Mathew’s Range/Ol Doinyo Lenkiyo

Again I decide to take the “rough road” instead of doing the easy way. Yeehaaw! It turns out to be 4x4 paradise as I turn into the Mathew’s Range (Ol Doinyo Lenkiyo) from Wamba, north of the Samburu National Reserve. Great landscape! Hills, mountains, barren land, dry, thorny bushes, getting less and less as I progress further north, giving way to scrubs and more camels and goats. I cross dozens of luggas (small, dry river beds in dry season), manage steep descends and ascends and have to drive around 80 km in low range gears. I have to admit that having an automatic gearbox could be advantageous in this situation. My manual 6-speed is far from
being as smooth as a VW Passat's one ... It is just a slow progress but full of experience and impressions. North in Mathew’s Range the path is so bad that it actually is no difference of driving next to it or not. In my paper map it is marked as “seasonal” and this is why: parts of the track are in big, dry riverbeds. Towards the afternoon I have to cross the wide valley of Ngire River with an eye-filling view of Ndoto Mountains in the north. The riverbed is still muddy and wet in parts but it is crossable without any problems. Awesome! I just came in the right season. My night I spend just a few metres off the road, approx. 30 km south-easterly of Baragoi, on a small hill between scrubs and stones with the view of both the sunset and sunrise as well as the hilly landscape all around. Yum yum! Later I get approached by two young villagers who tell me that camping here is dangerous because of the rivaling tribe from Baragoi which comes here to steal their animals. They would also high-jack cars and I should better come to their village. But I am lazy, tired, currently preparing food and it is almost dark. Have a peaceful night though with a golden ball rising over the mountains at 06:35.Leggi altro