KENYAN MEMORIES

                                                      Nairobi

      Kenya is about the size of Texas with a population of 25 million, with two million living in Nairobi. English is the official language but everyone also speaks Swahili as that is how the tribes communicate with each other. Nairobi is a large metropolitan city. Forty-five ethnic tribes live in Kenya. The smallest numbers 250 people. The largest tribe is Kukuyu

      In 1899 the Uganda--Mobassa Railroad was being built by coolies from India. The English spent a lot of money to have the railroad built so in the early 1900s they encouraged white people to migrate to Kenya. In 1909 Nairobi was the capitol of British South Africa which consisted of Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya. Now Nairobi is the largest city between Johannesburg and Cairo The automobile arrived here in 1913.

        The city is large. The tourist part of the city is safe to walk as there are askari (police) everywhere keeping the pesky hawkers at bay. The hotels have askari on each floor patrolling the corridors. We were accompanied as we walked to a nearby restaurant one evening. Yet, I never felt threatened nor afraid.

      The place I felt most uncomfortable was the native market that everyone told us we absolutely needed to visit. It was crowded, hot, smelly and stuffy. Hundreds of small vendor niches were separated by narrow pathways. Smoking was a popular pastime, which I saw as a real fire hazard in the crowded areas. The entire complex which covered a large city block was fenced and with only one or two entrances/exits I could foresee a terrible scene in the case of fire and a stampede. Neither of us bought anything nor saw anything that really intrigued us. Although my son kept constantly moving someone did manage to slice his backpack, but fortunately did not get a hold of any of his camera equipment.

      The merchandise seemed to be all the same, so our visit was very short. We came, we saw, we left.

SOME GREAT KENYAN MEMORIES

The Carnivore Restaurant is a popular and famous tourist restaurant. In the center of the restaurant a large cooking is pit is in where all kinds of meats are cooked. Waiters came to the table and told us what meat he carried and served us anything we wanted to try. The food was good.

Although not much for exotic dining, it was a fun experience.

While in Kenya we traveled nearly 1600 miles in Nissan vans equipped with special pop top roofs. These vans also had special guards to protect their undersides on the sometimes rough terrain.

After riding over the arid areas it was a surprise to find our hotels in an oasis in the middle of the desert. We always had a quaint cottage with comfortable accommodations.

Part of the foothills of Mt. Kilimanjaro are in Kenya but all of the mountain is in Tanzania

The first day we saw the wildebeest migration was simply awesome, especially since we thought we would miss the annual event. It was spellbinding every time we saw the thousands of animals followed by thousands of zebras.

Waking to barking zebras in the marsh at Amboseli.

Falling to sleep to the sound of rippling water and a crackling fire in out fireplace!

On safari game runs are done early in the morning (6:30 AM) before breakfast and late afternoon/early evening---the times of day animals are most active as they rest in the heat of the day

The day a beautiful spotted leopard crossed right in front of our van.

Watching the sleeping cheetahs awaken and take off with the lion in pursuit—it ended in a draw as the lion is a sprinter.

The mating leopards in the hillsides—what a lucky find!

The tented facilities in the Masai Mara in the northern Serengeti and all its animals. The big five of Africa are the buffalo, elephant, rhino, leopard, and lion. We were lucky to see them all!

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SAMBURU, AFRICA

Safari

On the way to the Samburu Game Reserve we stopped for lunch at the Mt. Kenya Safari Club where we had ample time before lunch to wander the lovely landscaped grounds. There was a small zoo on the grounds but we chose to bird watch the many birds flying around. Some of them were very big.

Lunch at the club was suburb. We ate in the main dining room where a buffet was being served. Again very English and elegant with tux-clad waiters with white arm napkins.

            After lunch we stopped at the equator to watch a demonstration of water going down a drain, clockwise on one side and counter clockwise on the other side. Fascinating!

            Samburu is noted not only for elephant, leopard, and lion, but also for species of  wildlife seldom seen elsewhere---Grevy zebra, reticulated giraffe, Beisa oryx, and gerenuk, (giraffe- necked antelope).

            The Samburu tribe, related to the Masai, speaks the same language, and  have the same customs. Their area is located in the arid desert of the Rift Valley. The general area is called Somali-land by the locals because of the Somali bandits that roam there. Going through a security check point was a little unsettling. At this point we noticed a subtle change in our driver. After all, what could be more attractive than a van full of tourists with cameras and money. However, we trusted our driver’s instincts and abilities and had been assured that safety was the top priority.

Late afternoon one day my son and I walked to the edge of the grounds to check out the river and saw a huge crocodile sunning himself at the river's edge. We actually spotted several other crocodiles in the water. The Lodge fed them each day. My son got a little too close to the wire fence and suddenly jumped back. “Damn, that fence is electric.”

            “I guess that is about as close as you’re going to get to the water. A telephoto lens should do well though,” I replied.

This is Born Free country and we were hoping to see Elsa, but instead on our first safari run we spotted a beautiful male lion.

One afternoon returning from our game viewing  our driver suddenly became extra alert and suddenly swung off the road onto a dirt road. He had spotted a stalled truck ahead of us. This is a typical Somali Bandit ploy.  Fortunately he knew the back roads back to the lodge and all went well without incident. That was really our only apprehensive moment on the entire trip.

            We saw many animals---many I had never seen---on game runs in Samburu.

Lake Nakuru is home to over a million flamingos. They were everywhere and there were always some flying overhead. The large lake is  quite shallow. Wild life along the shore was abundant. Here we saw the Rothschild giraffe in its natural habitat.

At Lake Naivasha we took a boat ride to see hippos. The papyrus-lined lake is one of Kenya’s most beautiful fresh water lakes. There were also many species of birds around and on the lake, including the beautiful and rare fish eagle. 

Each area offered us different animals and experiences. A camera safari is perhaps the ultimate vacation especially for a nature and animal lover.

THE MARSI MARA

                            A Fantastic Place

When we were in the Galapagos we ran into a couple who had been on Safari the year before and they told us to be sure to get to the Marsi Mara. The Masai Mara is one of Kenya’s best known game reserves famous for its black maned lions and huge herds of wildebeest, zebra, and gazelle.

Our lodging changed dramatically when we reached the Mara. Our home for the next three days was to be a rather comfortable tent, but roughing it we really were not. Our approximate 10 X 14 tent  was over a permanent concrete slab with a permanent sturdy roof. It was equipped with two single regular beds (not cots) with linens and small bedside tables. Unzipping the back of the tent we discovered a complete bath with concrete  block walls. It even had a shower! It sure beat an outhouse or a primitive  ground dug loo. The water was solar heated. We showered at night as the water was warmer then in the early morning.

The tents were arranged among the foliage so all we could see from ours was a tiny corner of the tent next door. A large permanent lodge housed the reception, dining areas, bar, and gift shop.

The first evening a park ranger told us, “The Masai Mara is in the northern Serengeti and is only 1510 square kilometers. That is smaller than some of our other parks, and although it is very animal dense  there are ample watering holes to support the population and the Mara River runs through the area. The Mara runs across the border into Tanzania. There are eighteen lodges in the park/preserve making it the densest tourist area. The first lodge was built here in 1962. The Masai Mara is probably the most popular spot to visit in all of Kenya.

“I’m happy to tell you the black rhino population has increased from two to thirty-eight animals. There are 1500-2000 elephants in the area and 700 lions. It is difficult to count sometimes as the animals wander in and out of the preserve as there are no mechanical barriers.”

The safari runs here provided us with hartebeest (kongoni), topi, which are only seen here, jackal, leopard, cheetah, and several lions. Totally unplanned and unexpected we were in country for the annual wildebeest and zebra migrations. The herds are unbelievably big. We saw many  thousands of these animals, and it let us imagine what our buffalo herds must have been before we wiped them out!.

Mara means spotted. From a plane one sees spots of tree tops---giraffes graze the bottoms of the trees.               

The big five of Africa are the buffalo, elephant, rhino, leopard, and lion. Leopards are nocturnal and visitors often end their vacation without  seeing one. One afternoon on a game run, the radio suddenly crackled with information that a pair of leopards had been spotted on a hillside. Our driver spun the van around and headed for the designated area.  What a sight! The leopards were about half way up the hill, their coats camouflaged by the rocky bush-covered terrain, but the sun shining on their gorgeous coats afforded us a good view and great photo op.

As we watched in awe suddenly the male mounted the female and we knew we were watching a mating pair! Afterward the female rolled over on her back like a contented playful cat. Then suddenly they disappeared into the bush.

Excited my son said, “Oh, Mom, what a bonus. That was wonderful.”

And it was.