Kenyan Safari - Lake Nakuru

It was another 7AM start this morning - and that was the GOOD news.  The bad news was that we were setting out on a 6 hour drive along the same road that we traversed when we arrived at the Masai Mara only 2 days ago - the road from hell.  UGH. 

I wish I could say that it was better this time or the time went quicker - it did not. 
When we finally hit solid pavement we all let out whoops of joy and celebration - especially Daniel, our driver, who said that road had given him a headache this morning. 

Flamingo Hill Camp

Our journey continued to Lake Nakuru and the Flamingo Hill Camp which would be our home for the night.  This was another tented game camp which was conveniently located near the gates to Lake Nakuru National Park.  It was another really lovely resort - not what I am used to when we stay in tents at home!  We found our tent, quickly unpacked and headed over to the lodge for lunch.  After lunch our itinerary called for an afternoon game drive around the Lake Nakuru National Park.

Storks

Lake Nakuru is a salt water lake so many aquatic birds call it home.  It is a bird lover's paradise.

Pelicans

Flamingos

A bird lovers paradise

In addition to the water birds, the park is also home to many larger mammals including the white rhinos and the water buffalo.  Unfortunately the leopard continued to evade us today - he was the last of the "Big 5" that we had yet to see.  However, we did see another lion, more giraffes and lots of zebras.

White Rhinos

Water Buffalo

Zebras

I think my favourite sightings of the day were the baboons who were grooming each other on the road near the camp.  We also had a bit of an encounter with a monkey who thought we should have left out some food when we all left the van for a few minutes at the park entrance. 

 

Baboons

Monkey in our van!

Back at the resort after our game drive, we had a fabulous dinner.  Kristina and I shared a bottle of red wine.  For the third night running now we have been the last patrons in the dining room as we drank wine and laughed at the day's events.  When the wine was finally gone we were escorted back to our tent by 2 Masai brothers with flashlights and official resort uniforms.  During the very short walk back to our tent we got into a very interesting conversation with them, using broken English and sign language.  They were both young - probably mid to late 20s.  One had 2 wives and 4 children, while the other had 1 wife and 1 child.  The one with the 2 wives and 4 children commented how expensive it was to support them all - go figure!

Kenyan Safari - Masai Mara Game Drive

Elephant Crossing!

This morning, our driver, Daniel, met us at 7:00 AM for an all-day Game Drive.  We would be out for the better part of the day, so that would allow us to go deep into the Masai Mara Game Reserve. 

We started to keep a list of all the birds and animals we saw over the course of the day but I quickly lost count.  We saw so many different types of animals over the 2 days we spent on the Masai Mara - it was truly amazing and awe inspiring.

Lioness and cubs

Lioness

Cheetah in the grass

Ostriches



Black Rhino

Hyena









 

Waiting for the flat tire

The day was not without mishap.  Throughout the early morning, it became clear that Daniel was worried about the front right tire on the van.  We were seemingly in the middle of nowhere.  At one point, after much chatter on the shortwave radio,  2 other white vans appeared over the hill (we found our later they were driven by Willie and Sugar) and they pulled up beside our van.  The three drivers got out of the vans and much discussion ensued in Swahili.  Kristina and I looked on.  Frown, kick, frown by Sugar, more kicks, more frowns by all 3 drivers and lots of Swahili.  Apparently we were now headed into the nearest town to get the tire fixed.   Daniel dropped us at a local souvenir shop which even sported bathroom facilities while he went off in search of a garage.

 About half an hour later, Daniel reappeared, smiling  Apparently an errant nail had made it into the tire but had now been extracted so we could be back on our way. 

Not to be outdone, our van had yet another another challenge in store for us.
With the heavy rains that had occurred the night before, the trail tracks that these 4 wheel drive vans travel on were quite muddy and there was often 6-8 inches, or more, of mud to cross in the ditches that marked the safari pathways.  On many occasions, I could not believe that we would be able to pass before we started our descent into the mud.  On one particularly steep and muddy ditch Daniel stopped the van midway through the ascent with an "Oh Oh" (Apparently this phrase is the same in both English and Swahili).   It seems that the metal panel that protects the engine had come loose and was jutting into the mud, preventing us from ascending.  He backed the van out while grabbing the shortwave radio.  More Swahili.  More chatter on the shortwave.  Still more Swahili.  Kristina and I looked on - perplexed.  Apparently a decision had been made and Daniel turned the van around - presumably to take a much longer route to the river.  But unable to get through the muddy ditch forward, Daniel had decided to try it in reverse.  We made it down into the trench backwards and then back up again, still in reverse, onto drier ground.   Score 2 for Daniel, 0 for the Van.


Hippos in the Mara River

 Next stop of the day was the Mara River which is one of the most popular vantage points to watch the great migration which occurs in July through September .  Each year around 1.5 million wildebeest and 300,000 zebra (along with other antelope) gather up their young and start their long trek from Tanzania's Serengeti Plains to the Masai Mara. They go in search of food and water.   As the herds cross, this river crocodiles are lying in wait for any weak and feeble animals that can't cope with the strong currents.   This great migration is considered to be one of the wonders of the world - maybe we will see it on our next visit to Africa?

For lunch, Daniel had arranged a boxed lunch from the resort.  We stopped at a high point in the plains and were able to get out of the van.  Daniel put down a blanket from the back of the van so we could have a picnic.  The other 2 vans, were also at the picnic site so we had lunch with Paul and Linda who were visiting Africa from the UK.    Between the baboon that kept trying to steal our food and the dead wildebeest skull that seemed to be watching over us, it was quite a memorable lunch - to say the least.  We loved it!  The only draw-back was the restroom (ie there wasn't one) so Kristina and I had to rely on canoe tripping relief skills that I thought were long-forgotten before getting back in the van for the afternoon game drive.


Daniel and Sugar trying
to dissuade a baboon from
joining our picnic



Paul and friend

Our favourite sighting of the day became known as the gluttonous lion.  If you look at the picture at the side you will see that this requires no further explanation.



Giraffe



In the end, we managed to see 4 of the "Big 5" - only the leopard eluded us.  What a truly amazing experience it was. 

I cant really end the blog without a picture of a giraffe.  These became my absolute favourite animal.  They are so beautiful and so graceful. 

And finally, I will finish today's blog with a picture of the sun setting over the Masa Marai - stunningly beautiful.  What a perfect end to a perfect day!!!

Masai Mara sunset

Kenyan Safari - Masai Mara Day 1

We met up with Martin, our tour organizer from African Veterans Safari at 8AM Sunday morning.  Martin introduced us to Daniel who was to be our driver and tour guide for the next 5 days. 

Kristina and I both had 2 suitcases each due to our month long stay in Ghana.  We had expected to leave one suitcase behind in Nairobi, but in the end we elected to take them all with us.  Daniel managed to find space for all the luggage in the back of the van and off we went!!!  Masai Mara here we come!

First stop on the way was the Rift Valley.  This was our first real glimpse into the beauty of the Kenyan landscape.  It was truly an amazing site. 

Great Rift Valley

Kristina and I in our safari hats

Back in the van we continued on our journey.  It would be a 6 hour trip today on  some of the roughest roads I have ever travelled on.  The potholes on the roads were so bad that it was literally impossible for the drivers to drive on the asphalt.  Instead, the traffic was forced to drive on the unpaved shoulder, or most of the time, with one wheel on the asphalt and one wheel on the shoulder of the road.  This caused the van to ride at an odd angle which, in truth, was hardly noticeable because of the constant bumping up and down motion of the van as the wheels went in and out of the potholes.  It was brutal. 

When we finally arrived at the resort, shortly after 2:00 PM, Kristina and I were both wondering what we had got ourselves into.  However, one look at the resort and all of our uncertainties faded away.  I did not really know what to expect when we booked accommodations in a Tent Village on the Masai Mari, but whatever my expectations had been this place far exceed it.  The resort was beautiful and just what the doctor ordered after our long and rather arduous journey.



Our home at the Sarova Mara



Home sweet home













  



 

After a delicious lunch, which was by far the best food we had had since arriving in Africa, we met back up with Daniel for a visit to a Masai village. 

The Masai are pastoral people which means that they primarily depend on the raising of livestock for food and to make a living.  Everything in the village seems to revolve around animals - from the circular shape of the village itself to the pens located near the family sleeping quarters for housing baby goats and sheep.  The village was designed to maximize the safety of the livestock animals.

At one point of the tour, Kristina reached out and touched one of the nearby homes.  At the same time, she asked how they made the "cement-like" building materials that covered the wood in each home.  It was dried cow dung - we both refrained from touching anything else after that.

Masai women caring
for their children

Masai home - "cement" building material
is actually dried cow dung

All around the village were women caring for young children.  Turns out the Masai are a polygamist tribe and it is not uncommon for a man to have 8 or 9 wives.  Since they do not practice family planning, each wife can have 8 or 9 children each so the families can get quite large.  Of course, this is all dependent on how many cows the man owns, as the number of livestock owned signifies a man's wealth.

At one point our tour took us into a family home.  The structure was window-less other than a single small opening by the fire pit.  The smell of the fire inside the home was so strong it made our eyes water - it was hard to imaging how the family cooked and slept inside the building.

Daniel. our driver and tour guide described the male-dominated Masai culture to us.  According to Daniel, the women are expected to do all the work in the village while the  men drink alcohol and make babies

Masai warriors

Joining in the dance



At the end of our tour, the Masai warriors demonstrated their cultural dance which involves singing, chanting a whole lot of jumping up and down.  Next thing we knew, Kristina and I were wrapped in cloth and invited to jump along with them.   By this time, both of us just hoped that this was not part of a strange Masai matrimonial ritual because Kristina and I would sure have a lot of work to do to institute change in this place!. 

Kenyan Safari - Arrival in Kenya

Waiting for our flight 
in the Accra airpor

After leaving Ghana on Saturday morning, (including a few very tearful good-byes to my Ghana 6 teammates) Kristina and I were now bound for Nairobi, Kenya.  This would be the last leg of our African Adventure - a 5 day Kenyan safari. 

Our flight plans today included a one-way flight from Accra to Nairobi on Ethiopian Airways with a 1 hour stop-over in Addis Ababa







Sampling Ethiopian beer in
Addis Ababa



In Addis Ababa for a short
layover



After a long flight, which included a 3 hour time difference between Kenya and Ghana, our plane touched down at 1:00 AM.  There to meet us was Martin, our tour organizer from African Veterans safari, who shuffled the two of us, tired and jetlagged,  into a van and drove us to our hotel for the night.

We knew when we booked the hotel that we would only be staying for a few hours so luxury was not a necessity.  It was already after 2 AM when we arrived at the hotel and our tour was due to leave at 8 AM.  However, I'm not sure that either Kristina or I fully expected what awaited us at the Comfort Hotel in Nairobi.  The room was very basic, no air conditioning and no screens on the windows.  Oh well,  this was supposed to be an adventure after all! We each chose one of the single beds, wedged our suitcases up tight against the door, opened the window to let in some fresh air, put in ear plugs to drown out the sounds of Nairobi traffic and pulled the mosquito netting around us.   We were too tired to care and it seemed safe enough, after all.

I had never slept in mosquito netting before

Breakfast the next morning in the hotel was surpisingly satisfying.  They even had really brewed coffee.  Not great brewed coffee - but brewed coffee all the same.  At 8 AM on the dot, the phone in our hotel room rang.  Martin was downstairs and our safari was about to begin!





Day 28 - Final Day in Ghana and Farewells

Since our Final Presentations were now behind us, our final day in Ghana was spent souvenier shopping, sharing pictures and music, sharing memories and saying goodbye. 

Tomorrow, Saturday, each of us would depart Ghana at various times of the day.  We went out for dinner, as a group, one last time.

Farewell Dinner

Our final dinner together

What great memories we will take home with us and I, for one, am honoured and proud to have been a member of the Ghana 6 team!

The Ghana 6 Team

Akiba Saeedi (USA)



Shikha Raghav (India)



 



Shin Wakayama (Japan)



  

Jorge  Estrada (Mexico)







June Zeng (China)



Heike Reinking (Germany)





Kristina Bryson (Canada)

Denis Selegatto (Brazil)





Rangarao Wunnava (India)





Kerstin Hermann (Germany)











Joanne Davidson (Canada)