And yet again it's almost a year since I have done a Blog post - yay, slack me.
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| Can you pick the morning animal show at Sanctuary Farm |
Time in Oman is fast running down, and as I had promised myself an African Safari while working here it was rapidly becoming now or never! So immediately after returning to Oman in January I started planning. A colleague put me in touch with a guide he was related to by marriage and in no time flat Peter Ngugi and I were knee deep in plans.
I chose to go in August, so that I could be face to face with African animals for my 60th birthday! But of course in Kenya and the Masai Mara in particular that is high season because of the Wildebeest migration. So even though planning was underway in January things were rapidly filling up..................... But we did get sorted pretty fast.
With just under a month to go it was time to apply for visa's. So I jumped online, found Kenyan online visa service and applied - only it wasn't, it was a scam site. I realised this around a week after making application and paying. Sigh - strike 1.
So I jumped online, found the actual Kenyan online visa site, created an account applied for visa's and waited, and waited, then just for varieties sake waited a little more. Eventually, I rang the Kenyan Embassy who said "when are you travelling?" Friday - OK if you haven't heard anything by Thursday morning come in here. - strike 2
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| Many many times great grandparent? |
So Thursday morning we went to the embassy, paid for visa's a third time, and had them in our passports within half an hour! Sigh - guess there's a message there! And of course, no sooner had we left the embassy than Katrina's visa arrived, there's still been no message about mine!
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| The great rift valley |
Friday lunchtime we duly arrived into Nairobi, thinking there would be time to do something in the afternoon, that was not to be as it took a while to clear the airport - and for the first time (other than in Australia) my bags got selected for a Customs examination! Kinda ironic. What got pinged was the bags we had packed to leave in the advertised airport luggage storage room, which does not actually exist, so we ended up lugging twice as much luggage as planned across Kenya. In the end after Friday afternoon peak hour traffic we got to the hotel (Four Points by Sheraton, Hurlingham) just in time for their happy hour on local craft beer! A win
Saturday we spent roaming around Nairobi with a hotel driver, Erastus who took us to the elephant orphanage (where they care for, raise and re-introduce to the wild, lost elephant calves), Giraffe conservancy (which includes the famous Giraffe Manor hotel - outrageously expensive, but sharing breakfast with Giraffes! - where you can pay for things and hand feed Giraffes) and the Nairobi museum.
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| Waking up Hippo |
Have to say baby elephants are more than a bit cute and the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust lets you adopt an orphan - go on, you know you want to! They'll send you baby elephant pictures and stories, all for $50us a year! (I didn't tell Katrina but I adopted the elephant calf Enkesha)
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| Night time Hippo |
The Nairobi museum had a rather impressive collection of our distant ancestors and some sections on Kenyan history and wildlife. All rather interesting. I think the artist who had a gallery upstairs must have been a little amused, as at one point I wandered in, had a short conversation with him about his work and then said that I was looking for my wife (rather than a painting). He hadn't seen her and I wandered off. Some time later Katrina wandered in, to be greeted with "Madam, I think your husband is looking for you" "Was he wearing a hat?" "Yes" "Ahh, thanks"
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| My try at Impressionist Kenyan morning |
Sunday Morning (my birthday) we set off up-country under the care of William who was standing in for Peter Ngugi, to Lake Naivasha and our next digs Sanctuary Farm where we stayed that night and again on Thursday night after our time right up-country. The trip from Nairobi included some spectacular vista's out over the Great Rift Valley (google it!) which is where we would be spending the rest of our stay.
After checking in and unpacking we booked in for an afternoon horse ride, through the conservancy area of the farm with Giraffe, impala, buffalo, zebra, gazelle, etc, etc About the only things missing were elephants and predators - but plenty of those were to come in the Masai Mara! I can highly recommend Sanctuary Farm and their horse ride!
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| Cormorants a roosting |
Following the ride we made our way down to the lakeside (adjoining the grounds) and set off in search of the most dangerous animal in Africa - no not Lions, not crocodiles either, but Hippo's! Yes the humble hippo is apparently the cause of more deaths in Africa than any other animal.
What followed was a rather eventful boat-ride that included birds of many varieties, some fab scenery and Hippo's. There were a few family groups of Hippo's clustered close in-shore and a sprinkling of solitary ones. As we puttered slowly and silently along the lake we came across one solitary hippo that had been snoozing underwater and went unnoticed by our boat driver. All of a sudden the water about 2 meters/6 feet to the side of our boat exploded as the hippo woke up surfaced and turned 270 degrees to come after the boat - thankfully it didn't choose the shorter 90 degree turn, as by the time it had turned we were well out of harms reach thanks to a judicious application of the throttle! There may have been an adrenaline rush, I may have got some great up close and (too) personal hippo photos. And no Rufus, I did not need the camoflaging grace of brown pants!
By the time we got back ashore things were back to normal and it was time to go sit on the balcony at the farm house and watch the animals make their way down to the lake shore for the night. Following a rather nice, but early, dinner it was time for two travellers to head off for an early night. But no, we couldn't go - you see a hippo had chosen that time to come up from the lake and was slowly grazing its way between the farm house and the converted stables where we were staying. So we had to wait til the night guard/escort said it was safe to go.
If ever you do go to anywhere like this it is best to heed such advice. You see last year at a nearby resort, two Chinese tourists set off without calling a guard. On their way they came across a mother hippo and calf, which they decided to follow and observe. Sadly they strayed too close and the mother charged, trampling both, one was killed and the other badly injured and hospitalized. For such a big critter they are remarkably agile and can run faster than humans. Think freight train that accelerates and turns like a ferrari
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| Hells gate |
Anyhow the other attraction around Naivasha is Hells Gate National Park. This park is full of natural springs, sandstone gorges and amazing scenery. So amazing it's the setting for various movies, including Tomb Raider and the pride rock area from Lion King. It is the only National Park in Kenya that doesn't have Lions and Leopards in residence, so tourists are allowed to walk, cycle and rock climb at will. It is a stunning area with sandstone gorges and hot pools, all formed by volcanic activity and subsidence between two tectonic plates. The park boundaries include massive commercial flower farms (roses to the world) and thermal energy generation - around 2/3 of Kenyan power generation we were told. We had a great couple of hours clambering through there on our final day in Kenya, before heading off to Nairobi and a plane to France.
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| Left behind |
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| The Devil's Bedroom - follow the slanting light to Pride Rock, only 2 hours walk! |
Oh, I mentioned no lions. Not entirely true as a mature male and two lionesses were at large in the park when we were there. Not to worry our walking guide said, it's at the other side of the park and the rangers have chased them into some trees. Rather sensibly the rangers had not followed the lions into the trees, that way lies a mauling! Presumably by now the three lions have emerged from the trees to be darted and relocated.
Cheers
