Chalbi desert experience by MaryAnn

By Mary Ann-2/8/2023

Safari ya Samburu,Mateso Marsabit (Ololokwe- Chalbi Chronicles)

Where does the bait stop? And when does one hang their boots?

Day (1)One

This was a much awaited trip, one could tell by the months of planning,the turn out and even the waiting list - in case someone dropped out-when the overland truck that would ferry us was ay capacity . So finally, the day was here with us,as per our itinerary, the team boarding at town was to assemble at 4 Am and depart at 4:30 Am, I can assure you I was on time and ready to depart at the stated time. ( Should I remind you that this was awaited 🤷) . But then again, my pand is Kenya and Kenyans represent the brand of coming lates so eventually we left our parking area for Thika road at around 5:10 Am ,not soo bad. Everyone else would be picked along Thika road at an earlier communicated spot . After everyone had been picked,apart from one member whom we were to pick at Archer's post we set off for adventure. Our first stopover was at Sagana Maguandu Supermarket for a short toilet break and hot refreshments which we then proceeded to our second stop at the Equator in Nanyuki for some photos before proceeding all the way to Isiolo for lunch. Temperatures had already started feeling unfamiliar. Our tour guide for the journey directed us to the mall in Isiolo, which they call 9points and at the same time an optional joint where we could have nyama choma Getting to the mall,it felt more of a junk food spot -while they also said we needed to pay to take photos but my big head couldn't buy that so I took it anyway 😎-so we found ourselves at the Hills Restaurant for nyama choma and mukimo . I even had some sugarcane. Our chef also refilled the gas and so we were ready for the bush From Isiolo, our next stop would be at Merit. This is mandatory stop over for the KDF to check your citizenship and Ideally your luggage.I say ideally because for us the driver explained our adventure so we just had to show proof of citizenship. At this point, we could see the beauty Infront,the might Mt.Ololokwe. I was ready to sit at the middle of the road and take my pictures as wass everyone else but it could not be at this point.So we drove off to a point we could have the freedom to document the moments. The road is very well done and it's not very busy so we took many beautiful pictures before proceeding for our home for the night- Sabache Camp- at the base of Mt .Ololokwe . The camp is well maintained in relation to others I have camped at 🤫🤫. They have well built bathrooms and Toilets, there's water supply, a place I would call a dining area as well as a kitchen next to it . Love at first sight 😊. The space adjacent to the dining area is enough to set up tents for a good crowd . About 500 M ahead ,they have a restaurant,a curio shop and beautiful tented camps. The first night was quite peaceful, our chef prepared rice and chicken stew for us . At around nine thirty pm ,the group call to share tomorrow's itinerary as it was to be a busy day, and so off to rest. Nothing much I would say..... you too will by the time we're done with this 😄😄.

Day (2) Two Ideally, the team was depart from camp at 3:30 to be able to catch the sunrise at the summit by 6:30 but of course we were late and ended up leaving around 4:30 . Interestingly, our guide's name was Jesus and automatically, we became the sheep following Jesus 😅😅 you get it? Unfortunately a few metres into the scaling , one member fainted and so a few had to go back but some were still resilient to make it back to start climbing again. Not to blow my own trumpet but I belong to the who and who we call Team subaru 💯😎. I mean are you even surprised though? But it's me 🤷😜..so within no time ,with frequent stop to allow the team to catch up, Jesus graduated us from been followers and sending us out on our own 😄🤣 since the path seemed straight to the summit .Makosaaaa( dj afros tone 😂) .Hiking ahead we went ,a group of seven we were,two ladies ( yours truly and other one) and five guys. At some point,one guy and I saw the sunrise, we were not yet at the summit so we thought we could document that before we got to the summit. Who knew that this is what would save us from going astray 😃🙆. As we were taking our photos,Jesus caught up with us and so we proceeded to the summit, it was less than a KM away. Our expectations were that we would find the other 5 at the summit only to get there and find that we were the first ones for our group 🤣🤣. Thinking what I already know? Yes, you're right! They had a detour and got lost 🤭😄. We took our photos though we missed the sunrise, before realising they're not coming and Jesus really showing his worries of loosing a team . In manifestation of his fear , he had us leave the summit to go look for the" lost sheep"🤣🤣😂. Good news, we met them as we were scaling down,Jesus could not take it that they still wanted to go to the summit😅 but isn't that what we all came for🤷,so they went and so did everyone else who we met on our way back with the rest of the guides. The team made fun that unlike Jesus in the bible, this one lost the 98 sheep and just took care of the two 😂😂( you don't get the joke? Well, read your Bibles and also remember your Sunday School stories 😏). Getting back to the camp was the journey to document the memories, considering that not only did we leave when it was still dark, but because we were also trying to hurry and catch the sunrise. At the camp, we took our shower ,at least this time less line in waiting as people streamed in one by one unlike the previous night where we got there all at the same time . Did I tell you I actually took my shower in the bushes with water bottles as my basin 🤣🤣🤣. Breakfast was served( hot beverage,bread,bacon ,sausage and eggs ,as well as fruits) The chef also packed our lunch ( Sandwich,an apple,a banana and a fruit juice) . Unfortunately he spread margarine in all the sandwiches so that meant I couldn't take mine. We decamped and left for Marsabit, our home for the night, Camp Ahmed at KWS Marsabit .Before then, we took a stop at the entry point Marsabit county, at Merille River again for some photos. Some team members threw in the suggestion to take them on our way back and I'm glad we didn't buy the idea. We got to KWS Marsabit at around 6:20 PM. Marsabit itself is just a chilled town. The camp also had good facilities. And since I'm a runner,the 30 minutes before darkness, we went for a 5.34 km run around Marsabit town ,came back took our showers, had rice and beef which we took around the bonfire . Around the bonfire, we played some game as we got to know each other more before retiring as tomorrow was the acclimatization for the trip.

Day Three (3) We left camp Ahmed at 5 am. The journey ahead was to be a rough one as the terrain would have it The road was off road for the better part of the trip Our first stop was at a town called Maikona , who knew what this town had in store for us 😂😂😂. It loved us a little too hard and wasn't ready to let us go😅😜. Since we had exhausted our drinking water, we bought a few cases from here, enjoyed making fun of the mixture and the evident separation of their permanent houses and the manyattas then proceeded for Chalbi desert After stretching out for some distance, the truck took a you turn,the driver then stopped motorcycle rider to what seemed like a conversation asking for directions . We questioned why we were going back but our guide said he had taken a wrong route ,so we calmed down .we even suggested that we carry a local with us to show us directions 😂😂😂kumbe we were just been managed.( suspenseful music playing 🤣🤣)Later came to learn the owner of the truck instructed we be taken to an open dry cracked area, that would be make our chalbi experience 😳🥺🤔😡.We got to our Chalbi ,here all emotions were in play. As if the vehicle too was showing emotions, it had a breakdown, tears rolling down,they said it was the radiator. We had a conversation,calls to the service provider that this isn't what we agreed on and so we agreed that we would go back to Maikona, have the vehicle repaired then negotiate to proceed to the Chalbi we had in mind.we however didn't waste the time to document Chalbi as we had had it served 😂😃. What would have been an hour's hold at Maikona turned out to be longer than we planned for, we toured the town, met some "content creators" 😂😂,took photos, people were promised nyama choma at the Catholic church 🤣🤣,played games ( Kenya at 50 really came through)up until 2 :30 pm when we decided to hire out Land cruiser to ferry us to North Horr for our Chalbi experience as we wait for the truck to be repaired.

At this point dear reader,refill your water glasses,your popcorns and adjust your sitting because the following events have only happened in movies 😂😂😂. Also have your handkerchiefs near ,if not at least a tissue 😎 because it's just about to go down! Two land cruisers cames ,we were 27 in number.. Little did we know that the vehicle mattered😅 so,blindly we borded. But as they say, even the blind shall see 🤣. The speed of that vehicle I bet was a steady 240 Km/hour on a rough road through an endless desert regardless of the erected bumps . By the time we were half way through the journey we had the conversation of exchanging seating position on our way back since we were taking all the effect having been at the rear wheels. By the time we we're getting to Chalbi, we realised unlike our wooden seats, the other car had cushioned seats and I was sure I wasn't coming back with the same vehicle So we planned on how we were to be fast in taking the photos and come back to take the seats at the other car . So with just a simple signal 😂😂😂, we were back ,seated in the other car as if nothing is a miss. Our team members realising the occurrence, came back and at first requested we get back to our car before it got to a point of having statements like " surely, we're all adults here,can we behave so" which fell on deaf ears 🤣🤣. Another one asked our team leader " passi how could you allow this to happen?" Before he responded " for the love of peace and unity let's all go back to our cars" but it seems we were out for adventure and not for peace nor unity 😂😂😂. So unmoved, apart from one gentleman who was harassed by a lady sitting on him opting to bow out, we all used the car back to Maikona. An experience that even our local guide admitted to have been a torture sice he was also unable to enjoy his Khat something he did on our way back. Back Maikona, thinking that the driver was waiting for us, the truck was still undergoing repairs 🤣🤣🤣😂. Dusty, hungry, and tired,phone battery dead,we went into a local to have our phones charged.. It's here we played pool table and also for the first time, I learnt and played darts. Let's raise glasses to that! Everyday is a learning day 😎. At around 10 pm, our truck was ready to ferry us back, or so we thought 🤣. I was too tired the rough road couldn't keep me away from sleeping. A few kms out, the truck had another breakdown,which I came to learn in the morning that we went back to maikona for more repairs then headed out. The final blow came 25 KM from Maikona, 87 from Marsabit town where the truck decided it had had enough for the day. I was woken up by calls of team members requesting that if one wasn't to push the truck, to at least have the courtesy of removing their weight from the car 🤣🤣😂. Pushing we tried but the truck could hear none of it, apparently the brakes had locked too. So, in the middle of nowhere, oblivious of the scorpion, the hyenas we had seen, the boneless reptiles that the area could be habitable to and the bandits we've heard of, we settled to sleep at around 2:30 Am on a Sunday morning 🙆🤦.

Day 4

Had all factors remained constant, this was the day we were to leave Ahmed camp at 5 Am for a swim at Buffalo Springs and back to Nairobi early enough for enough rest before continuing to build the nation on Monday😄😄, but as it's written " man plans,God laughs"

When morning came ,a few vehicles tried jump starting the vehicle but it could hear none of it. Pressure stated building among the members and one by one , people started leaving Since we thought the problem was the battery,( because one had blown the previous day) we suggested that the guide takes a ride to Marsabit town at least come back with a battery as they also said their other truck had left for them a spare battery. The greater crowd left and behind we remained 11 of us In the spirit and tone of the narrator in Queen Charlotte,( why are you guessing? You haven't watched it? C'mon).. Dear reader,the following events I have seen them unfold,only ina movie and I just didn't know I had to spend my money to be a character in the making of this one 😂😂.

The 11 of us, made peace with the stay, we pulled out the board games,set up seats and started playing,maybe to keep our minds busy from thinking of our predicaments..That was successful for quite some time, by around 9:30 Am ,we started gathering all the water bottles we could find, just to reserve for we didn't know how long we were going to be there. By 10:30 Am we were all hungry, dehydrated and tired , one could easily tell this by the conversation happening. We kept the board games aside , people started walking around, went back to the truck only to find a 300 ml Coke a member had left behind. Never had I known that sucha small soda could serve such a huge crowd 🤣🤣🤣, almost everyone had a sip. By 10:30 Am, we started stopping vehicles passing by, not for help with our car, but to borrow anything edible they could have to share and also water😅😅 ( haven't you watched this movie before too?)The last real meal we had was ob Friday night and this was Sunday morning so you too will understand. Things were thick ! Minutes past 11 Am, our hero rode in with a new battery, never had I before seen grown adults dance in excitement for a motorcycle. He was all covered in dust and so we thought our problems were over . ( Makosaaaa😂😂)Our truck refused to ignite . Everything was in place but still..... So it's at this point , minutes past noon that we agreed we needed to leave as tomorrow was a work day for us. Just as we were contemplating on our way to Marsabit, we saw two cars driving towards us ,an SUV and a school bus . Our guys talked to the SUV occupants and settled on ferrying the ladies first,so the five of us got into the fortuner for Marsabit. Since the school bus was ferrying school kids, they were only able to accommodate 4 guys , leaving two behind . Worried and confused 🤔😕 we left the two behind. The fact that the area didn't have a network coverage only made it worse ,but again I was reminded " be still and know that I am the Lord" On our way, we came past our hero pushing the motorcycle on the dusty road, quite far from where their destination would be . I know this isn't funny, only that it is 😂😅🤣.Did I loose you? Of course! So, after our attempts to ignite the vehicle without success, and the fact that the area didn't have a network coverage, our hero decided to ride on the bike to an area with network coverage to make a call see if they could get instructions on how to solve the problem. To date dear reader, I'm not sure if the call was made or their trip was cut short and had to push the bike back to where the truck had stalled. So, upon getting back to camp Ahmed, I headed straight to the kitchen,had my full before proceeding to the bathroom. Quite a number of the team had already left for Nairobi while the remaining were waiting for us to get the numbers to get the shuttle to capacity . Few minutes later, the shuttle arrived, however we had still not heard the two gentlemen we had left behind,so we were adamant on leaving .Just as I was finishing to brush my teeth,I heard from the members that the truck had been repaired and that they were on their way to us . Broke into a dance .." who is God"......(Makosaaaaa😂😅🤣)Even before the news had settled,the two gentlemen shared photos in our WhatsApp group , barefoot on the tarmac and beside them ,the truck which seemed to have halted and watered the ground under it. This was confusing and frustrating at the same time. Consider we had already informed the truck that we would no longer need their services now that our truck had been repaired 😅😂🤭. How embarrassing it was to call it back ,this time two since we were 17 in total ,when the truck made it to the camp and pronounced unfit to drive to Nairobi. So the two gentlemen freshened up, ate and off we went. Our driver had informed us this would be an approximately 8 hours drive to Nairobi. My math had it that I would be in the house by around 3 Am latest, his driving confirmed the same but I questioned my seat mate when the driver fuelled only Kes 2,500 at Marsabit town since I was seated at the front. The vehicle was half full of fuel but I didn't think much into it only for us to be " sold" to another vehicle in Isiolo town. He didn't even give us time to absorb his actions. Our new driver was as slow as it could get, at some point ,I doubted he could see the road ... suspected he was dozing off🙆🤦. As if to confirm my fears, he made a stop over only to comeback with his face covered with water 😳, he had washed his face. Gladly, we made it safely to Nairobi ,though two hours later before I jumped into a cab where the driver was very chitty chatty, I guess he couldn't read the room - or rather in this case the vehicle 😄- because all I needed was a little sleep but that's a story for another day. Everyone updated that they made it home safely. Two days later, in my line of duty on Thika road, guess who I see 😅? .Nop! You're wrong but imma tell you, I saw our truck shamelessly driving towards town still covered in dust. But haisuru! .

Special thanks to all the vehicles that tried to solve our problem, The Catholic Society, Caritas father who gave us hope, Concern Worldwide Kenya , you saved a village by giving us ice cold water and sweets to keep us going, North Horr Secondary school bus that ferried 4 of the 11 remaining, the Nissan Fortuner ( that we didn't take the registration 🤔🤫😏) that ferried the ladies back ,our chef who stayed up all night waiting for us , our hero Kevin Mulei who rode approximately 87 km, majority of it dusty just to bring a battery that didn't work out immediately anyway + a few more to amd fro in search of network, our driver who wasn't giving up,the guides in hiking Mt.Ololokwe, the land cruiser drivers who made our Chalbi Desert experience come true ( who should actually sign up for fast and furious 🤭)and of course each member who made the adventure worth noting.

So, again, when does one hang the boots?

Soo long, Marsabit, you were more than I ever thought, it unfolded like a movie. Soo long Samburu, you were such a dearie even though our plan for Buffalo Springs didn't actualize.

So Incase you're thinking what I'm thinking,this down here ,this is it! And this is where I say .....( Suspenful music) ...... ......my boots are clean! Infact, awaiting hanging, so on to the next one 😎😄... until then..Rurimeria and Kinangop has soo far been dethroned, Marsabit takes the throne for suffering,fun and adventure.....

Bucket list ✅✅✅

Until next time.....drops the mic

#marsabit #mtololokwe #ChalbiDesert #tembeakenya #weekendvibes #samburu Signed: Daddy's little girl That Cute Tomboy! ❣️