The Great Walk of Africa
From the moment I heard about it, the Great Walk of Africa was an adventure I knew I had to have. Imagine being on foot, boots on the ground, kicking up the same dust as the wild animals in Kenya. It instantly became a “must-do” item on my Life List (a term much more appealing to me than “bucket list”).
Mohammed leads the group along the hillier, denser early portion of the trip
After a four year wait for the stars to align, I finally crossed the Atlantic in September 2013 with my travel buddy, Margaret. We joined six others at the classic Norfolk Hotel in Nairobi for our pre-trip briefing. The next day, we departed from the “civilized” world for a unique journey of walking in the Kenyan national parks of Tsavo West and Tsavo East.
For the next ten days, we left camp promptly at 7:10 a.m. and traveled on foot in silent single file for six to ten miles. Much of the route was initially beside the Tsavo River and later the Galana River, because it improved our chances of seeing wildlife. After all, every animal needs water. Some days, we also had an afternoon walk. The total mileage: about 100 miles. As a bonus, we also enjoyed old-fashioned “game drives” in open-topped Landcruisers later in the afternoon.
Iain was at the ready with several grumpy hippos, who (luckily) decided to go up the opposite bank
How I loved the silence! To witness the landscape unfolding at a walking pace and absent the distraction of chatter was nourishing to my soul. And it yielded incomparable wildlife viewing opportunities, which was the real point. Elephants were my favorite, of course, plus...well, everything you could ask to see and more (except rhinoceros, now poached and thus absent from that region). Hippopotamus, giraffe, dik-dik (“the chihuahua of the antelope world”). Fish eagles, Cape buffalo, crocodiles. Baboons, leopards, grey herons. Kudu, impala, ostrich. African harrier hawk, lions (maned and maneless), mongoose, wildebeest. Each sighting was thrilling. Because our direction of travel was into the prevailing winds from the Indian Ocean, we often had close encounters with animals, some closer than others. But I never felt the prickle of real danger (well, except maybe during that one hippo encounter...).
The terrain along the Galena River was drier, most desert-like
We were safely bracketed by people who knew thoroughly what they were doing, including Great Walk creator Iain Allen, now age 76, who by 2024 had guided 105 Great Walks (yes: that’s more than 10,500 miles!). We were joined by his protege and business partner Alex Fiksman, veteran of 32 walks as of 2024, and whom some of us knew from earlier travels. Both are as impressively adept as raconteurs as managing the not-insignificant logistics of our undertaking.
Out in front each day was the six-foot-eight, rifle-toting Samburu warrior, Mohammed (age 66 at the time). A ferocious veteran of Kenya’s 1970s Poaching Wars, Mohammed lent his steady presence on every Great Walk from inception in 2000 until his retirement (and death, sadly, in 2021). Two sharp-eyed Samburu game spotters, Wochi and Lejori, carrying traditional spears, were at either end of the line, along with Tioko, also a Samburu man toting a rifle.
Our cocoon of protection was relevant, of course, but never tested. The firearms and spears were an understandably necessary precaution, should the need for defense against riled wildlife arise, but thankfully, over the years, it never has. The closest to harm came when Mohammed stopped me from sitting on a log at a rest stop until he could examine a large crack. “There was a puff adder in there last time,” he said. (!)
The Great Walk of Africa was anything but a Spartan event. Upcoming blogs will introduce camp life, the delicious meals that appeared like magic, how we forded the river twice a day, and more about this wonderfully unique trip. Stay tuned!
For More Information:
About The Great Walk of Africa (and other adventures): https://www.tropical-ice.com/
Iain’s autobiography (find it at an independent bookseller near you! or on Amazon...): OUTSIDER... A Life with the Elephants and Mountains of Africa, by Iain Allen (published 2024).
An earlier version of this blog appeared in Nov. 2013 in “Design Destinations,” at https://designdestinations.org/
Our fearless leaders, Alex Fiksman (left) and Iain Allen (right)
