Category: Kenya

Kenya, Rift Valley

Born Free

Joel

For my last weekend in Kenya, we made one last trip into the Rift Valley. This time we visited the very beautiful Lake Naivasha National Park for a bit of easy hiking and a bit more wildlife spotting. We did another crater rim hike, but is was not nearly as spectacular as Mount Longonot – although it did have a lake in the middle. It was fittingly called Crater Lake. We could see giraffes on the volcano floor along with a number of warthogs. Outside of the crater were plenty more giraffes, impalas, and other herbivores.

Crater Lake Volcano Hike

We stopped by the Ranch House Bistro for lunch as we started our return journey to Nairobi. Afterwards, as we continued our trip, we dropped by Elsamere for a cup of tea and a browse around the house that was home to George and Joy Adamson of “Born Free” fame. The property was named after Elsa the lion – and star of the same film. There was a 45 minute documentary to watch and many of their possessions on display. The house was built in a beautiful location on the shores of Lake Naivasha. A group of baboons, and later, colobus monkeys, swung around in the trees next to the lake to keep us entertained.

Kenya, Maasai Mara, Nairobi

Angry Elephants and Wounded Lions

Joel

My final Naboisho Conservancy safari had us stalking injured lions for a while.  The male lion had a limp and one of the lionesses had a nasty looking open wound on her inner leg. There must have been some fighting with the elephants overnight, we were told.  The elephants had been quite noisy near our camp all night and they woke me up with their trumpeting repeatedly. 

Perhaps the elephants were still a bit spooked or stressed out from the night’s encounters because they seemed quite hostile towards us in our safari vehicle. One wrapped his trunk around one of his tusks (a sign of flaunting his tusk at us, one of our guides said). Another projected his ears straight out, a sign of hostility. We also saw plenty of zebras and the usual herbivores, but still no leopards!

Sometime shortly after the morning game drive, I began to feel quite sick all of the sudden. Was it my malaria pill? No, it must have been a bout with gastro, because I got very sick on way back to airport. My car sickness was probably due to a number of things, but being called half way to the airport to let us know my flight had arrived 45 minutes early prompted my driver guide to start racing down the very poor four wheel drive tracks – which was about as much as my stomach could take.

As the sole passenger on my first flight, we flew straight into the Maasai Mara National Reserve and parked the plane. All of us on board (me and the crew) had to disembark and wait for an equal sized connecting flight from there back to Nairobi where we were treated with yet more horrendous Nairobi traffic chaos on our return. Some entrepreneurs had created roadblocks on freeway entrance ramps so they could demand bribes from drivers to get out of the traffic. Fortunately, they didn’t interfere with us.

Kenya, Maasai Mara

The Naboisho Conservancy

Joel

The camp I stayed in was quite interesting, because it was genuinely in the middle of a completely wild area – full of predators. We were allowed to walk around the immediate camp during the day, but as soon as twilight and nightfall came, we were strictly forbidden from leaving our tents or the main building without a Maasai Warrior escort. If we did need to leave our tents for whatever reason after dark, we were to call the front desk for an escort. Fortunately, our tents included flushing toilets and showers – one indoor and one outdoor. We were not permitted to use the outdoor showers at night.

The Naboisho Conservancy was gorgeous. I went on game drives every chance I could, and even through in another morning walk with some other guests. We saw several jackals and hyenas and a lion on the drive out to our walking spot, but fewer animals once we were out there.

On the evening drive we found another cheetah, this time male with no collar – but he wasn’t nearly as active as the female we saw earlier – just laying around.  Also saw evidence of a fresh kill by our local lioness, and suspected she was tucked away feeding her young in some bushes.  There were a number of jackals nearby waiting for their chance to grab their share (which tipped off our guides that something was up).  We saw lots of giraffes, ostriches (including females running), and came across a pride of lions on our way home.  They were initially relaxing on the sole road back to our camp, blocking our way about 1km away, but then one of them started digging out a warthog hole under a big bush.  Eventually the lion gave up when it encountered what appeared to be too many roots interfering with its quest to widen the hole.

The next morning we went out on a great morning game drive in the hopes of finding some leopards.  We followed a new track along a stream that was full of hippopotamuses swimming and running around feeding on nearby grasses.  Also saw lots of elephants and some giraffes.  Excitingly, we got the land cruiser bogged in a creek and our driver and his assistant took about 1/2 hour of fiddling around with the jack, branches, and rocks to finally get us out.  We also saw lots and lots of baboons.

The evening safari found us plenty of lions, elephants, giraffes, antelopes, zebras, etc…

Kenya, Maasai Mara

Not sure my insurance would have covered this…

Joel

I had the chance to do a walking safari with spear wielding Maasai Warriors in the Mara this morning. They have been living in the area for countless generations, so I put my trust in their ability to protect me from the local predators using their traditional techniques. First we drove to a shorter grassy area for better, safer visibility.  There were two walking in front of me, two walking behind, and one next to me who also served as a guide. We did hear a lion bellow for its pride part way through our walk. They claimed it was probably 2kms away at the time.

Naboisho Conservancy Walking Safari

Sounds exciting, but most animals kept a wide berth. I found that staying in the truck gave far better photo opportunities. That afternoon I headed out with another couple for an evening game drive. I was quite thrilled to come across my first wild cheetah! A very beautiful animal. We stalked it for about 45 minutes and watched its cat-like behavior as it tried to pursue prey.

It was interesting to see how most of the herbivores would stand up to the carnivores with tremendous confidence, and send out the alarm to their fellow herbivores – all to protect their little ones. The cheetah was regularly rebuffed by teamed up prey (using strength in numbers), and eventually chased out of the area by three hyenas. 

It is also interesting how most animals seem total unfazed about a safari vehicle shadowing them just meters away. Elephants would sometimes react, impalas would always move on after we would stop, but most would just ignore us – not realizing there were people inside.

Kenya, Maasai Mara

A hop, skip, and a jump

Joel

Headed off for an exciting week living amongst local predators in the Maasai Mara area in western Kenya – part of the same region known as the Serengeti in neighboring Tanzania. I stayed in the Naboisho Conservancy in a beautiful camp overlooking plenty of wildlife.

I almost didn’t make it to the airport for my flight there due to the horrendous Nairobi traffic, but with minutes to spare I was boarding my tiny plane. A propeller driven plane, it only had 12 seats and 3 passengers. In order to get to my camp, we were required to make four hops to other deserted airstrips along the way. The runways were all dirt with the exception of the first being just grass. 

Nairobi Flight hops to Naboisho Conservancy

I eventually arrived at my final destination only to be greeted by my safari guide. As he drove me to the camp via a very bumpy game drive he pointed out many giraffes, zebras, and other animals.  After settling in for the afternoon, we headed out for an evening game drive that found us a female lioness, which we stalked for about a hour.  She was believed to be nursing offspring nearby.

Kenya, Rift Valley

Flamingo City

Joel

After a final early morning game cruise on Lake Baringo, we got ourselves back to the mainland for the long drive back to Nairobi. Along the way we took our time and swung through the Lake Bogoria Nature Reserve to see if there were any flamingos still hanging around. The lake attracts over a million flamingos at certain times of the year. We were happy enough to have found several hundred still there. The lake is also famous for its boiling hot springs (which the locals like to boil eggs in).  The nature reserve is also one of the only places you will find kudus in Kenya. We saw a group of kudus in the southern part of the reserve as well as some dik-diks, which are dwarf antelopes that always live in pairs.

All of the Rift Valley lakes had undergone severe flooding in recent years. Lake Baringo saw its water levels rise a whopping 12 meters. There were different theories as to why, but extra water in the atmosphere and associated storms around the equator due to polar icecaps melting was a common culprit.

The main road through the Lake Bogoria Nature Reserve had been submerged due to these rising lake levels, so we were forced to take a newly carved out road that was very rough.  We were advised to come back out the way we came in, but decided to drive straight through – which was worth doing because of the remote beauty.  It took us a while to get back on the main road, but we eventually got back on paved roads – only to find the usual horrendous traffic all the way back to Nairobi.

Kenya, Rift Valley

Lake Baringo

Joel

After being greeted with fresh coffee outside of my tent, I went up to the restaurant for a nice breakfast before heading out on a boat for a trip around the lake to see some local wildlife – mainly comprised of bird watching. We started by circumnavigating the island to spot local birds, hippos, and some bubbling hot springs at the opposite end of the island. While the camp section of the island was full of cool leafy trees, the rest of the island had largely been stripped of all trees for firewood – a major problem throughout Kenya.

Then the boat took us across to a locally run conservatory of animals.  We saw lots of birds, including ostriches with eggs and big owls.  We also saw a number of giraffes, monkeys, and rock hyrax, a rock dwelling elephant-related mammal (with small tusks).  We fed a fish eagle a dead fish by whistling for it and then watching it swoop down to pull the fish out of the water.

Lake Baringo Game Cruise

We all took a shot at paddling one of the tiny homemade fishing rafts, made entirely of locally sourced balsa wood. The rafts are very light and fragile and held together by nylon string.  They are very tippy and will sink and fall apart easily if too much weight is added – which included most of us.

After another hot day in the tropics, we were treated once again to a late afternoon storm blow in an cool the climate down beautifully for the evening.

Kenya, Rift Valley

Birdland

Joel

Out of the Rift Valley one day, back in the next. Unfortunately, the drive in and out can be very exasperating. It happens to be part of the main highway between Kenya’s port city of Mombasa and the country of Uganda. Although a modern rail line is supposedly under construction, most freight must take this route and it makes for some chaotic driving. Between the endless freight trucks, unmarked speed bumps, regular police checks, and constant potholes, the drive can be very stressful – with roads deteriorating to barely passable by the end.

Nevertheless, we headed off for a 3 day weekend on Lake Baringo’s Island Camp resort. The lakes in the Rift Valley are all part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, known for, among other things, its diverse range of 460 bird species. The lake is just north of the equator (which required the obligatory photo op) and full of crocodiles, hippopotamuses, and much more. 

The camp is actually one of the oldest western tourist camps in Kenya, built in 1972. It had a very tranquil setting with individual rooms opening up to views of the huge lake.  Malaria is rife around here, so mosquito nets surrounded all the beds.  From the island you can see the walls of the Rift Valley on either side of the lake.

Had nice swim in their island-top pool and a nice dinner.  We tried to find some hippos in the evening but we’re told they didn’t come out of the water until 1am and went back in at 4am.

Kenya, Rift Valley

Mount Longonot

Joel

After slothing around a few too many tour bus tourist destinations, I decided to put a bit more exertion into my activities and do a somewhat strenuous hike in the Rift Valley. It became one of the highlights of my trip to Kenya: a hike up to the top of Mount Longonot along with a full circumference of the rim.

Mount Longonot Hike

After a fairly steep and exhausting climb, I made it up to the rim and admired the volcano floor (last active in 1860) deep below. I took my friend’s advice and continued to navigate to nice little recommended lunch spot on a small bench under a small Acacia tree. While munching away on a few of my mini sandwiches, I couldn’t help but notice some thunderstorms brewing on the far eastern side of the Rift Valley. Nothing to worry about, I thought, as I proceeded on my circumnavigational journey.

About 1km along the circular path, I came across what appeared to be distinctly large cat tracks with large nearby cat scat. Oh no, I thought, could there be lions around here? I thought it would be best to return to where I passed some other hikers who had brought a guide with them to make sure. “There are leopards and cheetahs on the crater floor,” their guide told me, “but no lions to worry about. The leopards and cheetahs won’t bother you.”

Off I went with only slightly more confidence. I aimed to hike in a counter-clockwise direction to get the most strenuous climbs around the wavering rim out of the way first. I made my way up a few more steep climbs and rewarded myself with some amazing views from the highest point over the Rift Valley floor. Unfortunately, it looked like those thunderstorms were getting bigger and bigger and heading more in my direction.

I thought I should better get this hike over with before the storms got to me, but about half way around the rim I found myself with no way out and no where to take cover. The storm swelled to encompass the entire Longonot Volcano. To make a long story short, I got thoroughly drenched, but managed to avoid being struck by lightening. The temperature really dropped during the storm and I was awfully cold, but it gave me another adventurous story to tell.

Kenya, Nairobi

Culture Time

Joel

I decided it was time for a bit of culture. Off to the Nairobi National Museum I went – with a special tacked on visit to the neighboring Snake Museum.

The Nairobi National Museum was a bit outdated, but home to some interesting exhibitions including birds, mammals, humans, history, and art work. The snake museum, on the other hand, was very run down and depressing – but I did see a snake swallow a live frog in big pit full of snakes. I also was amused to find a cobra repeatedly flinch and try to strike me behind glass. Must have not been there very long.

In the evening we headed out for a regular Wednesday night tradition: and run through Nairobi’s Karura Forest. Truth be told, I personally opted for a walk. Karura Forest is a well known expat hangout found right in the heart of Nairobi that makes you feel as though you are far away from the city. It is full of thick woodland, a waterfall in the middle, and lots of hiking, running, and mountain bike trails. It costs money to get in, but it is one sizable oasis Nairobi residents can use to make themselves feel as though they are very far from the city.

Karura Forest Walk