Evening all

I'm planning a Cairo - Cape Town overland for early 2010 and research suggests that the trickiest bit will be the circa 400km from Moyale on the Ethiopian border down to Isiolo, both due to poor road conditions and instability between local tribes (continually nicking each others goats!) plus the added excitement of bandits (kenyan or somali).

I understand that this is remote, wild Kenya - always has been always will be - so caution needs to be exercised in any case.

However, what I'm trying to ascertain is quite how bad is the situation and how risky is this route? How has the situation been changing over recent months / years? How easy will it be to assemble a convoy? Should we insist on armed guards? Is Marsabit a decent place to stop or a hell hole etc etc

I just want 'the facts' so I can make an informed judgement - it's difficult getting a feel for the picture on the ground.

many thanks for any insights anyone can offer

regards

RRG

im from that part of world but its been a while, So my information might not be up to date. From what i understand and remember vehicles traveling in that part of the country normally require
a police escort and convoy - so before you leave the police will assemble a convoy and provide it with
an escort - i'm not sure if this is still the case.

I've found this great blog about a guy who did this recently, and he describes everything quite well. He mentions that trucks and ordinary buses seem to be going here without escort, there is some mention about some horror stories so I can't say anything about the reality, cause I don't know anything else than what I read there. He also has some good entries about sudan btw.

http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Kenya/Eastern-Province/Moyale/blog-389619.html

Hi,

In this particular stretch, there is quite a degree of spontaneity /unpredictability of events but the overall feeling of late is that things have somehow improved in terms of security.

Either way, I would highly recommend that you stick to joining a convoy or make arrangements for escort by the local security personnel.

Wish you a safe trip.