Africa - Week 1

We started our 4 month trip with a very early morning rise (3am) for our flight to Zurich.  We were delayed which meant we only had 20 minutes to change planes for our next flight to Nairobi.  So after a quick sprint through Zurich airport we made it on to the plane. Even better our bags did too.  Zurich was covered in snow and we had to wait 20 minutes while our plane was de-iced just before takeoff.  When we arrived in Nairobi it was nice and warm – high 20s.  We were picked up and taken to our hotel and we crashed for the night.

Day 1 - 13th February
We met our tour group in the morning (which was 4am UK time) as well as our guide (Martin or Kanyo) and our driver (David) and our truck (Wiley).  The truck was pretty amazing.  It is as high as a container truck, seats 28 people and has loads of space for food, cleaning equipment, water, wood and charcoal and of course the most important part for Sarah the tents .

Our first stop was the giraffe sanctuary in Nairobi.  This was pretty cool.  There were about 3 giraffes standing around the shelter getting fed by the tourists and other ones further out in the bush.  We were able to feed the giraffes and pat them and James even kissed the giraffe.

Next stop was the elephant orphanage where there were about 19 baby elephants under the age of 2.  These elephants were orphaned either as a result of poaching, drought (where the baby falls down a well for example and gets separated from its parents) or other means.  They have to be with a ranger 24 hours a day.  When they are a bit older they move to a park with more elephants to slowly reintroduce them into the wild.  This takes between 8 and 10 years, so it is quite a lengthy process costing $10,000US per year per elephant.  We were able to see the elephants being fed from giant milk bottles and playing in the mud.  Very cute.

That night we camped in a site in Nairobi.  Our first introduction to camping was good.

Day 2 14th February

Up bright and early 6:30 for a long and bumpy drive to the Masai Mara.  This was 300km away and our first proper introduction to African roads.  Rather bumpy.  In one spot another dirt and very pot holed road ran parallel to the main road because locals had blocked off the road as they didn’t want people driving past their houses.

On the way we saw zebras and giraffes just standing by the side of the road.  Our first taste of the animals and why we are in Africa in the first place.

We did an afternoon game drive at the Masai Mara and saw masses of elephants, a glimpse of a leopard, buffalos, giraffes, zebras, impalas and a lion.  Pretty spectacular.  We made it to our campsite after dark but the campsite had provided tents and put these up.  Their site had been flooded away 3 weeks ago so there were no facilities but it was good.

Day 3 15th February
Up early again for a 6:30 departure to go on a morning game drive of the Masai Mara.  This was fantastic.  We saw a pride of lions, including 3 cubs, and we were only 5 metres away from them.  We also saw a massive herd of buffalos, impalas, elan, toki, various birds and the usual giraffes and zebras.

We then visited a Masai village.  This was quite interesting.  They live in houses the women build that are made out of dung.  They live around a dung field where the donkeys live.  The huts housed 3 generations and were tiny with no light.

Next stop was Narok where we spent the night.

Day 4 – 16th February
Today we drove to Naivasha where we were to stay for 2 nights.  We arrived early afternoon so went for a walk to the lake to see if we could spot hippos, but we couldn’t, and did our first spot of washing.  The rains came in the evening and were pretty heavy.

Day 5 – 17th February
We decided to do a crater lake walk today.  We were first taken to a lake to see flamingos and some hippos in the distance.  We then went for a walk to the crater lake.  We were walking among zebras and giraffes just a few metres away from us, so it was spectacular.  We also saw a lone buffalo, which we had been told means he is frustrated and can be dangerous, wandering towards us.  After a quick few photos we realised it would be safer to get out of his way before he started to charge us.  The walk was amazing seeing the wildlife so close and not being in the truck.  At the lake we saw loads of pink flamingos.  Once back at the campsite we got on a little boat to go on the lake to see hippos.  We saw a few of them and even one running and one snapping its jaws.  We also saw hundreds of storks.  Rainy night again but fortunately our tent withstood the rain and didn’t leak unlike a few others in our group!

Day 6 – 18th February
Today we drove to Nakuru and we did an afternoon game drive in Lake Nakuru National Park.  We saw a rhino in the distance, impalas, zebras, giraffes, which were a lot darker than the ones we saw in Masai Mara and various other animals.

We camped that night in the park in the rain so we had to set up our tents in a D formation around the truck because animals can strike as we are in the wild.  It was a wet night but we managed not to get attacked.
                                                                                                                                                   
Day 7 – 19th February
We got up early for an early morning game drive.  The rain had mostly subsided so we had an amazing game drive with 2 separate leopard sightings, both at close range. This is lucky as the leopard is really hard to find and the best chance is in this game park.  We also saw some rhinos, a pride of lions, zebras, giraffes and various sorts of antelopes, including the dik-dik which is the smallest, about the size of a small dog.  After this fantastic game drive we drove to Eldoret, which is where most of the Kenyan marathon runners come from and is at 2500m.  We stayed at the most amazing campsite with an underground bar complete with rivers, fires and a massive tunnel.  I should also mention that we stopped to fill up our truck with diesel.  This took 30 mins, cost $1000US and took 1000 litres.  Pretty impressive.

S and J