All you need to know about camping at Lake Magadi

“The drought has driven the animals away,” says David” our Maasai guide.  “This is good for the Maasai communities as we can let the cattle graze safely, but bad for tourism. Although” he cackles “no tourists visit here in summer”. He doesn’t call us crazy, but it’s definitely implied.

Our car is speeding across the Nguruman escarpment.  There are no roads; we follow Maasai cattle paths away from the soda lakes of Magadi and towards the river Ewaso Ng'iro.  The car in front whips up a tornado of red dust. The grass is burned away by the sun; all that remains in the red earth and sparsely dotted toothbrush trees. Outside, the temperature has hit 50 degrees. I stare in disbelieve, I’ve never seen a land so parched, so wild. Hotter than Hades, so starved of water that even the animals have headed south to Shompole.

"Why are we camping here?” I whimper to my husband.

Lake Magadi sits south of Nairobi.  You drive past the city lights, over the Ngong Hills and from then its 87 kilometres of hot dusty road. This is the land of Maasai pastoralists and in February in a drought season, it’s a harsh place to eke out a living. Maasai women and their tiny children sit on the roadside.  They are waiting for boda-bodas to bring desperately needed water. Goats shelter in the dappled shade of the manyattas. The heat builds as we head south, waves shimmer on the sand, water creating a mirage at the bottom of every hill.

The Lake Magadi Soda factory is a place out of time. The candyfloss pink lake with its decorative pink flamingos is overshadowed on the west shore by the soda factory.  A rusting, thumping lump of an eyesore, but head south and the flat expanse of blue water and pink soda crystals is a moonscape of otherworldly beauty. 

"So you want to camp at the lake?" Snorts the receptionist at the Lake Magadi Clubhouse where we have come to find a guide.  The Maasai community are often at loggerheads with the soda factory but they are happy to guide tourists around the lake.  

"Its’ too hot to camp at the lake, I will find you a guide to take you to the river."

An hour later we are speeding down cattle trails and I’m ripping my hair out at the thought of camping with three kids in the middle of nowhere. Then we spot trees.  An oasis of the tallest, greenest trees I’ve never seen. We haven't seen green since we left Nairobi and yet here we are 3 hours later approaching acacias that tower 50 feet above my head.  We pile out the car; sandy bank drops off to a wide brown river and its cool, cool water. This is it. Paradise found.  

The River Ewaso Ng'iro is the main water source for all life in this area, so despite being in the middle of nowhere our patch of beach is remarkably busy.   The Maasai bring their cattle here to drink. Small boys collect bottles of water from the river and prepare to carry them many kilometres back home. Tracks warn us that not all the animals have left. We spot leopard prints and David warns us not to let the children out of sight. 

“The leopards make their home in the branches above the river”. He says.  In fact, gerenuk, oryx, buffalo, zebra, giraffe, and civet and leopard all live along the river. 

 And crocodiles.

We throw out clothes off and joyfully make to jump into the river.  "Stop!!" yells David, "the river has crocodiles". He walks out a metre and declares it safe.   We share a look… who is going to go in first? 

I wade in and the floor drops away, the water is too deep to stand. Something bumps up against me and I scream, convinced my death is imminent. I make it to the other side.  On the bank, my friends crease up with laughter. I struggle to share their amusement at my near-death experience. They mollify me with large glasses of iced wine and jump in with me.  We spend the entire day in the water, sending the kids to camp for refills and watching as they leap into the river from the high banks.

This is the cream of wild camping. With leopards overhead and crocodiles in the water, the experience has the kind of gut-clenching exhilaration that I only ever experience in Africa.  It is heaven. The day is perfect.

As night falls, we set our tents and cook Nyama Choma.  We leave the shade of the trees and walk back onto the Shompole plains to gaze at stars. A herd of zebra are startled into a stampede. The kids shine torches into the trees looking for leopards.  We roast marshmallows, the kids fall asleep and the adults into a contented silence.

Morning dawns and there are more tracks, large paw prints and something big has been through our food bags.  We briefly brave the crocs again before heading for the hot springs.

The shimmering expanse of sunlit water appears out of nowhere. We crest the Nguruman escarpment and gaze in awe at the mirror-like surface.  The springs sit at 55 degrees and the sun at midday is an even match… we pop our toes in the saline water. Finding no refreshment there, we crack open ciders and contemplate the apocalyptic surroundings. Pink, blue, yellow and white soda crystals sparkle in the sun.  Nothing moves, even the flamingos are rendered stationary by the heat of the day.  A group of Maasai women gather appear on the horizon, they run through the heat haze to reach us.   We buy beaded jewellery for the kids before heading home.

Halfway back we stop at Olorgesailie Prehistoric Site. It the location of the world-famous ‘Factory of Stone Tools', the largest collection of prehistoric manmade hand axes in the world.  150,000 years ago this was a lake where early man fished and hunted. No one knows why such a large collection of tools was left here. It's a fascinating place; great prehistoric elephant skulls lie in shaded canopies next to the tools used to capture them.  The kids dig in the dust for caveman weapons and find some… they are swiftly confiscated by the askari. 

As the unrelenting heat swamps us and heads throb, the cool Nairobi highlands call us home.  

How to get there:

It is approximately 2.5 hours to Lake Magadi Sports club and another 45 minutes to the river Ewaso Ng'iro.

From Kiserian, carry on straight down the Magadi Road towards Corner Baridi and the Ngong Hills. Stay on this tarmac road (past Corner Baridi) for approximately 87 km until you reach Magadi town.

A Magadi town sign in at the security barrier, turn right and head to the Lake Magadi Sports Club. From the club, you will need to find a guide to take you to the River Ewaso Ng’iro.

The club reception will assist.

How much will it cost?

Entrance fee to Lake Magadi is:

CITIZENS & RESIDENTS ADULT Ksh 500

CITIZENS & RESIDENTS CHILD Ksh 350

NON RESIDENTS ADULT Ksh 1,000

NON RESIDENT CHILD Ksh 500

Guide/Ranger Fee: Ksh 2000