Jungle Junction, Nairobi

Jungle Junction Photos (Google Search)

Jungle Junction Campsite in Nairobi has to be one of the most popular campsites for majority of overlanders visiting Nairobi.   Reading the blog post from ‘Tin Can in Africa’, I was reminded of the many memories I had whilst traveling overland around Kenya and staying at Jungle Junction.  I arrived in Nairobi in August 2005 having heard rumours of an open house run by Chris Handschuh which was named 'Jungle Junction'.  The internet was young in 2005 and attempting to find the GPS coordinates for this campsite proved pretty difficult.  Eventually, I found the coordinates and headed out to find the house.

Jungle Junction Campsite

October 2013 Update:  I have added the new GPS waypoints as Jungle Junction have moved to Karen, Nairobi.  The remainder of this blog post focuses on the previous campsite...


Stan & Marianne sum up the experience nicely in their blog:

The Monday morning we cruised the 135km to Nairobi and rolled into “Jungle Junction” midday and met the illustrious Chris who owns and runs it. Jungle Junction is a cool and casual place and an incredible meeting point for all us overlanders heading either North or South. Everybody very friendly despite being rather cramped and on top of each other on a plot of land full of vehicles being stored for owners gone home for a while, motor bikes and vehicles being repaired and serviced in Chris’ quite extensive workshop with two mechanics with a good knowledge of every type of 4 x4 and motor bike likely to be travelling Africa. We found Chris and all his staff very accommodating and helpful.

Jungle Junction notice board by Andrey (Blog Moto Traveler)

Whilst searching for additional reference material for this blog, I came across this blog post by Andrey which included a photograph from December 2010 which shows the notice board.  Amazingly, the board still includes my BigSky Adventures business card I had printed for my trans-Africa trip in 2005.  I love the fact that so many memories are created in one place and stories are shared.

Chris, the owner, has certainly created a haven for road-weary overlander.  I liked the fact that there were so many overlanders arriving and departing that it gave you a renewed sense of vigor to travel again, especially after months on the road.  Camping out gives you an opportunity to swop stories with people that are passionate about overland travel.

There aren't many videos on YouTube showing Jungle Junction.  This is the best I could find:

In 2005, Steve and Michele (Africa Wanderer) blogged the following about Jungle Junction:

Africa Wanderer

Moved to Jungle Junction campsite, as we wanted to be somewhere where Steve can service the Land Rover. Christof welcomed us with a no problem attitude to the idea of the service and the offer of equipment.

Steve spent an entire day under the Land Rover or with his head under the bonnet!

He replaced engine oil, filter, fuel filter, cleaned the K&N air filter, checked the tappets, replaced the sump plug, put in new front brake pads, checked all fluid levels, greased the u/j's and tested the wheel bearings. This was made much easier as Christof kindly lent us his trolley jack and axle stands. He also has a large collection bin for draining oil, so although this was all done in front of his house, there was hardly a drop spilt!

Jungle Junction recently moved to a new address.
S1 21.767 E36 44.438

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The address, GPS coordinates and contact details for the old Jungle Junction campsite:

Jungle Junction
Amboseli Rd. Lavington, Nairobi, Kenya
Tel. +254 722 752865 / +264 723 392014,
E-mail: jungle_junction_nairobi@yahoo.com

GPS coordinate S1 17.325 E36 45.634

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Additional reading:

Focus on Kenya
Richard Trillo (Author of The Rough Guide to Kenya)