Navigating Lake Naivasha

7/7
Regal, impressive, majestic, stark – there are so many words to describe the savanna and the animals therein.

We woke early, at 5:20 AM, for a 5:45 breakfast. Then we started our morning game drive at 6:30. Mount Kilimanjaro was unfortunately clouded in. But, we saw group after group of elephants. At one point a large family crossed the road right in front of us and a little baby got distracted. So it’s mom had to give him a little shove forward with her trunk.

Sunday driving means less traffic, so we made good time to Nairobi. There we said a quick goodbye to our Safaris Squad and jumped back in the van to head to Lake Naivasha.

This morning I took a lot of catch and release pictures that I call shoot and delete. I have so many pictures of elephants and zebras. And between the four of us there’s always someone who says they’ve got a great shot of whichever animal is in front of us.

We stopped for lunch at the restaurant we had stopped at so many times before. The logistics of this tour are such that we have crisscrossed our path going back and forth across this part of the country.
We arrived at Lake Naivasha, home to the hippos and lots of birds, to learn that the cost was really pricey.  So, we actually made her an offer. She accepted it. Either way, it was very pleasant being out on the lake about an hour before sunset. The hippos, though not plentiful, looked so sweet even though they are the most dangerous animal in Africa. We saw a couple frolicking together, then one gave us a big yawn for the scrapbook.

Back at our hotel we enjoyed Wi-Fi, showers, dinner and hopefully a good night's rest. Tomorrow we have a hike in Hells gate, the setting for the Lion King.

Amazing Amboseli

7/6

Bad night sleep. Sloping bed. Going to get a new room today. Slept in and getting out late, 9 AM start.

The game drive started out slow, with some viewing of elephants through a fence, but then we got rolling. We had a nice close-up with a family of elephants walking by; another close encounter with an elephant family munching away in a marsh; and a final close encounter with a giant bull elephant who charged the van because he thought we were blocking his path. Wow!

We also had an amazing view of a pair of young lions basking in the morning sun. They then each got up and walked past the car. Cool!


While playing ping-pong at a rest stop at a resort, I had a zebra to the left of my opponent, Benji, and elephants to the right. Today we saw flamingos, hyenas up close, ostriches, hippos, wildebeests up close, and lots of birds.


At lunch Marina was a celebrity with all the school kids visiting the same viewpoint. They touched her hair, taught her to count in Swahili and gave her a big hugs goodbye. Marina loved the experience. We also saw jackals today – little cute wild dogs, warthogs and of course, the most prevalent animal in Amboseli– the zebras.
Here in the Amboseli national park you see the vast flat plains with a variety of animals intermixed. It’s hard to capture in a picture but the variety of animals in one setting is mind-boggling. It feels so Africa to look out and see pink flamingos in the water, a line of elephants and a group of zebras intermixed with wildebeests all sharing the savannah.

Splendor in the Grass

7/5
I woke up and raced off to Lake Nakuru. There were lots of baboons in the trees. We saw pink flamingos off in the distance, but due to a downed tree, we couldn’t go see them.  Perhaps our driver snuck out in the middle the night and cut the tree down so that he wouldn’t have to take us to see them. But, he did drive like a maniac to help us see a lion sleeping in the grass. He used the van to wake up the drowsy lion so that we would get good photos. I feel guilty about it, but also took great pictures. We also saw two rhinos. We were told that they are the rare white rhinos.
Then, once we exited the park, about two hours later, we spent 10 hours driving south. At one point our driver pulled over and told us that we were switching vans. Then we suddenly had a new driver. I think he recognized that our trust in him had eroded.

We arrived at Amboseli National Park at 7:30 PM in the dark. Dinner, showers, cards.
In retrospect, I would have loved to spend another day in the magnificent Masai Mara National Park. Driving up to Nakuru only to drive down south to Amboseli was an enormous waste of time spent in a car so that we could see a few a couple of rhinos off in the distance.

Knackered in Nakuru

7/4
It was a bit of a disappointing day, but I guess you can’t hit home runs every time at bat.
Woke up really early. Someone’s alarm went off at four and it woke me. I thought it was Ilana’s alarm so I woke her.

Breakfast and then into the van for a game drive. But, our reluctant driver first told us the park was closed due to poachers, then when we saw other cars go in, he started to drive away. My theory is he didn’t want to pay the park entrance fee – he’d rather pocket the money. He had offered us to do a longer drive on the previous day because he wanted to skip this morning’s drive. So when we chose to do the morning drive, he was not very happy.
He took us into the park after we insisted, then went on a route that guaranteed we wouldn’t see any animals. I took two pictures only. Very disappointing.

The drive to Lake Nakuru was long. We stopped for lunch. When we finally arrived at 3:30, having woken up at five, breakfast at 5:30, we were told that there is nothing to do today. We were also told that we forfeited the boat ride because we went on that lame game drive. So with 3.5 hours before dinner, we went for a walk. I had my torn pants made into short shorts. While waiting for the seamstress to finish, Marian and I taught a Masai woman how to make guacamole. We may have permanently altered Masai culture in Kenya today.

Amazing Masai Mara

7/3
What a day! I don’t think there are enough superlatives in the dictionary to describe what we saw. After a breakfast of eggs, pancakes, and sweet beans, our adventure began.
The game drive started out with some gorgeous giraffes at sunrise. Then buffaloes, zebras, then ... this was too cool… cheetahs! First they were on a knoll, but then the pair came down from the knoll and walked straight toward our van. I was excited and more than a little scared. The cheetahs walked right around us and went to sit on another knoll. So amazing! Such a beautiful animal.
Gazelles, hordes of wildebeasts, warthogs, hyenas, mongooses, towering elephants, then… A leopard in a tree. It was a bit difficult to photograph, but there it was! Crazy! More elephants, more ostriches, an army of zebras running and prancing in endless green fields.


We took a step into the Serengeti in Tanzania, then stopped stepped back into Kenya. The animals were on their migration from the grasses of Tanzania to the more fertile grasses of Kenya.

Lunch was on the Masai Mara River. During a bag lunch on a blanket under the trees a masturbating baboon came to visit. For further entertainment we went with the armed ranger for a walk along the river. What was in the river? Hippos! They bellowed, showed their teeth and splashed around for us. They were also giant African crocodiles lounging on the shore. From one vantage point along the river, you could see giraffes and zebras at the same time. This park is so beautiful!

Heading back, we passed more zebras and more zebras, elephants, giraffes, gazelles, wildebeests, and then… We stopped at a tree which had two lions in it, hiding from the heat of the day.
What a magnificent day! Perhaps the best travel day I’ve ever had. We saw so much. So incredible!

Kings of the Jungle

7/2
Safari day! Benji woke up with a fever to add to his stomach discomfort. We gave him antibiotic.
After a breakfast of granola at our hotel, we jumped in the tour company’s van. I sat in the front seat and napped and watercolor painted. Our new family was Abed, a French nomadic mathematician, Diego and Elisa, an attractive Spanish police officer couple, and our charming family.

The lunch on the way to Masai Mara was ridiculously good – an all you can eat buffet with rice, rice with meat, noodles, veggies, chicken stew, fruit, etc. We arrived at our camp and were surprised to see how luxurious it was. The fancy tents had beds with beautiful mosquito nets, comforters with pillows, really hot showers, and clean bathrooms attached.

Before dinner we departed for our first game drive. Holy cow! We couldn’t believe our eyes. We saw zebras and giraffes and… lions! We couldn’t believe it, lions on the first drive. And they weren’t far away, so it was particularly spectacular. Adding to that first drive list, we saw ostriches, hyenas buffaloes, and of course wildebeests.

Dinner was another remarkably delicious meal of fish and noodles and potato joe-joes, complemented with lively fun conversation with our van group. A hot shower and then bed. I slept the minute my head hit the pillow. A very successful day as we begin our safari adventure.

Baby Elephants

7/1
Nairobi is a little scary. In order to exchange money I had to become Jason Bourne. First I had to arrange with a third-party for the money lender to come to our hotel. Then I had to confirm who he was with a phone call to the first person. Then once the money exchange details were arranged he would pull up his pant leg to break out the Kenyan Shillings.

That first night our hotel told us it is not safe to go out for dinner and not safe to walk to the park. Our hotel, which happens to be right in the heart of the central business district, is in the heart of crime and poverty as well.

The next day we started out our Kenya experience with a bang. We traveled to a baby orphan elephant rescue. They had two groups of baby elephants come into the pen. First the babies would drink an amazing amount of formula, one jug after another. Then it was playtime. They ate leaves, drank muddy water, then wrestled and pushed each other. When they came near the edge of the cordoned off area, we were able to touch and pet the baby elephants. At the end of the session, I was even able to touch one baby elephants trunk – it felt like a big tongue. What a great experience for everyone. We left with huge smiles on our faces.

Afterword we negotiated a ride to the giraffe center, but opted to not pay the hefty admission price. Instead we took a bunch of pictures from from the entrance.

Back in the central business district, we ate an amazing Tilapia feast, two huge fish, one in coconut sauce, rice, fruit, veggies and corn bread. It added up to be a little pricey but was our first delicious African food.

We came home, changed rooms because of the clanging security door and the non-flushing toilet, exchanged money again, and then went to our sister hotel for a refreshing swim in their pool. Dinner was not so good but we are all very excited about our Safari tomorrow!