MARSABIT COUNTY - DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH

A few months ago, my employer sent me to the northernmost most expansive, county in the Republic of Kenya - Marsabit. I felt like John Snow when he was banished to be with the Night's Watch, solemn, lost and hopeless.

Still, I had heard of long tales of a county beyond the North Wall. A tribe of fair beautiful people, some say, with biblical roots traced back to the Jewish King Solomon and the beautiful temptress, Queen of Sheba.

Tales have been told of exceedingly amiable lasses (you should try Ethiopian Airlines), the world famous Ethiopian flat bread they call injera served with mouth-watering spicy stews (doro wat) and washed down with the hugely affordable range of beer brands.

This Jon Snow is planning on going further North than prescribed by the "Black Brothers" and have himself a feast fit for crows. But first the business of the day.

Marsabit town is located at the foot of Mt. Marsabit, about 500 km from Nairobi and 250 km from Isiolo, the last decent watering point before Marsabit. The road to Marsabit has now been mostly fixed and you can take a mere four-hour dash from Isiolo to Marsabit. The road is 70% tarmacked, with a small diversion (rough road) between Merrille and Laisamis and also between Logologo and Marsabit. Further North is the frontier town of Moyale, 276 km from from Marsabit town.

The Great Northern Road (Cape to Cairo), this is the Isiolo - Marsabit stretch.

In another lifetime, before the roads were fixed, the journey from Isiolo to Marsabit a fulls-day journey when conditions were good but sometimes two to three days depending of the weather and conditions of the road. Back then, the only available means of transport were the trucks transporting animals. It was not uncommon to see grown women in "bui bui" patched atop these lorries in the hot desert sun. 

The Isiolo - Marsabit road transverses the game-rich Buffalo Springs and Shaba Game Reserves past the Ewaso Nyiro river and on past the Wamba rock on the Southwest edges if the Mathews Range. The Mlima Wamba rock, known to the locals as Mt. Ololokwe, is a massive granite rock outcrop rising to over 300 feet above the plains surrounding it. Back in the day, this was a hotspot for bandits. They would lay ambushes and take potshots at on-coming traffic. I am happy to report that all that is now history.

The impressive Mt. Ololokwe (Mlima wa Wamba)

Ewaso Nyiro (or Ng'iro) which loosely translates to "river of brown waters" makes for the border between Isiolo and Samburu counties across the bridge at Archers post. The Ewaso Nyiro is the lifeblood of the parched Samburu & Buffalo Springs game reserves and the Samburu National Reserve. It supports huge herds of elephant, crocodiles and a wide variety of birdlife. These parks are home to the endangered Greyy's Zebra and the rare Gerenuks antelope.

Marsabit town itself is a lush beautiful an oasis in the middle of the parched dry Northern frontier lands. The town and its environs is mostly inhabited by members of the cushitic Borana, Gabra and Burji communities with a sprinkling of other tribes people like the Samburu, Rendille, Kikuyu, Ameru, and Somali. The most interesting thing about this community is that the population is divided 50/50 between Christian (mostly Catholic) and Muslim faithfuls. It is common to see a child with a Muslim mother and a Christian father. The dress code however, especially for women, mostly leans towards Muslim. The women dress mostly in these long loose garbs with a headdress to cover their hair.

The Catholic Cathedral in Marsabit - Catholic Diocese of Marsabit



The lush grounds at the Catholic Diocese grounds in Marsabit... (You wait, I will show you Chalbi).

The contrast between Marsabit town and its surroundings in differ strikingly. By virtue of its elevated location on the shoulders of Mt. Marsabit, the town is cool and sometimes even cold and foggy. At mountain top is covered with a lush true equatorial forest that is home to Marsabit National Park. I didn't get a chance to visit the park because the weather wouldn't allow  - muddy roads. 

My hosts tell me its a sight to behold. I have had there is a beautiful lake up there, they call it Lake Paradise. And the elephants there have some of the biggest tusks in the country. This reminds me of the legend of Ahmed, the elephant with the largest ever recorded tasks who lived to the ripe old age of 55 years. There are also several sunken crates around Marsabit town, the locals call them "gof" 

The "gofs" of Marsabit - sunken craters, some with lakes, some bone dry...

The people of Marsabit put up power-generation wind turbines on Mt. Marsabit eons ago. Wind power is now just becoming popular in the country with the commissioning of the Ngong Hills Wind Farm and most recently the Lake Turkana Wind Farm. Its such a pity that the Marsabit turbines were neglected and now one lies aground, derelict. Shame on the diesel power generation cartels who had a hand in this.

I had lots of business to transact in Marsabit town but that's a story for another day. Being my first time in town I took a drive around the bustling town. The shops mainly stock fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs) and textile/clothes/shoes which I gather most come from Ethiopia. Night life, what night life? That's almost none existent. Save for a few somber bars 

There is a great shortage of proper hotels for accommodation and whatever is available is somewhat expensive for the kind of quality they offer. I was lucky to secure accommodation at the safe and comfortable Jirime Hotel & Resort. This is the best accommodation one can get in this town. At some point during my visit, the Deputy President was visiting and took over the hotel, locking us out.

Marsabit is a town ready for investments. The town is now accessible and lies strategically on the highway. Competition is still low and the locals are receptive. The county government is courting investors and there is plenty of land available. The caveat here is that most land held in trust for the community by the elders. I hope they don't let Singh Arap Mashamba anywhere near their titles...

Road to Moyale; now that's one lonely road...

During this brief trip I plan to get to Moyale, no matter the circumstances. The best way to get to Moyale is to hire your own transport. The buses are far in between and unreliable. So, on this day, we hire a Pajero SUV and filled up the tank with 10,000/- worth of fuel (fuel is expensive in  Marsabit). Moyale is 276 km away from Marsabit on mostly great tarmac road. There is only a short 80 km stretch from Sololo to Moyale that is untarmacked but work is in progress and the diversion is good.

We gave the young boy and his mother a lift into Turbi,.
He didn't have to say any words, his expression was enough appreciation

For our trip we had a local guide, Dida, who is quite the dare-devil. During the 276 km run to Moyale, there were sections he did 160 km/hour for over ten minutes. We quickly ate up the miles past Bubisa, Turbi, Sololo and in less than 4 hours we had arrived at the frontier town of Moyale.

The Marsabit - Moyale road passes through the Chalbi Desert. It is the only true desert in Kenya and the desert doesn't receive any precipitation for years. Its a rocky field that must have busted many a tire in the olden days. Today is a breeze, what would have been a whole days journey took us barely 4 hours.

Chalbi

The Kenyan side of the Moyale is a drab dusty affair. Two banks, some hotels, a petrol station or two, a regular sized police station and the helping perpetual cast of border town business. Money changers are doing their thing at the border as our guide informs us that we must be back to our side of the border before 6 pm or risk spending the night in Ethiopia.

The Ethiopian Birr - exchanges at about five Kenyan shillings to the Birr and 0.05 to the dollar

The Ethiopian Birr is quite a strong currency I think. We want to do some shopping and eat Ethiopian cuisine. We take tuk tuks into town where we find a decent-looking restaurant.

A dish of injera, flavored beef stew accompanied with an assortment of Ethiopian beer

The Ethiopians are speaking in Amharic and we're speaking Swahili or English. Big language barrier here as we resort to sign language. There beer is affordable and make up my mind to order everything they have and taste it.

An assortment of Ethiopian beer

Marsabit County is home to numerous attractions. Other than the Chalbi Desert which is the only real desert in the country, we have the expansive Sibiloi National Partl. Marsabit county also borders the Lake Turkana. The Loyengalani Festival is an annual event hosted on its shores and its a must-see for any discerning visitor to the county.

The Lake Turkana basin is also a rich archaeological site that has yielded numerous humanoid bones that give us insights into the pre-historical times. Some of these include Australopithecus anamensis, Homo habilis and Home erectus (also famously know as "Turkana Boy".

Although I did not find time to visit all these attractions, I made a mental note to visit again. The Great Northern Highway should be complete in a few months. Travel to this Northern Frontier Country will be a breeze.