Category: Kenya

Day 151: Masai Mara – Day 3

We crawled out of bed in the dark for our final game drive, which did not disappoint – gorgeous scenery and lots of cats – Kenya sent us off on a high note for sure. True, we never got to see a kill, but we’ve come to realize that it’s 90% right-pace / right-time-of-day, and 10% pure luck. Even Joseph – who proved to very talented tracker – couldn’t find us a kill in Tanzania. Besides, Igor is such an animal-lover, he probably would have cried, and Lindsay doesn’t need to see that.

 

Now *this* is an early start! Out in the Masai Mara sunrise for our final game drive EVER

 

As the light starts to fill the sky, we see a pair of giraffes in the distance

 

Edward gets two notifications on the radio at once, and both are cats! We are closest to a pair of cheetahs, and we reach them just as the sun appears over the horizon

 

Dozens of other vehicles start crowding the cheetahs, so we move on to the lion pride, which has a playful little cub!

 

The cub tries to jump on mom, but she quickly shows the baby who’s boss on this savannah

 

One final herd of wildebeest crosses our path as we head out of the Masai Mara

We had a 5-hour drive back to Nairobi, with a lunch break halfway through to break it up. When we finally got back to La Maison Royale in Nairobi, we were pleased to see that the staff made good on their promise to put us in a nicer room – high floor with a view outside of the building! We considered heading out into the city to see if we could shop for a new backpack, but as we only had an hour before sunset, we decided to just take it easy and enjoy our hotel TV. Lindsay went a little MacGyver on the ripped backpack to make sure it would make it to Dubai (personally, she thinks it’s just like new and doesn’t need to be replaced) before heading upstairs for another roof-top Indian-food dinner. Next stop: UAE.

 

Lunch stop on the way back to Nairobi – rice, beans, veggies and a cold can of Coke – no complaints here!

 

We were delayed for an hour by an accident ahead of us. A few entrepreneurial locals took advantage of the traffic jam and started cooking & selling corn on the cob on the side of the road (if only we hadn’t just eaten!) – we were relieved when we finally got through amd back to our hotel in Nairobi

 

Duct-tape and hotel sewing kit – all I need to fix a rip and make our backpack travel-ready!

Day 150: Masai Mara – Day 2

Our last full safari day in Africa was a bit of a shitshow. Literally – our driver had the runs and had to pull over multiple times to take a dump behind the minivan. We gave the poor guy one of our precious Imodium, which seemed to help.

Unfortunately, animal sightings were not much better. We saw a few herbivores, but no predators. While we took a quick drive into the Mara Triangle, we passed through in about 15min and didn’t see any wildebeest crossing. (From our experience with Joseph in Tanzania, we know it requires A LOT of time and patience to get lucky enough to see a crossing – Edward didn’t seem cutout for an hour-long stake-out. Especially not with his bowel condition…)

We were sad with the idea of ending the trip on such a low note – we have one last game drive tomorrow morning…fingers crossed for a kill!

 

Refueling the minivan before our game drive – this is the sketchiest gas station we have ever seen! Edward buys 10L of gasoline, which the guy brings out in watercooler bottle, then funnels into the gas tank! Not even going to guess if it is unleaded or not…

 

Waiting at the park gate again, while Edward pays our entrance fees. Park security stands around with an AK47 hanging on his shoulder, and the Masai women swarm the safari vehicles like zombies in a horror movie

 

Finally! Through the gate and on the open road! Like the Serengeti on the Tanzania side, the park is so massive, you loose the crowds of other cars quickly

Driving through the Masai Mara

 

Our rickety safari minivan

 

A family of giraffes and a lone elephant wandering near the road in the Masai Mara

 

As a female ostrich struts her stuff, two males get enticed

 

The male ostriches fight each other over the sexy female!

 

Making a bathroom stop at the airstrip…then another in the middle of the road! What a shitshow.

 

Breaking up the game drive with a guided walk along the Mara River. Our guide, Robert, also carries an AK-47 (in case of lion attack?)

The Mara River, in the Masai Mara

 

Jumping over a hippo trail and watching out for huge crocs during our walk

 

Our guide, Robert, points out a dead hippo that was attacked by lions a few days ago. While the hippo fought off the lions, it quickly died of its wounds, and became lunch for the croc population. We notice a group of tents on the riverbank directly above the dead hippo and discover it is a campground – imagine the smell those campers must have to sleep through – phew!

 

A family of hippos in the Mara River

 

We watch a pair of Egyptian Geese flirt dangerously with a crocodile lying in the water, before heading back from our walk. Igor asks for picture (I think we was hoping Robert would let him pose with the gun)

 

We cross the river and pull over in front of the gate to the Mara Triangle for lunch. Once again, we tried to reduce the size of our lunch boxes by asking for a vegetarian meal – but the Sopa Lodge had another menu in mind: we got a full Indian lunch (rice, dahl, roti) IN ADDITION TO a sandwich, chips, an apple and yogurt! “It’s too much!” we cried pitifully to Edward. We finished the Indian food (OMG, so yummy), and asked Edward if he could give away the rest. As we passed Masai children on our way back to the lodge, Edward would call them over to the van in Swahili and dole out the food

 

Driving back through the Masai Mara at the end of our game drive, we pass by area where the Masai and park management have burned the grass to promote new growth – the contrast between the two landscapes is stunning

Day 149: Masai Mara – Day 1

We left Lake Naivasha before dawn, as we had a 5 hour drive to reach the Masai Mara – the Kenyan side of the Serengeti. We’d been looking forward to this park for days, as we still had our fingers crossed for witnessing a kill and this was our last shot. While we did get some amazing animal sightings during our short “evening” game drive, we unfortunately missed out on the hunt by mere hours.

 

Breakfast box on the road as we have a long drive to the Masai Mara

 

“Evening” game drive in the Masai Mara

 

Edward gets an alert on his radio and we rush down the road in tim to see a massive Black Rhino coming out of the bushes! With only 5,000 in the wild, this is the most rare and endangered specie we had the luck to see on our trip!

 

A small pride of sleepy lionesses, napping in the shade

 

One lioness starts to walk off to another group of trees, so we follow her to see if she is going on a hunt – too late! Looks like she and her sisters already made a kill and she was peckish for another bite of antelope

Very satisfied with our short drive through the park, we returned to the Sopa Lodge where we pigged out on amazing Indian food. Yeah, we’ve gotten really fat in Africa, but the diet starts next week China. We are going to enjoy it while it lasts!

 

So. Much. Indian food. LOVING Sopa Lodge!

 

After a delicious dinner, we hide out in the lobby for a few hours to use the Wifi

Day 148: Lake Naivasha

We left Amboseli in the morning and had a short drive to our next location – Lake Naivasha. We checked-in to our Sopa Lodge in time for lunch and had a few hours downtime to enjoy the grounds before our excursion on the lake. We were super excited when we found out our boat ride on the lake included a walking safari on the predator-less Crescent Island! After weeks of being cooped up in SUVs and safari-cars, we really appreciated the opportunity to get out and WALK.

 

Checking-in to the Lake Naivasha Sopa Lodge in time for the buffet lunch – which was delicious! We asked Edward later if we knew who owned the Sopa Lodge chain, and he said the owners were Kenyan and Indian – which totally makes sense now, since every buffet had a large selection of Indian food. YUM!

 

The Lake Naivasha location was our favorite Sopa Lodge. While we had a long walk to our room, it was very comfortable – cable TV with English-language movie channels and a second floor balcony with a view of the grounds

 

The Sopa Lodge grounds were not fenced, which meant animals were free to roam across the property. As we walked across the lawn, we were able to get really close to the herd of waterbucks

 

Boarding the minivan for the short drive to our excursion on Lake Naivasha

 

Heading out for our boat ride on Lake Naivasha

 

Pretty flowers in the wetlands

 

What an ugly face! Lots of Marabou Storks fishing in Lake Naivasha

 

Shy hippos hiding in the waters of Lake Naivasha

 

We dock at Crescent Island for a guided walking safari – since the island has no predators, we finally get a chance to leave the confines of a car!

Crescent Island, Lake Naivasha

 

A herd of Thompson’s Gazelle graze on Crescent Island, a scenic spot that was one of the filming locations for the movie, “Out of Africa”

 

Walking amongst the animals – zebras and waterbuck

 

Exploring the island on foot, we have the opportunity to get really close to a herd of giraffe, including this adorable baby

 

Lindsay creeps up slowly on this beautiful female giraffe by hiding behind a tree, however when she sticks he hand with the GoPro out from behind her hiding spot, the giraffe gets spooked and runs off

 

A fish eagle, swooping down for a catch!

 

High up in the trees we catch a quick glimpse of a Colobus Monkey, and tons of darter birds

 

Back at the Sopa Lodge, we take another stroll unescorted around the grounds before sunset, where we spot another big waterbuck grazing in the duckweed

 

We spot more giraffes at the edge of the property and walk over to snap some close-ups

Ah, now *this* is good Wifi! We bring our computers with us to the common area so we can catch up on emails before dinner

Day 147: Amboseli National Park – Day 2

We met up with Edward after breakfast for our “all day” game drive through Amboseli National Park (which ended at 3PM). The haze that had obscured Mount Kilimanjaro the day before had cleared overnight, giving us a lovely backdrop for our pictures. We had no trouble sighting Amboseli’s many elephants.

As the day went on, we noticed a few more differences between the Kenyan and Tanzanian safari standards. Whereas Joseph had to rely on his own tracking skills and binoculars, Edward’s minivan (like all the others) was outfitted with a radio, which he turned on every day as soon as we entered a park, so he could listen to the chatter of all the other guides to help him spot the animals. We got an alert that afternoon for one of the few lions in Amboseli (there are only about 35 in the park) and arrived just in time to see a juvenile crawl into some bushes for a nap. During lunchtime, Edward handed us our boxes, and told us to walk up to the top of the hill alone to eat at the picnic area, while he stayed below with the van. In Tanzania, Joseph sat with us for lunch every day.

We returned to the camp in the afternoon, and tried to use the Wifi in the common area when the electricity turned on at 6PM (it was very weak – barely strong enough to check emails), before returning to our mosquito-free tent to get ready for dinner.

 

As the sun comes up, we get our first view of Mount Kilimanjaro. We head into the park on our game drive after breakfast, where we have a beautiful backdrop for our pictures

 

Amboseli elephants, with Kilimanjaro in the background – it doesn’t get much better than this!

 

A stately giraffe crosses the road, with Mt. Kili in the distance

 

A thirsty giraffe checks to make sure the coast is clear before bending over for a drink

 

More animals enjoying the swampy water – a herd of Cape Buffalo, covered in mud, and a pair of lazy hippos

 

A huge flock of flamingos take flight at the base of Mount Kilimanjaro

 

Flamingos in flight in Amboseli National Park

 

The elephant population in Amboseli is too big for Amboseli to naturally sustain, so the park management has to fence off groves of trees to give them a chance to recover. However, the fences don’t keep out the wildebeest, who easy pass under the hanging wires on their way to grazing grounds

 

Sleepy Lindsay.

 

Lunch stop at the Observation Hill View Point – another HUGE lunch box from the lodge.

View of the Amboseli swamplands from the top of Observation Hill

 

Zebras and elephants both look for refuge in the cool swamp waters in the heat of the afternoon

 

As the day wears on, the wind picks up and we are surrounded by dust devils

 

The haze clears up just enough in the afternoon to give us one final view of Mount Kilimanjaro

 

While we are in the buffet line, a French couple tried to take our table, but Igor tells them off. Tonight, the Americans are #1!

Day 146: Amboseli National Park – Day 1

At 8AM sharp, Joseph picked us up for the last time. He was in a good mood (whether it was because he was home, or because he only had to work a half day, or he was pleased with the tip we gave him the night before, we weren’t completely sure – hopefully a combination of the three) and was super chatty with Igor as we drove back to the Namanga border. Given the chaos we experienced the first time we crossed, we knew it was going to be a long morning. Again, leaving the country was pretty easy, getting back into Kenya required a few more hoops to jump through.

We have noticed some inconsistencies with Kenyan Immigration. When we first entered the country via the Nairobi Airport, our agent had no issue with Igor pulling up our e-visas on his smart phone. When we tried that at Namanga, the agent told us we needed a PRINTED version! How the hell are we going to print this from our phone? Well, conveniently enough, there is a guy with a computer and a printer around the corner who will let you login to the Kenya visa website and print your documents for about 6,000 shillings (about USD$6). Lindsay noticed that the stack of visa behind the counter also had photos attached, but the agent let us get by without them. In fact, the agent didn’t even keep our printed e-visas, he simply scratched over the visa to make sure it couldn’t be used again! Well, he did that to Lindsay’s. Which is very silly as we know how easy it is to reprint it! Plus, our visas were technically single-entry visas, although our safari company assured us that going to Tanzania and back doesn’t seem to “count” as far as Kenya is concerned. Whatever, glad we got through in under 2hrs.

We returned to the Land Cruiser to say our farewell to Joseph, and meet Edward, our Kenyan safari driver. Edward was a young guy, with admittedly very good English, but even so, he wasn’t very chatty. Igor had taken to sitting in the front seat with Joseph so he could have conversations while we were commuting from park to park, but Edward was a tough nut to crack.

As we turned off the paved road toward Amboseli National Park, we passed a Maasai man walking on the side of the road and Edward pulled over. “This is my friend; he is going the same way we are – do you mind if we give him a ride?” We were caught off guard and said yes, assuming he just needed a lift down the road. After all, he was travelling by foot, so we assumed he couldn’t be going that far, and besides, we had been feeling guilty for weeks now, passing locals and being unable to offer a ride. After driving off road for over an hour, however, we were getting very suspicious that Edward was going out of his way and using our safari van as a taxi service. But our suspicions were unfounded, as it turns out the Maasai passenger worked at the hotel – we can’t imagine how long it would have taken him to walk the 30+KM back from where we picked him up!

Edward helped us check-in, then told us to meet him back at the lobby at 4PM for an evening game drive. At first we were excited, as we never had a game drive fter dark before – everything with Joseph was from breakfast to sunset! Turns out, in Kenya a “full day” game drive ends around 3PM. Anything after that is considered an “evening game drive,” which also ends at sunset. Oh well, at least we got into the park for a couple hours. Kenya is proving to be very, very different from Tanzania.

 

We arrived at our hotel in time for the buffet lunch. While we were initially disappointed that our tour company gave us a minivan instead of a Land Cruiser, one look at the hotel’s parking lot showed us that this is the standard in Kenya. Only the really expensive companies – like A&K – have 4×4 vehicles.

 

While our tent was very nicely constructed and the screens were fully zipped, we soon discovered it was infested with mosquitos. We spent our entire afternoon hunting them down – we tried to keep count, but we lost track after killing about 50. Edward recommended that we ask for a can of bug spray, so when the maid came for turn down service later that night we asked for a can of Doom. At first she just giggled and nodded that, “Yes there are a lot of mosquitos here,” then she plugged in an air freshener and tried to tell us that it would repel the mosquitos. “But where will they go? The tent doesn’t have any holes!” Igor said. “They will just go away.” She said with a smile. We insisted again that we wanted SPRAY, which she finally brought after dinner. By then we had killed another 50, but the can was still useful in destroying that last handful that tried to hide on the roof. NO MALARIA FOR US, THANKS.

 

We left the hotel at 4PM for our “evening game drive” through Amboseli National Park. Even though we are a short 5-10min drive from the park entrance, we had to wait another 30min at the gate while Edward paid our entrance fees. As we were waiting, about a dozen Masai women were going around from car to car, aggressively hawking souvenirs. “No, thank you,” didn’t seem to work, so we eventually just slid down in our seats and refused to look out the window until they left.

 

Once we entered the park, we drove slowly in a long line of safari vans along the dirt roads. The dust kicked up by the wind and other cars was intense – we were absolutely filthy by the end of the drive. While Amboseli is famous for stunning views of Mt. Kilimanjaro, the hazy atmosphere completely blocked the mountain – we couldn’t even tell it was there.

 

A herd of zebra wanders through the dusty terrain, looking for grass

 

Amboseli is most famous for its large elephant population – we easily found a large herd grazing & bathing in the waterhole

 

Our evening game drive was supposed to end at 6:30PM – which is when the park gate closes – but we were out and heading back to the hotel before the sunset.

 

It was a LONG day – but nothing that a campfire under the stars and a big jug of cheap wine won’t fix! GOOD NIGHT.

Day 137: Nairobi

We boarded the plane to Nairobi just after midnight, and got as much sleep as we possible could on the red-eye flight. However, it was only a 4hr flight, and a one-hour time zone change, so when we arrived at 6AM, we were exhausted and ready to crash at our hotel. Surprisingly, Immigration at the Nairobi Airport was lightning fast, and we were out of the airport so quickly we didn’t even have time to find a bathroom!

Or Kenyan safari operator had arranged for an airport pick-up for us. Since we had originally budgeted an extra hour for picking up a checked bag and passport control, we weren’t concerned when we didn’t immediately see a driver with our name. Since we had some extra time to kill, we decided to find an ATM to get some local currency and buy a SIM card. When we got to the ATM, however, two guys were standing outside the vestibule. “It’s broken,” they said, “But there’s another one just around the corner – I’ll show you!” We probably shouldn’t have, but we followed this stranger on a 10min walk outside the airport to an underground parking lot with several ATMs. After Igor got some Kenyan Shillings, our guide chose to inform us that we owed him money for escorting him to the ATM! Nice, try buddy – we’re not giving you a 100 KS note (USD $10). Luckily Igor had a USD $1 bill on him, and he told the guy to take it or leave it. When we walked past the original “broken” ATM again, no one was guarding it saying it was broken anymore. SCAM.

 

Boarding our midnight flight to Nairobi, Kenya

As Igor was buying his SIM card, Lindsay kept an eye out for our driver, and soon spotted him. Our driver was fast-talking and funny! Frustrated with all the airport traffic, he cut the line to get out of the parking area, only to be pulled over by a female officer carrying an AK-47. He argued with her in Swahili, apparently trying to excuse his behavior with a lie that he was transferring us to a different airport, and we were going to miss our flight. “I don’t care,” she said, and made him get out of the car and show his driving documents. She called over her superior officer, who took over. After some more words in Swahili *and passing the guy some bills* he waved us along. “How much did you have to pay him?” Igor asked. “Eh, 10 dollars. This is Africa.”

Although it wasn’t specified on our itinerary, our driver informed us that we had two activities in Nairobi included in our safari package! We were thrilled to hear it, as we were planning to hire a taxi in the afternoon to try and do some sight-seeing anyways. As it was barely 7AM, he took us to our hotel so we could check-in and freshen up, before heading out at 9AM to visit the Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage for their morning feeding. We arrived about 40min before opening, and good thing! By the time the doors opened, there was a crowd of about 200 people behind us! We all gathered around a roped-off clearing and waited patiently for the baby elephants to appear.

 

An early morning visit to the Elephant Orphanage

 

A group of school kids eagerly line-up to watch the baby elephants get fed

The babies were *unbelievably* adorable! They were separated into age groups – the first bunch to come tottering out of the forest were the youngest – aged 4 months to 1 year. As each one rushed into the clearing, a keeper stuffed his/her mouth with a giant bottle of human baby formula, which they guzzled enthusiastically. As the babies were drinking, one of the keepers took up a microphone and introduced each elephant, stating their names, age, when they were rescued, and the circumstances which led them to be orphaned (mostly poaching and human encroachment by falling down water wells). Since baby elephants rely on their mother’s milk for the first two years of their lives, orphaned elephants will die if left in the wild. The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust is one of the most successful programs in Africa that rescues, hand-rears, and then reintroduces the orphaned elephants into the wild. After the first set of elephants were fed, they were led back into the forest, and two more groups (aged 1-3 years) came out for their breakfast – SO CUTE!

 

Here come the ellies! We saw 24 babies, ranging from 4 months to 3 years old

 

Several keepers dispense milk bottles to the hungry calves (filled with human formula milk, as “milking” female elephants isn’t really possible!)

The older ellies can feed themselves! Look – someone is starting to grow her tusks!

 

After drinking their milk, the babies finish breakfast by eating their greens!

 

As one of the keepers introduces each elephant, the babies walk around, getting love from the crowd!

After the Elephant Orphanage, our driver planned to take us to another popular animal attraction, but first he made a detour to a crafts market, as he said the majority of the elephant crowd was heading in the same direction. Normally we are able to resist buying souvenirs, as we need to travel light…but we really liked the African stuff! We broke down and got a set of wooden spoons – after all, we are planning to ship home some of our gear before we head to China anyways, may as well send home a few mementos as well.

 

Beautiful wood carvings and dishware at the crafts market

 

Artsy metal curios – wish we could bring home more souvenirs!

After giving half an hour for the crowds to clear, we headed over to the Giraffe Center – the public tourist attraction which is part of the exclusive Giraffe Manor property. The Manor is an insanely expensive boutique hotel (USD $550pp) where giraffes roam freely around the property and will stick their heads into the open windows of the Manor, especially during breakfast! We were obviously priced out of *that* experience, but we got to hand feed those same giraffes at the next-door Giraffe Center public feeding platform (entrance fee is only USD $1).

 

Waiting in the “ladies line” at the Giraffe Center – the genders were separated for a security pat-down as we entered the property (a lot of that in Kenya)

 

Igor feeding pellets to a hungry giraffe!

 

Lindsay takes a turn with the slimy black tongue!

 

Who’s a hungry giraffe? You’re a hungry giraffe!

After the giraffe feeding, we headed back to the hotel – we were still running on only 4 hours of sleep and we were ready to PASS OUT. We had a pretty shitty room at the La Maison Royal hotel (first floor, with a window facing into the hotel lobby), but we were so tired we slept through the noise anyways. When we asked to switch to a different room, we were told they were completely booked, but they would make sure we got a nicer room on our second stay before we flew out of Nairobi. Satisfied with their promise, we headed up to their rooftop restaurant for dinner, where they had a large Indian selection and a real tandoori oven on the outside deck! Not bad.

 

A surprisingly tasty Indian food dinner at the hotel’s rooftop restaurant, along with a glass of Frontera!