If we’d pre-booked all our intended activities in Kenya it would have meant going in and out of Nairobi more times than we felt was strictly necessary. So instead of flying from Uganda to Kenya we booked bus tickets with Akamba, and took a day bus so that we could admire the scenery along the way. We reached Busia on the border in only 3 ½ hours, as the roads are in pretty good shape. Land border crossings are always more exciting; the comings and goings in no man’s land are fascinating and things happen at a frenetic pace. It seems so much more adventurous to be stamped out of one country and walk over to the next. The Kenyan border authorities quickly had our visas prepared and we were ready for the next leg of our journey.
As expected the terrain became drier and drier as we headed towards Nakuru but unexpectedly, we started to climb and hit a very green area. There were loads of different crops being grown and by far and away the biggest plantations belonged to the tea companies. The road wasn’t too clever so we didn’t reach Nakuru until 4pm. To be more precise we were dumped in the town’s suburbs; without a taxi or tuc tuc in sight had no option but to walk to town. We set off down a long, shabby, dusty, industrial road in what we could only hope was the right direction. We eventually found a street name so at least could find ourselves on the map; luckily we’d opted for the right direction but we still had 1km to go. On we plodded, with the rucksacks feeling increasingly heavy, and finally found ourselves in the town centre. The first few hotels were way beyond our budget and in the end we allowed ourselves to be directed to Care Guest House. It was extremely basic, but at about a fiver a night we didn’t expect much, and we were there to go on safari not lounge around in a posh hotel. Just as well we were only staying one night as we got zero sleep due to some all night disco nonsense over the road.
Lake Nakuru National Park
We booked a safari vehicle and guide and it cost us KSh 3000/= each plus its $60 a head for park entrance fees. Safari-ing isn’t the cheapest holiday activity, but we’d heard glowing reports about this national park and could only hope it was worth the expense. Care Guest House has a 24hr restaurant so at least we could get a brew and cheap brekkie before donning our safari hats. Hmmm.... that was the end of the good start to the day as our jeep didn’t arrive at the allotted time. It didn’t take us long to start to feel a little anxious – had we entrusted our money to the wrong person? There are so many times we book something, hand over a wedge of cash, (granted) get a receipt and then have to totally rely on others to deliver the goods. Was this the time we were going to be fleeced? No! Phew! An office representative duly turned up to say there was a problem with the car and we were only actually about 20mins late.
The main gate is very close to town so we were soon sorting out tickets and arming ourselves with binoculars and camera. Before we’d crossed the threshold there were vervet monkeys scuttling around, dashing in and out of the office and generally causing mischief! Within minutes of starting the game drive we came across the biggest group of baboons we’d encountered so far. Had our luck changed? Were we going to be lucky enough to find leopards and rhinos? The first focus of the game drive was to go to the lake shore to admire the vast flocks of flamingos. By vast I’m talking up to 2 million of the pink long-legged ones. They are interesting to watch and there were, of course, numerous other water birds parading around; including marabou storks and pelicans.
Apparently while the flamingos are having their early morning breakfast the hyenas like to try to catch their breakfast. You guessed it – flamingo; well there were plenty to go around. We continued round the edge of the lake and spotted lots of impala and Thomson’s gazelles. We were also lucky enough to see a couple of black backed jackals chasing pied crows but no hyenas were on the horizon. As we scanned the area with our binoculars we noticed a jeep had stopped in the distance. On closer scrutiny we realised they were close to a white rhino but we couldn’t cross over to their track to join them. As we headed in the general direction we found another rhino and this one we could get quite close to - so another new species to add to our ever lengthening list. Plus it was our first ever close up of an African rhinoceros and by the end of the day we were lucky enough to have seen around 15.
As we moved around the park we could see impala, gazelle and buffalo at every turn with waterbuck and eland sprinkled in for good measure. All of these national parks seem to include a good vantage point and Lake Nakuru was no different. From atop a rocky outcrop called Baboon Hill we got fantastic views of the park and the added bonus of a couple of rock hyraxes jumping around. Our guide was still determined to find the hyenas for us so off we ventured to a different area. The plan was to look out for giraffes on the way but we got distracted when we heard a leopard had been sighted. Obviously we made a bee-line for leopard territory and sure enough so had all the other jeeps. People were clearly pointing into the bushes looking very excited; we could see him despite his excellent camouflage. Once the jeeps had jostled for position and the entire hubbub calmed down; our spotted friend showed himself.
We couldn’t believe our luck when he decided to walk down the edge of the track scent marking his territory. The jeeps quietly followed and we got to watch him for some time until he wandered up the bank and hid in the undergrowth. Finally, after all these years of searching we got a fantastic view of a leopard. In among all this excitement we could hear the hyenas but we never did see one. It was now time to see what else would show itself – soon enough we had zebra and giraffes to add to the list. Then our driver announced he would try to find a lion. Now this was a great surprise as we had no idea there were any lions in the park. To be honest we assumed there weren’t with the park being so close to a sizeable town. We searched and searched but to no avail – maybe we were right in the first place and there weren’t any!
To be honest we enjoyed the anticipation and watching many other animals as we trundled around. The vegetation changes quite a lot for a smallish park and of course the lake dominates the landscape. The park varies between dense scrub and open savannah with a couple of rivers, including a pretty little waterfall, supplying the lake. We were just on our way out of the park when we spotted a jeep jam – now how many times have I said that?! Apparently there was a lioness and 2 cubs hiding in the undergrowth. We did eventually get to the front of the queue and got glimpses of tails swishing but it wasn’t a conclusive sighting – good to know they’re there though. Another amazing safari.
Naivasha
There was no hanging around in Nakuru for us, and in fact we asked our jeep driver to drop us at the taxi stand. We tracked down a Naivasha bound matatu almost instantly, secured front row seats and watched the world go by once again. The locals thought we were barking mad on pointing out gazelle, impala, giraffe and zebra along the way – I wonder what they’d find exciting on our main roads. The road was excellent and we were soon in Naivasha where we crammed ourselves into an ancient matatu headed for Lake Naivasha. Luckily this was only a short trip and they dropped us right outside Fisherman’s Camp. But they were full so we had to haul our bags up to Top Camp. It looked like the place hadn’t been opened in years but someone magically appeared. The room was big enough and not in too bad a shape considering they were only charging RM75/=. We actually had our own bathroom and the huge balcony out front was the clincher.
We think the two places are owned by the same people and Top Camp doesn’t even have a simple restaurant. To be fair it’s only a short stroll to Fisherman’s Camp, and they’re geared up for tourists there with lots of information on activities. The food may have been relatively expensive but it was all very tasty and the service was good. Oh yeah, they had cold beer too – well we had to raise a glass to the leopard! Following a sleepless night and all the excitement of the safari we just about managed to stay awake to watch the sunset. Since we were almost on the equator I’ll let you work out just how early that bath was!
Hells Gate National Park
Despite being exhausted neither of us slept much due to pesky mossies buzzing around us all night. Once the sun was up we were too, even though we weren’t tied to any fixed schedule for the first time in days. Unfortunately we’d used up all our food supplies in Uganda and had not had time to restock in Kenya, so had to rely on Fisherman’s Camp’s breakfast. It was a rather chilly morning so a hot brew was most welcome – we were soon refreshed and ready to start the day’s activities.
Virtually everyone has bikes, and we’d organised the hire of a couple the previous afternoon from a telephone booth sized shop. Sure enough the bikes were ready when we were, and they had their full complement of brakes, saddle and pedals. Considering the wear and tear they get we thought they were in pretty good condition. No matter how good your bike; clattering along dirt tracks is going to cause a numb bum by the end of the day! Hey who cares when you get to cycle in a national park?! The park’s main gate is about 5km from Fisherman’s Camp and we stocked up with picnic supplies from the market stalls along the way. To our amazement there was a Barclay’s ATM in the village so we didn’t have to worry about running out of shillings.
The park entrance fee is $25 a head and they only charge KSh100/= per bike; less than a tenner to hire the bikes for the day and use them as our safari vehicle. We decided we didn’t need to hire a guide so the ranger highlighted the best tracks for us to use in the park. It was good to know which ones weren’t suitable for pedal power, and there are signposts everywhere so you don’t really need a guide. We loved having the freedom to go where we wanted and stop whenever the mood took us. The tracks are obviously rutted, and you have to watch for loose stones and potholes, but it was much easier going than we’d anticipated.
We didn’t expect to see much in the way of wildlife, and had talked about it maybe being better not to encounter a lion or leopard on a pushbike! We saw baboons near the gate, zebra, gazelle and warthog but they were more nervous of an approaching bike than motorised vehicles. There are supposed to be 2 different types of giraffe in the park but we didn’t see any. We think the terrain on the unsuitable Buffalo Circuit would be more up their street. Throughout our visit we stuck to the Gorge Track but did take a 2km detour to a campsite to admire the view – great place to pitch your tent. We retraced our steps and continued along Gorge Track as we were headed for said gorge.
Once there, we were actually outside the national park, so to do the gorge walk you have to hire a local guide. The guides are all from a nearby Masai village and the money is put into a community fund to be shared by all. We opted for the 1 ½ hour walk that cost KSh1000/= and it turned out to be money very well spent. Little did we know we’d actually be climbing down into the gorge – thank goodness it was the dry season. We scrambled down into a side gorge and this was actually bone dry. It was hard to imagine what it looks like during the wet season when it is submerged under 6m of water. The gorge is very narrow and the water must thunder through.
The path descended steeply but it wasn’t too tricky. There were times we had to clamber over narrow gaps and huge boulders that had been deposited there during the last flash flood. As we progressed the going became more challenging, but our long legged, brave Masai warrior nimbly leapt along. Just as well they are strong too, as short-arse here couldn’t physically stretch from one foot hold to the next! Our guide had to invent ‘new’ footholds and virtually lift me down in places. I’d like to point out that even Steve needed assistance at times so it wasn’t just me being a girl! Anyway it made the whole walk much more entertaining and great fun. We’ve never actually walked down the bottom of a gorge before. Along the way there were hot springs and the water really was hot – best wash we’d had in days! On clambering back up the other side we reached a lookout point and it certainly did provide superb views of the national park. Hells Gate is very dramatic with vertical cliffs and strange rock formations. Once again we had a great day, and let’s face it; it’s not every day you get to cycle around looking for beasties.
Mount Longonot National Park
We actually organised transport to get us to and from this park –public transport would have been feasible but time consuming. Sometimes you just have to pay the man, and it did work out less than half the price of the half day trips that were on offer from Nairobi. The drive round to the park only took 45mins and once there we handed over our $20 a head entrance fee. They were asking $31 for a guide but since we could clearly see where we needed to go we figured for once we wouldn’t get lost!
The track from the main gate led straight to the bottom of the crater wall through an area very sparse on vegetation. From there it was pretty much straight up to the crater rim on a very dry and sandy path. Even though we’d not been particularly healthy earlier in the holiday we tackled the steep ascent in only an hour. The walk around the crater rim was the main focus of the day where we would reach a high point of 2777m. We decided to walk around in an anti-clockwise direction as that would get us to the summit the quickest. Granted it was also the steepest way up but we thought we’d do the challenge part, and then enjoy the rest of the walk at a more leisurely pace.
The crater rim path is very easy to follow and it rises and falls along the route. As you circumnavigate the views are excellent on both sides for the entire loop. The interior of the crater is covered in dense vegetation with a lake feeding the plants. The sides are incredibly steep so if there are any animals down there I’m sure they’re only small. The views changed as we progressed; first we could see back down to the main gate – did it really only take an hour to cover that distance? Next we had a bird’s eye view of the secondary cone and Lake Naivasha. As we moved round to the summit we were afforded cracking views of Hells Gate National Park and it was great to see where we’d walked and cycled the day before. In fact we could see loads of tracks and thought it was a shame the 2 parks weren’t linked. We reckon there is potentially loads of good walking and cycling to do in the area.
In places the path is much eroded, so it was almost like walking down a tunnel – at least there was no way of slipping off into the crater. The Kenyan Wildlife Authority is doing a good job maintaining the path although it can’t be easy in such hot, dry conditions. It only took us a further hour to reach the summit; we worked out we’d covered 5kms and ascended 1000m in 2 hours. It made us feel much better about ourselves and we started to believe we would make it to the top of Mount Kenya. The path then descended quite steeply for a way and we climbed up and down numerous smaller peaks. The remainder of the walk wasn’t challenging but it was long giving us plenty of time to admire those spectacular views.
Soon enough we were back where we’d joined the rim and it was time to retrace our steps. It goes down as one of the most amazing volcano walks we’ve done – to be able to walk round a huge crater lake was just fantastic. Best of all – we had the entire place to ourselves. The other prize the walk wins is the dustiest we’ve ever done! Just as we thought we’d had all the day’s highlights, Steve spotted a giraffe on the horizon. We may have missed out yesterday, but today we got to have our picnic while watching a couple of giraffes and looking back at our achievement. You guessed it – another fabulous day.
Crater Lake National Park
In actual fact this is a private game reserve and we had our reservations(!) but it came highly recommended. Again we’d booked transport to get to the park; the highlight is to leave the car at one gate and rendezvous with it at another. A walking safari - how exciting was that potentially going to be? Even though the animals are behind a fence the area is huge and the reserve is very well managed. On the way to the park we saw a jackal that had challenged a wagon, and lost – at least the animals in the reserve are safe.
Anyway, we left the car with one of the rangers who would drive it around to our final destination while we were busy looking for wildlife. It didn’t take us long to start seeing the usual zebras and with it being early there were loads of birds fluttering around. Our guide, John, proved to be a bird spotter extraordinaire and we learnt loads from him by the end of the day. I think he enjoyed walking with people who were genuinely interested in all wildlife and not just big mammals. We happened upon a jackal and as we neared it saw further movement in the bushes. We only caught a glimpse of the second animal but it turned out to be something else to add to our list – a bat eared fox. They are usually strictly nocturnal so we were very lucky that one was just dashing off to bed as we passed.
It was very exciting wading through the long grass not knowing what we would see next. All along the path there was evidence of hippo action – yeah, huge poos! Unfortunately we didn’t see any, but considering they kill more people each year in Africa than any other animal maybe that was a blessing. On approaching
an area of tall acacia trees we came across my beloved giraffes. It was incredibly exciting being so close to Mr Longneck – on foot. On rounding a corner we were surprised to see a huge building and people cycling towards it. It was one of the numerous flower farms the area boasts – can you imagine cycling to work through a game reserve? Yes please! The giraffes are so used to the bikes that the workers cycle within meters of these magnificent animals.
Once more it wasn’t a day for spotting animals in vast herds but we didn’t expect that. The whole point of the day was to experience the African bush by shanks pony. The walk terminated at Crater Lake Lodge; a superb place not surprisingly set on the edge of a lake. At $230 per person per night full board it’s expensive but one of those treats you feel you ought to take advantage of one day. Sitting having a drink looking towards the lake was very restful and again there were feathered friends a-plenty. John could name them all of course and there were a couple we were apparently very lucky to see. We felt we’d been very lucky to have had a further excellent African adventure.
It was time to drag ourselves away and we jumped back into John’s car and headed for Nairobi. The journey was great with views of the Rift Valley to keep us entertained. As we climbed over a lovely forested valley pass we saw lots of baboons along the edge of the road. Like the cheeky macaques here in Asia these boys have learnt that people means free food. Unfortunately it also results in too many being squashed by the huge, heavy trucks that use this main trunk road. Nairobi was a shock to the senses – buildings, traffic, people – where’s the peace and quiet gone? To be honest it wasn’t as hectic as we’d expected and it was good to have a hot shower and some decent, reasonably price grub.
Masai Mara
The first part of the journey from Nairobi to Narok was smooth and comfortable on well made roads. Following the junction at Narok the road conditions deteriorated but as we neared the Masai Mara we saw an increasing number of animals. From the junction to Oloolaimutiek Gate we saw; Thomson’s gazelle, impala, giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, ostrich and baboons. We drove around the inside perimeter of the park for about 5kms to reach our hotel Mara Sopa Lodge. We were warmly greeted, with a refreshing flannel and cool drink, and the nice thing was our driver (Fantas) was given the same treatment too.
Although the lodge boasts many rooms each of the double bandas feel very private. The shared balconies are designed so you can sit round the corner from each other if preferred. The rooms were very well appointed and the whole lodge is set in beautiful gardens. This was most definitely a step up from the more than adequate, but not luxurious accommodation; we had while on safari in Tanzania. The buffet food was good with plenty of options to choose from. We were more interested in what we would see on safari out on the plains but it was lovely to end the holiday with a treat.
Game drive No.1
Not the best game drive we’ve ever been on and we didn’t feel like our driver was putting any effort into proceedings. On saying that, it was great to finally see the Masai Mara after spending years watching documentaries where some other lucky bugger got to go. Some obvious highlights were; driving very close to and observing a relaxed, large herd of giraffes. Many of them were sitting down and we’ve only ever seen them on the move before, plus watching a herd of 40 beasts was fantastic. The sheer quantity of wildebeest was another sight to behold – they were literally everywhere you looked. No exaggeration there must have been over a million! Watching huge herds of zebra is always pretty cool and we found them in vast numbers once we’d headed away from the wildebeest. Another highlight was watching 2 types of vulture tucking into a zebra kill and then later we saw vultures and marabou storks hoovering up the remnants of a young wildebeest. We’d been told that we may not see elephants as they don’t like wildebeest, but luckily we spotted 3 moving along the horizon.
Last but by no means least, a jeep jam had to be investigated – a bunch of sleeping lions. There was a pride of around 16 lionesses and cubs with a couple of mature males snoozing a short distance away. Obviously we had to go through the usual jostling for position and waiting our turn but we got quite close and had chance to observe them for some time. A small herd of wildebeest plodded into sight and that made the lions perk up. Unfortunately too many jeeps drove between prey and predator so it didn’t result in a hunt. We also saw; impala, Thomson’s gazelle, Grant’s gazelle, eland, topi, hartebeest, dik dik and ostrich. All-in-all a good start and we ended the day sipping a glass of vino on our balcony enjoying the peace and quiet.
Game drive No.2
Following a very plentiful and delicious breakfast we were ready to explore the Mara further, and had been promised that we would indeed travel deeper into the park. In the end we had a 6 hour safari and saw all the same animals as the previous day including another million wildebeest. There were some notable additions to the ‘Have seen’ list, namely; warthog, banded mongoose, hyena (yep – finally found one), black backed jackal, hippo, secretary bird, bush buck, martial eagle, another vulture species, go-away bird and cheetah.
Not surprisingly the cheetah addition to the list is also included in the day’s highlights section. There were 3 of them languishing under a tree escaping the midday heat. We also enjoyed watching jackals plucking up the courage to chase some vultures off a kill so they could tuck in themselves. The same pride of lions were hanging around the same area as yesterday but this time they were gorging themselves on a wildebeest kill. I personally thought that many of the jeeps got way to close to the felines but they were oblivious to our presence as they had much more pressing matters at hand.
Against the odds we happened upon some more elephants – this time a herd of 10 in a typical family group. Even better though; we were the only vehicle in that area of the park at the time, so they weren’t scared off by too much engine noise. Fantas was right; elephants truly do not like wildebeest and it was fascinating watching the matriarch chasing them away, to clear a path for the rest of the herd. We watched the elephants trundle off into the distance and carried on – surprisingly our being stopped hadn’t attracted loads of jeeps. Wildebeest and zebra may be around in their tens of thousands and easy to spot but watching the migration has to go on anyone’s highlights list. There were long, long lines stretching as far as the eye could see over the open plains. At this time of year they leave The Serengeti in Tanzania and march their way over to the Mara in search of water and better eating grounds. The most interesting thing is the way they line up and seemingly stand in an indefinite queue for no apparent reason.
The migration not only attracts the predators in numbers but also the plains waste disposal team – the vultures. I know I’ve already mentioned them but they are magnificent birds with incredible wing spans. Plus, we’ve never seen such huge concentrations before and so many different species all on one carcass. Everyone loves to see the big five and all the other large animals but I like to look out for the small creatures too. My vigilance was rewarded when we found a group of banded mongoose also taking advantage of the remains of someone else’s dinner.
That evening the hotel was advertising a hyena feeding station, and after debating long and hard on the ethics of such a thing, curiosity got the better of us. We went down early enough to bag front row but were way too early to see any animals. Within 10mins we seriously began to think we’d made the wrong choice as quite a few people turned up and they were being extremely noisy. I don’t understand why some people go to such places, as they clearly have no respect for the environment and the animals that live there. The signs clearly and politely asked you to be quiet, not to use flash photography and not to shine torches towards the feeding pit. Obviously this ignorant lot couldn’t read as they disobeyed each and every request spectacularly. Fortunately they also have the attention span of a gnat and when hyenas weren’t juggling and cart wheeling within 5mins they all buggered off back to the bar. This was great news for us and we decided to quietly wait and see if anything turned up.
Our patience and ability to respect nature was soon rewarded. First of all a white tailed mongoose appeared and tucked into the chicken that had been left out. They are by far the biggest mongoose and very brave. A jackal was lurking in the background but would not approach the pit while the mongoose was still there. In the end hunger got the better of it and he cautiously crept in a slunk away with a morsel. We could see some hyenas cowering in the background – we couldn’t believe they were being such wimps. They are substantially bigger than all the other animals but were certainly not behaving like Africa’s second largest predator. At one point something spooked all the animals and they all dashed back into the bush but we continued to watch. The first to put in appearance was a cat. At first we thought it might have just been a huge domesticated moggie but on further research we’re convinced it was an African wild cat. The other animals all started to reappear and one hyena finally plucked up the courage to partake in a free snack. By the end of the evening we’d seen; the wild cat, 2 jackals, 3 white tailed mongoose and 5 hyenas.
Game drive No.3
The following morning’s game drive only threw up one new species (banded mongoose) and we hunted for the ever illusive leopard but with no joy yet again. We did venture into a very different part of the park where there was more rock and tree cover for the spotty one to enjoy. It was great to see the huge concentrations of animals again and we enjoyed watching the scenery go by.
Game drive No.4
The final safari of the trip and of course yet again we hunted for the leopard but it eluded us once more. I think we should give up trying to find spotted cats! Since we’d seen wildebeest and zebras by the million Fantas decided to concentrate more on the interesting birds in the park. We saw loads of different types of raptors; some of them were most striking and others allowed us to get very close. We saw the same lion family again in pretty much the same location but hey, how can you tire of watching great big pussy cats?! We were lucky enough to enjoy a final lion highlight when our jeep was one of the first to observe 2 mature males, 1 juvenile male and a 6 month old cub tucking into yet another wildebeest. It’s extremely rare for mature males to tolerate the presence of a youngster (sounds like Steve doesn’t it?!) (That’s the first time I’ve ever been called mature – Steve.) and this behaviour highlights the migration season. Food is so plentiful, that all the lions are content and therefore, not posturing for position in the pride or fighting over territory and lionesses.
As we were returning to the lodge for a final time the primates decided to put in an 11th hour appearance. Very near to the gate we spotted vervet monkeys and on approaching the lodge we saw some baboons. Unfortunately it was time to pack our bags, check out and return to Nairobi. Mara Sopa Lodge surpassed all expectations and we thoroughly enjoyed basking in luxury following many days in tents and huts. The game drives at times felt a little monotonous as we always left the hotel and entered the park using exactly the same track. Entering the park from a different direction would have been more exciting. That said; we had a wonderful time and encountered some magnificent creatures at extremely close quarters. A superb experience and I can’t recommend it highly enough.
Nairobi
We checked back into Parkside Hotel for a third and final time; by now the staff recognised us and gave us a friendly welcome. They’d been uncharacteristically grumpy by Kenyan standards the first couple of times we arrived. The plan was to pick up some souvenirs and do a bit of sightseeing. The first part turned out to be very cheap as most places are closed on a Sunday! That did go in our favour as it meant town was quiet, so wandering around looking at some of the old buildings was more pleasant than anticipated. We decided to visit the National Museum since it was within walking distance, but once we got there couldn’t muster up the enthusiasm to part with $10 a head to enter. Instead we wandered around the grounds and looked at some of the permanent sculpting. As we were heading out we stumbled upon a local drumming group so we enjoyed their African beats for a while.
We hadn’t expected to like Nairobi but have to admit that it grew on us. They are very conscious of the negative (though justified) label of Nairobbery they inherited a number of years ago. The authorities are obviously going to great lengths to address this issue and we felt very safe wandering around the backpacker and town areas. As with any large city, there are areas that are best avoided but we found everyone to be warm and welcoming. The streets are wide, with good pavements, lots of plants and litter free leading to a calm atmosphere. There’s every likelihood we’ll be back one day. As with all holidays they have to end and ours now reaches its conclusion too. As of 2 years ago; we left reluctantly having had a wonderful time but we know we’ll be back to explore further afield.
