we have heard that there is the danger of being shot at by 'shiftas' on the road south from the moyuale border ethiopia/kenya. whats the situation thre, do the police provide escorts as we have also heard? what incidents have people been involved in? any help would be much appreciated.

Mark

the army will want to give you an armed guard, which is free, but i dont think there is anything to worry about.we stopped for a cup of tea in the most dodgy bit and only got smiles, and the bloke with the gun legged it when he heard our exhaust.there are a few convoys each day you can tag onto.

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Hi, I heard all the rumors about Shifta but saw nothing, 2 of us travelling on BMW's without escort and a friend a few miles back with a Peugeot camper van ( he was going so slow we went ahead and waited )we had no trouble except for the road, it is volcanic rock in places and loves to eat tyres. Good place to camp in marsabit is with henri the swiss man, good place just out of town, ask anyone in town for him. Good place to camp near Mt Kenya is Timau river lodge just before Timau a few miles from Nanyuki. Sign posted on the left. Enjoy, it all gets a little dull after Niarobi.

I'm a bit late here but I completely disagree about this road.

Most people are lucky.

The north west of kenya has never been under government control. The shifta have been raiding traffic for many years.

Most of the Isiolo to Moyale road is safe apart from the 40km south of Laisamis. The chief of police in Isiolo told me I must go with the convoy for that section.

When i got to the southern checkpoint for that 40km I was going to ride on but the local policeman told me to wait for the convoy. This was Decemeber 2002. The shifta were raiding trafic about every 10 days to 2 weeks.

After an hour a truck came in from the north. It had just been held up about 10km away and three people had been shot.

I phoned two friends for advice:

1 'Were they shot at close range or from a distance?'. It was close range. 'OK, they will be expecting the army so they will have gone into the bush. It's probably the safest time to go now'.

2 (a gung ho pilot) 'I never go with the convoy I just ride as fast as i can'. How many times have you done this road? 'Four or five times'.

I have Nairobi newspaper article complaining about the constant raids and shootings and asking why doesnt the governement make it safe?

There is another argument that the chances of them actually being able to hit a moving target with an ancient rifle are very small indeed.

I met a friend who was out driving in the bush. He heard the rifle click as the shifta fired his gun staright at him. It jammed. He gave him some gun oil and went on his way.

So i'd suggest:

- ask when the last raid was and how often they are occuring.
- decide whether to ride with the convoy or go as fast as you can.

I hope to do this road again in several months.

Good luck!



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Jerome

http://www.fowb.co.uk

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Jerome

fowb.co.uk

Have been on that road about 8 times. Never had problems. The shiftas are not out for 'poor' tourists, whose death would probably cause more trouble too. It is the returning rich arab commerciants who are on the trucks with their many plastic bags fully loaded with shillings/dollars or whatever (oh yesss!!)


Marcel

My wife and I went from Marala to Wamba to Marsabit and there was nothing suspisious accept the heyina we saw. We had a flat tyre 90km before Marsabit and done the rest at night. The road gets unridable when raining. People in Marsabit very friendly, we stayed at Jey Jey centre, 250 shilling ($4)per room (single) On our way to Moyale the BM broke down and we spend half a day next to the road pushing it back ecc. People even came to help us push. We are back in Nairobi and when the BMW is fixed will do that road again without any fear, I think it is the most beuatifull part of Kenia.