UNESCO World Heritage · Est. 1973 · Lake Turkana, Kenya
SibiloiNational Park — the Cradle of Mankind
On the eastern shore of Lake Turkana, the Jade Sea, lies the richest hominin fossil field on Earth — and Kenya’s most remote desert wilderness.
- Coordinates
- 03°55′N 36°20′E
- Area
- 1,570 km²
- World Heritage
- Inscribed 1997
- Managed by
- Kenya Wildlife Service
- From Nairobi
- ~800 km north
Two things meet here that should not coexist: a sea the colour of jade in a black volcanic desert, and the ground where humanity began.
Sibiloi National Park spreads across 1,570 square kilometres of the eastern Turkana shore in Marsabit County, on the far edge of Kenya’s northern frontier. It was gazetted in 1973 to protect two things at once — the desert-adapted wildlife of the lakeshore, and the fossil beds at Koobi Fora, which have told us more about human ancestry than any other site on the continent.
This is the heart of the Lake Turkana National Parks, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997. Beyond the fossils lie a petrified cedar forest seven million years old, pre-Iron-Age burial pillars, the world’s largest Nile crocodile colony, and a shoreline shared by the Turkana, Dassanach, Gabra and El Molo peoples. Few places on Earth hold deep time and living culture so close together.
An expert guide, organised the way the park actually divides.
Each path below opens a full section of the guide — the science, the wildlife, the people and the practical logistics of reaching one of the planet’s most remote protected areas.
Koobi Fora & human origins
The fossil beds where Richard Leakey’s “Hominid Gang” found over 400 specimens — Homo habilis, Homo erectus and Paranthropus boisei living side by side, two million years ago.
Enter the fossil field → 02Lake Turkana — the Jade Sea
The world’s largest desert lake and largest permanent alkaline lake. Algae and shifting light turn its waters from blue to grey to a startling jade green.
Walk the shoreline → 03Wildlife of the desert lake
Grevy’s zebra, Beisa oryx, gerenuk and reticulated giraffe on the open plains — and an estimated 12,000 Nile crocodiles along the water.
Meet the species → 04The petrified forest & deep time
Beneath Mount Sibiloi lie the stone remains of a cedar forest that grew on these shores seven million years ago, before the desert came.
Read the rock → 05Peoples of Turkana
The Turkana, Dassanach, Gabra and El Molo — living custodians of the frontier, with cultures as old and resilient as the land itself.
Meet the communities → 06Plan your expedition
Entry fees, the three-day overland route, fly-in charters from Wilson, the best months to travel and where to sleep on the lake.
Start planning →The scale of Sibiloi is measured in millions of years.
The figures that make this the most scientifically important landscape in Kenya — read, like the sediment, from the present down into the past.
Specimens that rewrote the human story.
The “ER” prefix means East Rudolf — the lake’s old name was Lake Rudolf, and these came from its eastern shore, here in Sibiloi. Each is held by the National Museums of Kenya.
A note on geography: the famous “Turkana Boy” and “Black Skull” were found on the western shore, outside the park. Sibiloi’s own Koobi Fora beds yielded the discoveries below.
Homo rudolfensis — “Skull 1470”
Reconstructed from hundreds of fragments by Meave Leakey. Its large braincase pushed the origins of our genus deeper into the past and ignited decades of debate about early Homo.
Paranthropus boisei — “Nutcracker” kin
A near-complete robust cranium, found resting in plain sight. It confirmed that several hominin species shared this landscape — and marked the start of success at Koobi Fora.
Homo erectus — face of an ancestor
One of the most complete Homo erectus skulls ever found in Africa, with face and teeth intact — a direct human ancestor, excavated by Leakey over three careful days.
Homo habilis — the small-brained handy one
A small but well-preserved cranium that anchored the species Homo habilis at Turkana, sharpening the picture of how many human relatives lived here at once.
The essentials, before you go
Full planning guide →- Location
- Eastern Lake TurkanaMarsabit County, N. Kenya
- Established
- 1973UNESCO WHS since 1997
- Size
- 1,570 km²Semi-desert & lakeshore
- Managed by
- KWSTickets via eCitizen
- Getting there
- 4WD or charter3-day overland, or fly-in
- Best time
- Jun–Oct & Jan–MarDriest; coolest in Jun–Jul
- Gates
- Karsa (main)Plus Alia Bay & Koobi Fora
- Climate
- Arid, windy<250 mm rain a year
Reaching Sibiloi is half the story.
It is a three-day drive through Marsabit and North Horr, or a charter flight over a thousand kilometres of desert. Either way, you arrive somewhere that feels like the beginning of the world. Let us help you plan it well.