Sentrim Samburu Lodge Samburu National Reserve

... brought pens, notepads and pop-up books) presented them to the head of the school where the gifts will be used to reward children, rather than handed out in response to children who beg. One small child tapped my water bottle and asked for it. I was surprised, briefly considered saying "no" because we were told not to reinforce begging children, but who can say “no” to a child who wants water? It’s not like I was handing out candy ...

... cattle and children. <br><br>· The mixing of cattle blood, obtained by nicking the jugular vein, and milk is done to prepare a ritual drink for special celebrations and as nourishment for the sick. <br><br>· The traditional Maasai house is designed for people on the move and very impermanent in nature. The framework is formed of timber poles interwoven with a lattice of smaller branches, plastered with a mix of mud, sticks ...

... a young buffalo but 5 other adult buffaloes notice and keep the young one in the middle of their group. This will be no match for the lion this time.<br><br> We returned for another game drive this afternoon at 3:30 PM to seee what, if anything more, had been devoured of the buffalo kill and what new adventures would occur. We were surprised to see that no more of the buffalo carcass was eaten. We did see several herds of ...

... was glad of it as we got very dusty on the safari game drives in the open air van. Slept well on our first night of camping in Africa!<br><br>Tuesday August 11. We finished yesterday with a view of a family of elephants in the river bed and we began Tuesday with the same family along the trail. Watched them feed from spiny thistles on the acacia tree. Went on to see oryx, water bucks, byffalo, a number of birds ...

Amazing breakfast with the giraffes, literally, it makes you forget you have to get up at 5am to travel to the domestic airport to start the first safari in Kenya. So, at 6 am without fail, Eugene picked us up and got us to Wilson airport safe and sound. Yet again we are going through the metal detector and the even x-ray our bags just in case! I did manage to have pocket knife and scissors in my back pack and no one said anything ...

... now away and strolling around the bush, drinking water from the river and generally relaxing. The sun was setting and we had to make a dash to the lodge. We asked Dr. Aditya, an eye surgeon from Ahmadabad to join us for dinner. Aditya was in Kenya for an eye camp and had visited Masai Mara and stayed at Keekorok. He said that the lodge did not have electricity and no hot water. After an early dinner we went to sleep at about 2130 hrs.

... I never saw one. Actually camped in regular tents within the park's boundaries. Were fed well, had starlit nights except when it rained and I had some rain dripping into my tent. Visited a village of the Samburu and Turkana tribes ...

... even the East coast where I always felt they were a bit more 'modern' arabic) and with a very frontier feel to it. Every second person is chewing miraa (aka qat/quat/khat - stimulant twigs that it is traditional and very good luck to spit all over your interlocutor during conversation) Was feeling a bit dodgy [sick] so just had the two beers and went to bed. The road ends here. The adventure starts....

... giraffe-we would see three different types of giraffe, Grebe's zebra (lots of them), Grant's gazelles (ditto), a secretary bird, warthogs (ugly critters), oryx, Cape buffalo (big, mean looking, and very plentiful), impala, elephant, geneluk (a giraffe-necked gazelle that stands on its hind legs to eat from the tops of bushes), guinea fowl, and lots and lots of baboons. The dainty little gazelles and baboons must have had a death wish; they didn't get out of the road until the ...

... makes you appreciate what big massive creatures they are. We then went to the lodge, ate and rested before the afternoon game drive. In the afternoon, we saw a herd of giraffes. These creatures are so beautiful and graceful. These giraffes were reticulated, which means their markings were brown with white lines forming squares like the pattern of a tortoise shell. One ran a little, and it seemed like so much effort to lift ...