Lake Turkana is a massive Inland Sea, the largest desert lake in the world (6,405 sq km) and a single body of water that is over 250 kilometres long – longer than the entire Kenyan coast.
Lake Turkana is a massive Inland Sea, the largest desert lake in the world (6,405 sq km) and a single body of water that is over 250 kilometres long – longer than the entire Kenyan coast. Formerly known as Lake Rudolf, it lies in the far north of Kenya and is bordered at its northernmost point by Sudan and Ethiopia. At the southern end of the lake stand two primeval sentinels – Teliki’s Volcano and the Nabiyatum Cone.
Also known as the Jade Sea, this lake is an extraordinary sight as the shimmering colours of its surface contrast sharply with the barren landscape of extinct volcanoes and lava beds that surround it. The lake owes its lovely nickname to algae particles that shift with changes of the wind and light, so that the water surface moves from blue to grey to fabulous jade.
The Omo River in Ethiopia feeds Turkana and as it has no outlet, its level fluctuates with the rainfall in Ethiopia. Its Jurassic-looking setting is steeped in prehistoric history and this may be the place that man first walked upright. In 1888 an Austrian explorer came across human skulls and bones in Turkana. Eighty years later Richard Leakey excavated fossil remains that dated back three million years at Koobi Fora.
Today the lake is home to some 22,000 crocodiles (some huge specimens), hippos and more than 40 different species of fish – the fishing up here is good. To protect the breeding grounds of birds and crocs, two islands, Southern Island and Central Island, have been declared national parks. The barren landscape also supports snakes, Grevy’s zebra, reticulated giraffe and camels.
Around the lake there is a rich variety of bird life – more than 350 species of resident and migratory birds depend on the water of the Jade Sea for the rich lacustine life on which they feed. Lake
Turkana is also a source of life for some of Kenya’s most remote tribes. The Turkana, with ancestral ties to Uganda, live a semi-nomadic existence around the Lake. The country’s smallest tribe, the El Molo, live a hunter-gatherer existence on the shores and their villages are made up of distinctive rounded reed huts.
Lake Turkana is Kenya’s most remote destination and getting there is definitely an adventure. The East and West Shores of Turkana are accessed separately, and are physically separated by the vast Suguta Valley south of the Lake. The east shore is reached via Maralal and Marsabit with the central point of access being the small oasis town of Lo
