Why this ride
It goes by way of Lake Turkana National Parks, Central Island and back through Lake Turkana National Parks. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
South Island and Central Island
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 1697 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 29 h 16
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: planning record, not independently verified geometry.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distances and riding times are planning figures. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
South Island → Lake Turkana National Parks
Slow enough to look. The surface follows the shoreline, so the corners arrive where the water decided, not where an engineer did. Water arrives beside the road and stays for 64 km. The line follows the shore because there is nowhere else for it to go.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 64 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. South Island
South Island is the southern of Lake Turkana's three island parks, a low, bare, volcanic outcrop in the south of the lake, near the settlement of Loiyangalani. The lake wraps around it, usually the colour of old jade, and when the wind is up the waves can be steep and brown. Birds nest on the island and crocodiles patrol the water. The land is stark. It is not a place people have lived in, and the interest lies in the feeling of looking out on a lake as large as a small sea, with nothing but desert on every side.
Read the complete South Island write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
South Island is where the day begins. Next is Lake Turkana National Parks.
2. Lake Turkana National Parks
Lake Turkana is known as the Jade Sea, and when the light is right the name is obvious: a long, narrow expanse of green-blue water lying across the desert, with black volcanic hills on one side and pale sand on the other. It is the largest permanent desert lake in the world and the biggest alkaline lake. The Omo River in Ethiopia supplies most of its water, and what flows in has nowhere to leave except by evaporation, so the lake is salty. Upstream dams on the Omo have raised concerns about how the water level will behave in the future, a worry that fishing families here follow closely.
Read the complete Lake Turkana National Parks write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Lake Turkana National Parks comes up about 345 km into the recorded legs. Next is Central Island.
3. Central Island
Central Island is a volcanic cone in the middle of Lake Turkana, a small rough dot of black rock and red earth rising out of green water, and there is no road to it. Reaching it takes a boat from the western shore, which is a matter of local arrangement and good weather, because the lake can turn violent in minutes when the wind picks up. The island holds three crater lakes, and the largest is a vivid, quiet pool where Nile crocodiles breed in big numbers. It is among the strangest places in Kenya, steaming and barren, with cormorants nesting on ledges and the smell of sulphur on warm days.
Read the complete Central Island write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 846 km into the recorded legs you reach Central Island. Next is back through Lake Turkana National Parks.
4. back through Lake Turkana National Parks
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Lake Turkana National Parks write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Lake Turkana National Parks, late in the day. Next is South Island.
5. South Island
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete South Island write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at South Island. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
South Island to Lake Turkana National Parks
South Island → Lake Turkana National Parks is 345 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Lake Turkana National Parks to Central Island
Lake Turkana National Parks → Central Island is 501 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Central Island to back through Lake Turkana National Parks
Central Island → back through Lake Turkana National Parks is 501 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Lake Turkana National Parks to South Island
back through Lake Turkana National Parks → South Island is 345 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.