Nairobi looked bad at night and the next day as we drove toward the Rift Valley
and to Maasai Mara it was bedlam. I have not seen roads so bad.
The highway was blocked due to a truck crash and so we took the scenic route.
This was amazing a big drop into the Rift Valley via a narrow and
almost impassable road through little squalid towns on the outskirts of Nairobi.
Of the 5 hour drive 3 hours were on roads I have never experienced.
A combination of the Gibb river road in the Kimberley's and
the overland telegraph track in Cape York.
It was fun but tiring.
Saturday 23rd. A balloon ride over Maasai Mara followed by a beautiful breakfast in the bush.
Then a safari drive and a visit to a Maasai village where for 10 cows
I could have got a second wife, figured it would cost more in the long run,
back for lunch at 2pm and out again at 4 for another safari.
The Maasai is beautiful country and the view from the balloon was special.
Another great and tiring day.
Sunday 24th Maasai to Lake Nakuru. We have stayed at some beautiful game
lodges in Africa but this is only a year old and is beautiful.
Did a safari tour on the way through the park to lodge and saw, rhinos, flamingos,
and the usual Zebras, Buffaloes and impalas.
Had a great meeting with a family of lions that we got very close to,
was pretty interesting and very special watching mum
having trouble with her two cubs who were very mischievous but she was very relaxed.
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| Typical Kenyan street scene |
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| Local bus/taxi, you see them everywhere and packed |
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| Crested Crown Cranes |
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| Wilderbeests and Thompson gazelles |
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| Our first Cheetah and spotted by me |
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| A Jackal |
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| Excited getting ready for balloon flight over Maasai Mara |
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| Kudus |
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| Herd of Buffalos |
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| Hyena know as one of the five ugly animals |
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| After that flight of course we need a champagne with breakfast |
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| Chef and his kids |
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| Just a few hippos, they kill more people in Africa than any other animal |
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| Just let me sleep |
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| Maasai men, what a hard life they have. Still they can have several wives and each time they get a new wife she has to build another house, so if three wives you get three houses, Generally have to take another wife after 15 years max with first. |
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| House build by the women |
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| Inside the Maasai house, I don't think he cooks |
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| Eating in unison with Mum |
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| Here come the man Monday 25th. Lake Nakuru to Amboselli. On the way stopped for a boat ride on Lake Navivasha. In the middle of the lake is an island which they used to make the movie Out Of Africa. They imported all the animals to the island for the movie and have left them there without any predators and hence they only die of old age. The drive took us via Nairobi for lunch and then down the highway towards Mombassa and I have never experienced anything like it. Mombassa is the sea port for goods for Kenya and Uganda. It is all shipped by huge trucks in very poor condition on a narrow two lane highway. We drove for over an hour past trucks in both lanes almost stationary. We must have seen over 2000 trucks on the road, off the road in ditches trying to get off highway, parked in towns with nowhere to go. Fortunately we had a very experienced driver and possibly the best vehicle I saw on this drive, a long wheel base Toyota troop carrier. The things he did to get us there was amazing, scary and great fun. Many cars tried to do what we did and many came to grief. There was a number of crashes and the final one we saw was a written off Police car that had obviously rear ended a truck. We were about 3 hours longer on the trip than expected. Arrived to hear the good news of Collingwood's win over Essendon. Tuesday 26th April. Fourth time this trip where we did not have to get up at 6am or earlier. 6:30 rise seemed like a sleep in. But the morning was special as we had a cloudless view of Mount Kilimanjaro, it was pretty special as it is often completely covered in cloud. Morning safari drive seeing lots of elephants and some more giraffes plus the usual impalas, Buffaloes, monkeys, hippos, wildebeest and giraffes. Back for lunch at 2pm and for the first time in weeks the afternoon off. All the game lodges run on generators and hence power is from 5am to 11am and 6pm to 12 pm. Hot water from 6am to 10 and again 6pm to midnight. And no internet in power out times so a completely relaxing afternoon. Wednesday 27th April. Amboseli, Kenya to Lake Manyara, Tanzania. Another 5:30 rise for a 7am start. On our drive out of the game park of Amboseli we met up with a large group of giraffes and one more very old elephant. But the highlight was suddenly spotting four cheetahs. We new they were in the area yesterday but could not find them so this was a great moment. They are a nice looking cat. We were pleased to cross the boarder and leave Kenya. Not a great place except for the game parks. Arrived Lake Manyara at 4pm after a nice drive stopping at a town whose name translates as mosquito river, a good start to a country that still has yellow fever. But a nice town and we met some friendly locals and school kids as we walked around this town. Nice relaxed time around the bar looking out of the Rift Valley before dinner, a spectacular spot. |
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| Kilimanjaro, we were lucky to see it two mornings in a row, often in cloud so very lucky again |
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| A tower of giraffes |
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| Another Cheetah as we left Amboseli |
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| Lucky shot of the elephant and Kilimanjaro |
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| Another ugly and unfriendly Hyena |
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