You start in Nairobi, then move north into Lolldaiga Conservancy before heading deep into the Ndoto Mountains, granite domes rising straight out of the desert, well beyond where the roads end.

From there, the camels carry the camp and you walk. Samburu guides choose the route between settlements their families have moved through for generations, following paths that make sense to people who know this country intimately. You move through dry riverbeds, over rocky passes and between great outcrops of granite, with the desert stretching away below.

There are no vehicles and no fixed camp. Each day, the camels move ahead and the camp is made wherever you stop. The rhythm is simple: walk, eat, swim when there is water, sleep beneath some of the clearest skies in Africa. Days can pass without seeing another traveller.

Then, after the silence of the mountains, you finish back in Nairobi, with time to explore the national park on the city’s doorstep.