Kenya – Take Two

 

DAY THIRTEEN – 7th October 2010

Eldoret

Another early start! Up at 6.30am and on the road at 8 after getting some local chapatties for our packed lunch.  Crossing the boarder was an easy task again.  We arrived in Eldoret at about 4ish.  It was another long day of driving!  On the positive side we both haven’t read so many books in our lives!!

 

DAY FOURTEEN – 8th October 2010

Nairobi

Up again at 6.30am (this is no holiday!) and on our way to Nairobi.  It was a long day in the bus.  We arrived at Nairobi campsite at about 4pm.  That night a group of us went to Carnivores restaurant (its just like Wildfire in Auckland and is one of the top 50 restaurants in the world).  We got to try crocodile, and Ostrage, they were both really nice. Everyone ate far to much meat that night!!

Mike getting some Turkey

DAY FIFTEEN – 9th October 2010

Nairobi

We slept in this morning (although a sleep in for us is now about 8am!).  Later that morning we ventured out with a few of the group to the Elephant Orphanage.  They had two groups of about 15 baby elephants ranging from 3 months to 3 years old.  They were so cute, Trace wanted to take one home!

   

We then caught a taxi into Nairobi town which took us about 45 minutes (traffic is far worst than Auckland, believe it or not!).  We were in search of a water proof casing for our camera for our beach stop at Zanzibar.  We asked a few shops and they just laughed at us, there was no way we were going to get anything like this in Nairobi.

It took us an hour to get back to camp in the taxi.  Traffic was horrendous and it also didn’t help that the taxis in Nairobi run on near close to empty (it is said they do this because they don’t know when there next fare will be and also it the car is high jacked they haven't lost a lot in fuel. . . . .)   The taxi driver pulled into the petrol station, we thought great he is going to fill up, but for some reason or another out we pulled with no more petrol in our tank.  We stalled going out of the petrol station and struggled up the hill, we really thought we were not going to make it back to the camp!  Eventually after a slow and bumpy ride we made it.

That night we order pizza for dinner, African’s know how to cook pizza!!

 

DAY SIXTEEN – 10th October 2010

Masa Mara – Knolong Camp

We were up at 7am and on our way to Masi Mara.  Firstly we stopped to pick up another 12 people who were joining our tour.  We then got onto three mini vans and drove 3 1/2 hours.  The first hours drive was great, the road was smooth and the van didn’t sway or bump around as much as the truck.  However our luck soon ran our and we were on the bumpiest, pot holey roads!!  They were so bad in fact that the driver spent more time driving on the dirt beside the road than on the road itself!

We arrived at Knolong Camp at 2pm and had a cooked lunch.  This campsite is a permanently pitched tented camp so there was no putting up tents for us – luxury!  We even got our own en-suite tented toilet and shower – paradise! 

After chilling in our tents for a few hours we then departed on a game drive.  It was raining so we thought the animals would not be out and about but to our delight they were.  We travelled the park in van which wasn’t 4WD but they had pop top roofs, we prayed we wouldn’t get stuck!  After a bit of a journey we saw ahead a circus of white van, they were all gathering around a lion. 

We were told that it was a $10,000 shilling fine if you drove off the tracks in the park, but this didn’t seem to deter the drivers, they surround the lion in every which angle.  We felt a bit like we were in a outdoor zoo, it wasn’t a good feeling but on the positive we did get some amasing shots.

Our first lion -  he was absolutely spectacular!    

 

We arrived back at the camp at 7pm for dinner.  That night we slept well in a bed rather than on a mattress on the floor.

 

Two of the cubs play fighting

DAY SEVENTEEN – 11th October 2010

Masi Mara – Knolong Camp

Wake up call at 6.30am and off for our first early morning game drive in Masi Mara National Park which is 1086 square kilometres.  We saw buffalo, antelope, a sleeping lion, two stunning lions under a tree, elephants, giraffes, vultures and hundreds of thousands of wilderbeast.

  One of the many different types of antelope, it’s hard to remember all the different names.

A vulture preparing for takeoff

These skeleton's are everywhere, the lions aren’t going hungry around here!

 

These two lions were sitting together under a tree, our guide thought that this injury would be from a fight over female lions!  

  

We have almost crossed off the big 5 now Buffalo, Rhino, Lion, and Elephant . . .  just a leopard to go, maybe tomorrow . . . .

We had a picnic lunch just up from the river after spotting crocodiles and hippos.  The boys played a bit of frezbie, keeping a close eye out for lions.  Back in the van we drove back to camp.  On the way we had to wait to elephants to cross the road.  It was an amasing day out in the park.

That night there was a huge thunder and lightening storm!  We chatted to the new people who had joined the tour – ya 3 more kiwis!  And its such a small world, one of them knows Prue Hawkes.

When it rains… It really rains!

DAY EIGHTEEN – 12th October 2010

Nairobi

Up AGAIN at 6am and in the van for another game drive, this time we are hoping to see a Leopard.  Nothing much came of this early morning game drive which was a bit disappointing.   Back to camp for breaky then we hit the road for 3 hours, stopping at a little local restaurant for lunch.  Back on the road for what was meant to be an hour! Our van radiator was playing up.  We stopped twice going up this hill to fill up with water.  Our 2nd stop the guy put some glue or something in it, it did the tick!  We made it back to Nairobi for a supermarket stop to pick up some essential supplies of alcohol for Trace’s birthday.

Dinner at the campsite, yummy coconut curry chicken.

It was then that Trace began to develop stomach cramps which turned into squirty bum – what a great presents – thanks Africa!  She thought the best way to get what was in the system out was to drink as much water as possible, that evening about 4 litres of water was consumed.  This didn’t have the desired effect and Trace was back and forth to the bathroom all night. . . . . what a way to start her 26th Year!