Kenyan Adventures
Trip Start
Jul 07, 2005
1
10
14
Trip End
Sep 03, 2005
Nairobi,
Kenya
Sunday, August 21, 2005
Since I haven't been able to be online very much to upload things, I'll just give everyone an overview of my stay in Kenya, rather than a blow-by-blow description.
After spending the night in Nairobi, we went to join everyone else and then headed out for a week of "safari." I put that in quotation marks because we stayed with friends and my brother drove, rather than hiring a driving and staying at one of the camps or lodges. Otherwise, we did and saw pretty much what you do on a commercial safari.
First, we went to Lake Naivasha where we saw lots of birds and some other wildlife. One day we went Elsamere, the former home of Joy Davidson (of "Born Free" fame), for lunch
01 The Rift Valley
. When we arrived, we had the rare treat of seeing a hippo up on the lawn munching away at the grass. Normally hippos are in the water during the day, but one of the caretakers said there had been a fight in the pod the night before, this hippo had been injured slightly and hadn't re-joined the pod for the day. The lunch was a wonderful buffet, and we ate on the lawn. During lunch my niece and nephew tried to identify all of the birds they saw. My niece got into birding several years ago through one of her aunts. Among other things we saw an African fish eagle, pelicans, weavers, warblers, and kingfishers. During dessert a troop of colobus monkeys came through and entertained everyone. It was interesting to watch their behavior as they made their way over the roof of the building, through the trees and to a box of food that the staff put out for them. One female was carrying a baby.After lunch we looked through the museum and gift shop. My nephew bought his own book on Birds of Eastern Africa so he could start keeping track of what he saw as well. The museum had a lot of interesting things from when the Adamsons lived there. Then we watched a video about the life of Joy Adamson, Elsa the lion, and the ongoing conservation efforts that Joy Adamson started. Following the video, we had a short walk on the nature trail. My niece and nephew were being avid birders, and our guide Patrick helped them identify several species not only by sight but by sound as well
02 Maasai Giraffes
. Some of the birds were absolutely gorgeous. (While I was watching the colobus monkeys earlier, my sister-in-law took an absolutely splendid shot of a bright red weaverbird helping itself to my dessert.)The next day we were moving on. While my brother and nephew finished packing the car, my sister-in-law, niece and I started down the road for a hike and to see what we could see. Along the way we saw a small family of reticulated giraffes. (In case anyone is interested, there are two main types of giraffe: the Masai or Rothschild giraffe and the reticulated giraffe. Masai giraffes have a "vine" pattern that looks like the leaves have exploded while the reticulated giraffes have a very regular, geometric pattern. As the genus name "camelopardus" indicates, they are related to the camel.) Then my brother arrived in the car and we headed off. Along the way we saw lots of goats, sheep and cattle (all "domesticated" and owned by Masai, who believe that their god created the cattle and gave all the cattle in the world to the Masai; so if anyone other than a Masai owns cattle, it is their duty to get it back, because it was obviously stolen), as well as water buffalo and donkeys. Not much in the way of wildlife, though.
We stopped at Hell's Gate National Park, which is a geothermal area. As we drove through what appeared to be absolute desolate country, we came across Masai tending their cattle and even saw a couple of manyattas (Masai living enclosures). My sister-in-law commented, "In Africa you're never alone." Following our drive we stopped for lunch near a gorge and ranger station. After lunch, my brother, niece, nephew and I took a guided hike through the gorge while my sister-in-law graded papers. All you teachers out there know what that is like
03 Colobus Monkey
! Our guide Jackson was a Masai warrior. During the hike he told us about being out in the bush alone for two years and killing a lion by himself. He also told us interesting things about the plants and natural features that the Masai use. Several hot springs came into the gorge, and Jackson said that the Masai would come there to wash their clothes and bathe. Several times he repeated, "Good for washing; bad for drinking." At one spot he showed us where the water fell into shallow depressions and told us that the water was 97º Centigrade and could cook an egg in 5 minutes. He also showed us how the Masai get the ochre coloring they use for facial decoration. The hike lasted about an hour and a half and took down into a narrow gorge and then back out. There was a three-and-a-half hour hike, but we didn't have time for it, unfortunately.Our next safari stop was Masai Mara Reserve. Again, we stayed with some friends just outside the reserve and got day passes to go in. This was where we had our real adventures. We arrived during the height of the migration, so there were lots (about 1.5 million) of wildebeests, along with zebras, giraffes, elephants and predators. At the residence where we stayed, the guesthouse wasn't finished yet, so we slept in sleeping bags on mattresses on the floor. Another family was occupying the bottom floor, so we got the very unfinished upper floor. In fact, we had to go outside the fence to get to the door, since the stairway inside the fence wasn't finished. Our friends warned us that the area was formerly a favorite spot for elephants, and they still showed up regularly. They pointed out one tree that was smaller than the others because it had been eaten by an elephant a few weeks ago. They also warned us not to go outside alone at night; they had lost their first dog to a leopard. Since most of the windows on the upper floor had no glass in them, only fairly widely spaced bars, which didn't exactly make us feel real secure
06 Wildebeest herd
. All of us wound up sleeping in the only room with glass windows and a door; otherwise we just locked the outside doors and entrusted ourselves to God and our friends' Masai night watchman. With no electricity and only a kerosene lantern for light, it was a real adventure. (After we got back to my brother's house, I read in the newspaper about an attack at a safari camp by a hyena. The hyena got into a tour guide's room, attacked him, and tried to drag him away into the bush. The man's cries brought other people who killed the hyena. Fortunately, nothing like that happened to us, and I'm glad I didn't read the story before we went on safari!)On our first day inside the reserve, we saw lots of wildebeests. At times the herds seemed to stretch from one horizon to the other. Often the herds were mixed with zebras. Later we learned that the zebras usually enter an area first and eat the top of the grass; then the wildebeests come and eat the bottom; once they've finished they move on. Our friends had told us about a hippo pool at Mara Simba camp, so we went there and asked. When my brother asked the guard at the gate about the hippo pool, he sent us to the other side of the park, on the Tanzanian border. On our way we saw giraffe and elephants - as well as the ubiquitous wildebeests and zebras. However, at one point we turned left instead of going straight ahead, so that we were in a different part of the reserve from what we thought
07 Wildebeests drinking
. At one point we turned off the road onto a track to follow a streambed. On the far side of the streambed was a grass fire. (Later we were told that people from Tanzania deliberately set fire to the grass in an attempt to keep the wildebeests and zebras from migrating; it's a terrible waste and doesn't work anyway.) Since the foliage was so lush in the streambed and the road was there, we thought the fire would stop, so we continued on our search for the hippo pool that wasn't there. (It was probably a good 20 km away.) Along the way we drove through a herd of wildebeests and zebras, so we got to see them up close. The wildebeests with their beards all look like old men. Every zebra has a different stripe pattern, but the tails all look as if they have been braided. Finally we decided we weren't going to get to the hippo pool on the track we were following, so we turned around. By the time we got back to the fire area, the grass fire had jumped the road and the streambed - a palm tree was fully ablaze - and we were going to have to drive between the fire. As we were going through, the car's transmission popped out of gear because the road was so rough, so we slid and stalled. Several years ago my brother, niece and nephew were rear-ended by a bus that failed to slow down for smoke from a grass fire, so my niece and nephew were getting very nervous about the situation - even though there was no traffic. We put the car back in gear and decided the best thing to do was just go forward. Driving a diesel, we had fewer concerns about the volatility of the fuel
08 Wildebeests and Zebras
. The heat was intense as we went between the fires, but it lasted only a moment and we were through.We returned to the "main road" and continued on, thinking we had simply turned off too soon for the hippo pool. (Can you say "lost"?) Our error rewarded us with a close-up view of two lionesses sunning themselves on a rock beside the road. We stopped and took pictures before continuing on our way. Eventually we decided we weren't going to make it to the hippo pool, so turned around to head for Fig Tree Camp for lunch. When we passed near the burn area, we were amazed by how far it had spread during a fairly short time. However, we didn't get very close to the fire again. On the way to Fig Tree we say more wildebeests and zebras, but also topis, Thompson's gazelles, Grant's gazelles, impalas, and a good number of vultures. Obviously the carnivores were feasting well.
Lunch was a delicious buffet. Toward the end of the meal, we talked with our drinks waiter and learned that my brother knows two of his cousins. Then we headed out for some more sightseeing and added a Cape buffalo to our list of animals sighted. My nephew wanted to go back to the house and play with the other boys, so we dropped him and my sister-in-law off at the gate. They walked back to the house while my brother, niece and I took a circuit around the hills on the east side of the reserve
09 Zebras
. Along the reserve boundary we once again saw many sheep, goats and cattle; there is no fence, and herders encroach on the reserve as part of tending their animals. After driving around the Gamba hills, we realized just how far from the hippo pool we had been when we found ourselves on the road where we had seen the lionesses earlier in the morning. This time we were attracted to a group of safari vans and realized they were watching three lionesses hunt. Unfortunately for the lionesses, another safari van scared the Thompson's gazelle they were hunting, and they lost their prey for that day. We continued off the main road, looking for more game, and came across two giraffes standing in the middle of the track. Then we met another safari van. The driver asked if we had seen anything; since the lionesses were too far back to mention, we said no. He told us that something had been sighted, so we followed him to another "flock" of tourist vans. This time we saw a leopard under a bush. After watching for a while and taking pictures, we headed for the gate. On the way we saw a herd of Cape buffalo. My brother told me that I had now seen four of the "Big Five." (The Big Five are elephant, hippo, rhino, lion and leopard.) The only one I haven't seen yet is the rhino. That will probably have to wait for another trip.Originally we had planned to return home the next day but decided to extend our stay
10 Secretary Bird
. My brother had visited Masai Mara several years ago with our mother, so he wanted to take us to that area of the reserve. Also, we still wanted to see the hippo pool our friends had told us about. So, instead of entering the park, we took a back road (track) just outside the park to Mara Simba. This was exactly where we had been when the guard sent us off on a "wild hippo chase." This time we went into the lodge. My brother called to let everyone know we were staying an extra day while my sister-in-law, niece and nephew checked out the gift shop (a favorite pastime). Then we walked out on the veranda and saw the hippo pool. Lying on a sandbar sunning himself was a crocodile. We also saw a maribou stork and some monitor lizards. Then, in the water we saw a hippo. Eventually it came out of the water, walked in a semi-circle around to where another crocodile was lying, passed it by and disappeared into the brush. We saw a couple of others, but they stayed hidden in the water. We also talked to a researcher who is studying hyenas, and she gave us good information on where to look for other animals.Leaving Mara Simba, we headed for the western part of the reserve and the area called the "Mara Triangle." After a false start and getting turned around, we bounced down the track toward Mara Intrepids camp, where we stopped for lunch. At the reception desk, my brother discovered that the receptionist knew one of his acquaintances. As a result, he gave us a nice discount on lunch. After eating a delicious meal, relaxing, and looking through the gift shop, we headed out again.
This time we drove onto Rhino Ridge (although the rhinos are long gone from there) and saw more wildebeests, zebras, gazelles, vultures, dik-diks, bushbuck, waterbuck, bustards, ostriches, herons, elephants and baboons
11 Maribou Storks
. A couple of times we reached the Mara River, but there was no place to cross. Once we saw a hippo in the river. In spite of the forceful current, it was calmly standing there. Because the distances in the reserve are so great, my nephew kept thinking we were lost and wanted to turn back. I think he really just wanted to go back and play with his friends. (They discovered that they have Pokemon in common.) Still, we teased him about growing up to be a pessimistic adult.Finally we decided it was time to head back to the gate where we had entered. Since we had discovered that our map was not completely accurate, we stopped a safari van and asked directions. The track we were on brought us to the main road in a slightly different spot from what we thought, so we flagged down another safari van to check our directions. It was a good thing we did, because the driver told us that one of the tires was almost flat. The rough ground had kept us from feeling that it was low. At this point we were in the middle of a wildebeest herd, and the driver told us that it was safe to get out of the cars. (The reserve warns visitors not to get out of their cars because of the predators; while the migration provides them with plenty of food, there are lean times as well, and they will attack humans.) Moses, the driver, helped us change tires and pointed us in the direction of the gate we wanted, saying, "It's a long way" and smiling
12 Thompson's Gazelle
. In African culture, almost nothing is a long way - everything is just a little way - so we knew that we would be in for a long drive. After a little deliberation, we decided that we didn't want to risk getting caught after dark without a spare tire on the tracks and roads of the reserve, so we decided to see what we could do at one of the nearby camps.So, we drove to Governors' Camp, the safari camp that the drivers who had helped us were from. When we got there, my brother said we might have to sleep in the car because he didn't have a credit card with him and knew he didn't have enough cash. Fortunately, I had my card and I had spent all that time in London straightening things out and getting it unblocked. At the reception desk I asked about any tents (Governors' Camp is a tented camp rather than a lodge), and the receptionist told me they were booked solid. This was, after all, high season. The camp director overheard me telling of our plight; I finished the story for him and asked about the possibility of sleeping in the car in their parking lot. He said to make ourselves comfortable in the lounge area and he would see what he could do for us. Not too much later he came and told us he had arranged accommodations. He had a three-person tent and a residence normally used by travel agents and guides. As we walked back to the reception he remarked that we were really lucky
13 Governors' Camp
. I told him that I viewed it as divine providence. What had happened was that there had been a no-show, which freed up the tent, and the residence with room for two was empty. Then he charged us the tour agent rate for the residence and the resident rate for the tent - which is considerably cheaper than the tourist rate. In addition, the price included three meals and three game drives. And he even said that they would fix the flat tire. Earlier in the day my sister-in-law had asked me if I would rather stay at a camp. I had told her that it would be nice to stay at least one night and be able to go on a drive with a driver so my brother could also enjoy looking for wildlife. Be careful what you wish for - you might get it!Since we hadn't planned to spend the night in the reserve, all we had was the clothes on our backs. Gus, the director, took us to his residence and loaned all of us shirts and T-shirts so we could get a shower and put on something clean. Then we got cleaned up and went to dinner. Dinner was a scrumptious Mongolian Barbecue with mangos and strawberries in cream for dessert under an open-sided tent. Entertainment was a group of Masai performing traditional songs and dances. One of the things that they do is leap into the air without bending their knees either leaping or landing. It's all done with the ankles, and they reach awesome heights. During dinner a staff member came around to arrange morning tea and wake-up calls for us at 06:00 the next morning so we could go on the early game drive
14 Safari Van
. Again, they warned us not to walk outside at night without an armed guard. We were right beside the river, and hippos come up at night. In addition there are the elephants, lions and leopards to consider. After dinner we went back to our rooms to get a good night's sleep.The next morning tea and biscuits ("digestives" - almost like a ginger snap) arrived right at 06:00. We got dressed and went to the meeting area for the drives. Because of the way we had arrived, there was a slight glitch, and they didn't have a driver for us. It didn't take long for them to find one though. It was one of the drivers we had stopped the day before. When we told him what had happened, he said he would take the flat tire after the game drive to have it fixed. We would get it again by lunchtime. Jacob was an excellent driver and guide. He told us they have to study to get certified as a safari driver; they work for about three months and then get one month off; while working, they work 7 days a week. Jacob was a Christian and told us that the employees hold their own Bible study and services in the evenings after work. On the morning drive Jacob took us to where they had found a pride of lions the previous day. The pride was still working on their kill, a wildebeest. There were four lionesses and 8 or 9 cubs. It was relatively safe; because of the abundance of wildebeests the lions were pretty full and not stressed
15 Lionesses
. Still, you don't want to get out of the car. (My brother told me he had read about one tourist who set up his video camera, got out of the car and swatted a lion on the rear. When his belongings were returned to the family, the watched the footage of him being killed and eaten by the lion.) The cubs were cute to watch. One cub had eaten a lot and was lying down with his distended belly; another, more active, cub came and wanted to play. He snarled, swatted at his brother and then flopped back down in the grass while his sibling went off to play with someone else. After watching the lions for a while, we drove on. On our way back to camp, we saw a bateleur eagle, two juvenile tawny eagles, two families of elephants (up close), black-capped herons, gray herons, plover, and baboons.Back at the camp my brother gave the flat tire to Jacob while the kids looked in the gift shop and my sister-in-law and I talked to Thomas the receptionist. We learned that the employee Bible study is every night, and Thomas invited us to join them if we came back to the camp again. Breakfast was on the lawn and delicious; it included omelets, bacon, fresh fruit and tea. While we were eating my brother got a call on his cell phone. It was our friends where we were staying. They were concerned because we hadn't returned the previous night. We'd tried to get in touch with them but couldn't remember their number and didn't have cell phone service most of the day anyway
16 Cubs with kill
. It was fortuitous that they called when they did, because the service at the camp didn't extend to the drives.After breakfast we went on another game drive. This time Jacob took us to where a male cheetah had made a kill. When we arrived, he was sitting in the shade of one of the safari vans. Then he would get up and work on his kill for a while before sitting in the shade again. Jacob told us that while lions will feed of a kill for several days, a cheetah feeds only once (with breaks, of course), then leaves the rest for the scavengers: vultures and hyenas. Other than wildebeests, zebras, gazelles and birds, that was the only game we saw on that drive. Then it was time for lunch. Once again we sat on the lawn under the trees. This time we saw a hippo in the river.
Following lunch, repaired tire back on the car, we settled the bill and headed back for the house, stopping only to watch some hippos in a pond. The return trip was pretty uneventful after our adventures of the previous two days. Our friends were glad to see us safely back. When they found out where we had stayed the previous night, they said, "Welcome back to reality." Governors' Camp was definitely a luxury camp that we would never have decided to visit on our own; I guess the Lord just wanted us to have an extra treat
17 Cheetah
. That night it was back to sleeping bags on the floor. The night watchman was ill, so we were on our own. Since it was well after dark when we went up to the room, our friends advised us to make lots of noise. So we took a pan from the kitchen. My nephew banged on the pan while the rest of us sang "I'm in the Lord's Army" loudly. I'm sure anyone who heard us got a smile out of the crazy Americans, but the next morning we found leopard tracks just outside the door, so I'm not sorry we took the extra precaution.On Wednesday we headed for home - pretty much an all-day trip. Since then I've pretty much been taking it easy and enjoying being on vacation. My niece and nephew are also out of school, so they've been sleeping late, playing with friends, having sleepovers and getting on each other's nerves as siblings are wont to do. They've also been showing me around - where they go to school, where my brother works, the neighborhood - and introducing me to their friends. This week my niece began Swahili lessons; I've listened in a little bit and learned a word or two - just enough to be able to get myself in trouble. One of the more interesting words I learned was "wabenzi." A local was talking about some tourists and called them that. It means "really rich people" and comes from the word Benz, as in Mercedes Benz, because only really rich people can afford one. The "wa" on the front indicates a human plural; the singular would be "mbenzi." I've also learned to greet everyone with "Jambo" and to reply "mzuri" (good, fine) to the question "Habari?" "Asante" is thank you to one person; "Asante sana" is thank you very much
18 Cape Buffalo
. For all of you "Lion King" fans, you probably already know that "Simba" means lion and "Nala" means lioness. Did you know that "Rafiki" is friend and "Pumbaa" is foolish?It was just this week that I was finally able to get through to my e-mail, so I have spent some time catching up on that - as you know since you received my installment of "London Redux." Since my brother has dial-up, I can't tie up the phone lines for too long at a time. I've also been doing some reading: a biography of David Livingstone (appropriate for Africa, I though), "God's Outlaw" (a biography of William Tyndale), a Swahili grammar book, "Lord Foulgrin's Letters" (inspired by C.S. Lewis's 'Screwtape Letters'), "Death in the Silent Places" by Peter Capstick (about famous big-game hunters and their exploits), and a collection of magazine articles by Peter Capstick (one of the articles is about how dangerous lions can be and included an anecdote about a tourist who went out on his own, mounted a movie camera on the front of his car, got out in the middle of a pride of lions, smacked one of the lionesses on the rear, and promptly got eaten - all documented on his still-running camera, which wasn't discovered until it arrived home for his family to view). In the evening we've been watching some videos. I've enjoyed "Remember the Titans," "Not Without My Daughter," "Lady Jane" (went nicely with the Tyndale biography), and "Strictly Ballroom" (a good movie from Australia). On Thursday night we started the Lord of the Rings movies with "Fellowship of the Ring." My niece and nephew have watched the movies so may times they can say the dialogue while listening to the music soundtrack, but they still love it. We watched all three movies because that was one of the things they wanted to do with Uncle Robert. I've also watched them play soccer, helped them do chores and generally had a great time with my family
19 Elephants
.One day we went shopping and went to a very upscale mall. It certainly was not "typically African." While my sister-in-law went grocery shopping, the kids and I bought birdseed for their birds, Pokemon cards (my nephew is a real Pokemon fan), and school supplies for my niece. Then we went to the cinema to see "Madagascar." Afterwards we went to a fleamarket where my niece bought a couple of scarves and my nephew bought a Masai spear and six arrows. So far all of my souvenirs are just the pictures and movies I've been taking. I'll probably do my souvenir shopping when I get to Australia and New Zealand. Besides, if I think of anything I really want, I can always ask my nephew to get it for me since he's an excellent haggler; I thoroughly enjoyed watching him bring down the prices on his purchases. (The thing to remember is that the sellers know their bottom price and will not allow themselves to be cheated.)
Another day we entertained a group of tourists. We know the lady who led the group, so they came for lunch. I had one of those "small world" experiences. Among the members of the tour was a guy who works for the city where I went to high school (Paramount, CA), so we talked about things we knew in common. Another member of the group was Judy Beech, an elementary school teacher in Garden Grove USD, which is the district in which I teach
20 Me with skulls
. Naturally, we know several people in common. While we were eating, a group of Kenyan entrepreneurs came by and set up shop on the porch, so everyone went out after lunch to look at their wares before leaving for the rest of their tour.So, I've had a really great time in Kenya. Now I'm heading off to Australia for a few days before spending a week in Middle Earth, aka New Zealand. Thanks to everyone who has posted a comment or sent an e-mail. Even if I haven't been able to reply, I appreciate hearing from you. So, until next time,
Mungu akubariki! (That's "God bless you" in Swahili.)
Robert
