some more photography of Samburu Morans and we will then join them in a local family boma of Samburu people for photography. After the light becomes too harsh we will return to our lodge for a late breakfast. Checking out, we will then drive to Samburu National Reserve where we will arrive in time for lunch and a rest before our first afternoon on safari in the reserve. We will stay out until sunset searching for wildlife to photograph including Beisa Oryx, Grevy’s Zebras, Gerenuk and Reticulated giraffes. With luck we may find some of the reserve’s lions or leopard on our safari.

Today we will enjoy morning and afternoon safaris in Samburu searching for more wildlife. A break in the middle of the day will provide us with a chance to rest, enjoy nature, download our photos and prepare for the end of the tour the following day.

This morning we will enjoy a final game drive in the reserve. After a chance to wash and change at our lodge, we will return to Nairobi. Our tour will end at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in the evening.

Please note:  At the end of the tour we can arrange a transfer for you to any Nairobi hotel on request. Day rooms or overnight stays, and international airport transfers can be arranged, according to your requirements at an extra cost.

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