Back to Kenya

Whitney and I spent ten days crossing central and northern Kenya in an old Land Cruiser we named Trusty the Cruiser. Thousands of kilometers of dirt roads, deserts and cities, and wild camps with no one around but the lions and leopards.

It started in Nairobi, at the house and the neighborhood I grew up in. I still remembered the turns without GPS, and the Kenyan smiles were even warmer than I remembered. I'm grateful to have called this place home in such formative years.

Not everything went to plan. After some great mechanic work from Charles, and a second fix from Moses, we drove late into the night up toward Mount Kenya and camped in the cool highlands near Thomson's Falls. From there we went north through Aberdare National Park into the dry country of the pastoralist tribes, wild camping the whole way.

One of my favorite days started with getting properly stuck on a beach with a herd of elephants coming our way. The army saw the situation and helped push us out. We gave them some cold Cokes, and a moment later we were surrounded by a hundred elephants.

That day ended with a visit to the Samburu, who welcomed us with smiles and handshakes. We traded for beads and spent a quiet, beautiful afternoon together. Northern Kenya is not easy to get to, but that's the point.