Northern / 21
An undiscovered historical wonderland Parks in this area: - Marsabit National Park & Reserve - Sibiloi National Park
What to bring with you: - Drinking water - Picnic items - Camping equipment (if you intend to stay overnight)
Universally recognised as the most likely
Realm of the raptors
site of the biblical Garden of Eden, Sibiloi
Renowned for its impressive array of rare and
- Binoculars
National Park is full of fascinating archaeo-
little-known birds, Marsabit National Park
logical sites. Relatively undiscovered, the
& Reserve contains 400 recorded species of
- Camera
KWS parks in northern Kenya are just wait-
birds. This is an ornithologist’s paradise, with
ing to be explored.
52 species of birds of prey living in the park, including the very rare lammergeyer.
History One of the area’s most famous residents was the
Camel safaris
Elephant Ahmed who lived in Marsabit National
For more adventure loving visitors, camel trek-
Park & Reserve. In the 1970s, to demonstrate
king is great fun. Marsabit offers camel safaris
Kenya’s commitment to wildlife conservation,
conducted by local tribesmen.
this elephant was given the 24-hour protection of an armed guard. When Ahmed died, aged 55,
Archaeological safaris
his body was preserved and is now on display at
Known as the ‘Cradle of Mankind’, Sibiloi
the National Museum in Nairobi.
National Park was created to protect the sites of the many remarkable hominid fossils. In 1972
Land of gofs
Dr Richard Leakey and his team discovered a
Mount Marsabit is peppered with extinct
fossilised skull 2 million years old. The almost
volcanic craters, known locally as gofs. Cloaked
complete skull was labelled Skull 1470 by the
in aromatic moss-encrusted forests, Gof
National Museum of Kenya.
Bongole, on the eastern edge of the park, is the largest and most dramatic of the craters, with a
Also in Sibiloi, visitors can see the fossil of a 3
10 km rim. There are also crater lakes that attract
million-year-old giant tortoise, an ancient species
large numbers of resident birds. The most scenic
of crocodile and a behemoth dating back 1.5
is Lake Paradise, made famous in the early films
million years.
- Sunscreen - Sunglasses - Guidebooks
Marsabit National Park contacts: The Warden PO Box 42, Marsabit, Kenya. Tel: +254 (0)69 2028 +254 (0)69 2279 Email: marsabitnp@kws.go.ke Sibiloi National Park contacts: The Warden PO Box 219, Lodwar, Kenya. Tel: +254 (0)54 21 223 Email: sibiloi@kws.go.ke
Other activities and attractions
and writings of Martin Johnson and Vivien de Wattville.
- Hat
Crocodile kingdom
Butterfly watching, the Jade Sea and Singing
Sibiloi National Park lies on the shores of Lake
Wells.
Huge-tusked elephant bulls
Turkana, home to the world’s largest population
Marsabit is one of the few places in Africa where
of Nile crocodiles (estimated at 12,000). Despite
elephants with tusks of over 45 kg can still be
their huge size and formidable appearance, the
seen, though they tend to keep to the forests
crocodiles are generally inoffensive beasts living
and can be difficult to locate.
in harmony with their environment.