A Kenyan Christmas (Part 2)

Our drive back to Nairobi was uneventful although I should add to my last post that on the way to Naivasha we got stopped by the police for crossing a solid line which, funnily enough, was the same reason we last got stopped in Myanmar. It is apparently, an easy scam to pull off.

Looking back I should be impressed with the ease with which we paid off the policeman. I feel sorry for tourists unused to this type of situation coming for a short holiday.

We stayed in the same hotel for one night and then were picked up very early and taken to the domestic airport for the first part of our trip to Amboselli National Park. The airport was actually great as each airline has its own little section of the airport so checking in was easy. The small propeller planes are just outside and when it’s time they point to the one you’re on and you walk out and get on it – all very civilized.

The plane stopped a few times on the way and this was the best view we got of Mount Kilimanjaro. Our lodge had the perfect view of it but unfortunately, the clouds never parted enough to give us a view while we were there. We landed at an airstrip inside the actual park and were picked up by our driver and guide for the three days we were there. Instead of driving to our lodge, which was outside the park we did a game drive first. There was a marshy area right near the air strip and I was already seeing loads of great birds and soon we saw a hyena with cubs and started seeing the other major wildlife there.

Our lodge was about a 30 minute drive from the park gate which was fine as there was lots to see on the way including giraffes and zebras right by the road. The lodge itself, Elerai Lodge, was simply delightful and had the wonderful benefit we always love of booze being included! We had barely sat down before a waiter was introducing himself and bringing us drinks. Living in Ghana and going to regular restaurants and more downmarket hotels there makes you realise just how good is the training provided to people working in these lodges. It’s also an illustration of the bubble in which you exist when you go on a safari.

The lodge had an infinity swimming pool overlooking the small reserve around the lodge and was almost exclusively used by the local birds which were stunning and afforded me some great photo opportunities. Our afternoon game drive there was in their local reserve and was really nice.

The next day we were pretty much out all day in the park stopping for lunch inside the park. Amboselli is famous for elephants and we certainly weren’t disappointed.  There is a time in the morning where they cross one of the main roads in the park and quite a few vehicles gathered there to watch the spectacle.  It is difficult to estimate the number of elephants but at the time I remember us thinking that there could have been as many as 300. It was probably less but it seemed like they went on forever.  When you see that many elephants you get to see every kind of behaviour imaginable among every size of elephant imaginable.  We saw young bulls play fighting and tiny elephants maybe a few weeks old.  There were some huge older bull elephants as well.  For me, that morning watching the elephants was one of the highlights of the trip.

At one point we were watching what we took to be a young hippo eating some grass. There was a Grey Crowned Crane nearby which it seemed to take offence at and opened its mouth aggressively at. Not perturbed, the crane then puffed out its feathers in an even more aggressive way and funnily enough the hippo backed down. Some of that is captured in this video.

While chatting to our guide we mentioned that we lived in Ghana. The guide thought about that for a bit and then said, ‘I know someone in Ghana – Kip’. Stunningly, Kip works in our school and I have been on many bird walks with him! Small world.

In the evening we did a game walk which is always nice as you can often get quite close to animals with no vehicle. We stumbled across a herd of giraffe for instance who stared us down from a safe distance before casually moving on. Seeing giraffes and elephants in the zoo in no way prepares you for the truly amazing experience of seeing them in the wild.

The next morning was more of the same before being dropped off at the airstrip to fly to our next destination in Meru National Park in the north of Kenya – Rhino River Camp. We were picked up by our driver / guide in the usual safari vehicle which is mainly a converted Toyota Landcruiser or similar. This guide was a bit more taciturn than the last guide but certainly knew what he was doing.

Inside Meru National Park there is a separate reserve for Rhinos which is fenced. A note on rhinos. In Africa there are two kinds of rhinos, black and white, which is confusing as neither is either black or white. White Rhinos, which were the ones we saw in the reserve are mainly grazing animals. Their mouths are shaped to graze which is a key difference with the black rhino which has a kind of pointed, beak shaped upper lip which it uses for grabbing leaves from bushes. White Rhinos tend to be found in the open and perhaps for that reason are typically more comfortable around people – they can see you coming. Black Rhinos, as they eat leaves, tend to be found in bushy areas and can often be surprised by people so are shyer – they don’t always see you coming. There’s also less of them as they were hunted almost to extinction so White Rhinos are the ones more commonly seen in Africa but on our trip we were lucky enough to see both kinds.

I was very pleased to be the one who spotted our first rhino on the way from the airport to our camp. The driver, who missed it as he was in a lower position said ‘good spot’, but they’re pretty massive so not that challenging to spot when you come across one. It crossed the road right in front of us so we go really close which was a first for me. They are incredibly impressive animals and it lovely to see one so close.

Rhino River Camp is on the banks of a raging river which made a constant roar the entire time we were there. It seemed to bother some people but we were fine with it. After living in a country with a rainy season and a tin roof, you get pretty used to sleeping through the noise of water.

This was a permanent tented camp and had great service although not quite up to the standards of the last camp. Our tent came with a side ‘outdoor living room’ tent which was a really nice spot to chill out in. We spent Christmas at this camp which was really nice especially as they called in Bush Babies every night for some bananas! Other than fantastic views of rhinos other animal highlights were seeing our first lion (of many to come) and some wonderful interactions among elephants. I probably got the best photo of an elephant in this part of the trip. It was also fantastic for birds including the only sightings of the trip of the pygmy falcon which is a tiny and very cool falcon that we saw quite a few times.

In other safaris that we’ve been on you sometimes stop for a sun downer drink as it’s getting dark but that didn’t happen as often on this trip. This was probably because the drivers were keen to get back while it was still light. This driver/guide though did make the effort to always have a few cold beers on hand that we could drink while on the way back. Drinking a cold Tusker beer while watching elephants was pretty fun I have to say.

Meru was great but it is an illustration of how good the trip was in general that knowing what we know now, if we’d have had to save time and money, this is the part we would have skipped. Next stop Nakuru National Park.

Had we told our travel agent that we’d be staying in Naivasha before the start of our trip, they would probably have started us off at Nakuru as it is very close to Naivasha. This meant that we drove back along exactly the same road we’d come from and drove pretty much past where we’d been staying in the beginning. As we were around that area, the driver said he was going to what he described as a ‘scenic short cut’ to get to the actual park. This was code for driving along a terrible road for quite some time. Fortunately, our Ghana and Myanmar experiences well prepared us for this so it wasn’t a problem.

Lake Nakuru National Park was great. A lot of the action was centered in quite a small area with different kinds of terrain. The main lodge is also in that area so we never had far to go. The only downside was that the main lodge was much more of a hotel than everywhere else. It was fine for the short time we were there though so we didn’t mind.

If you think of a coffee table book about Africa you might think that on the cover there might be a photo of a huge flock of flamingos flying. Lake Nakuru is one of the places where that photo could be taken. I never really thought about it before but why are all the flamingos flying in a big flock? It is unlikely that a photo like that could be taken when flamingos first arrived at a place following a migration for instance. That would be a lot of waiting around. While we there I got one average shot like the one I am imagining and it was because the flamingos got spooked by a bird of prey flying overhead. I bet those cover photos were all taken by first startling the birds – maybe by a gun shot. I could be wrong but it made me wonder.

As well as more rhinos, hippos and great view of lions eating something, we also saw our first leopard which was one of only two leopards that we saw the entire trip.  It was chilling out in a tree quite far from the road but my long lens allowed for some OK shots.

Our final destination for our trip was a camp in the Masai Mara called Entim camp right on the banks of the Mara River. Coming back to that imaginary coffee table book you might expect to see a photo of wildebeests trying to cross a river and in the process some of them being eaten by crocodiles. The Mara River is the river they are crossing and apparently their crossing point varies.  A couple of years ago they apparently chose the point at the camp and completely destroyed it in the process. It wasn’t the right time of year for that though so we didn’t see any migrating animals this time.  

Entim was probably the top lodge we stayed at (and the priciest).  The travel agents usually save the best to last and that was certainly the case with both the camp and the game viewing.  At first glance the Masai Mara just looks like huge open fields and you’re wondering where all the animals are going to be but in reality it is teeming with life and the guides are all on their phones to each other so you can see the god stuff.  Even though they did call each other we often had a sighting to ourselves.  Our guide was very experienced and soon understood the kind of things we liked.  

Despite the relative poshness of the camp this was the only camp where we had to share a vehicle.  In our case though we only shared it for two days before those people left and then we were on our own anyway.  The people were totally fine anyway so no problems on that front. I even stopped for the occasional bird!

There were many highlights here including great views of black rhinos, a cerval cat, hippos, giraffes, elephants, the other leopard, the only cheetah we saw and buffalo but the top highlight were the lions. The driver seemed to know roughly where they would be most days so we usually went and found them.  Then they would be on the move and driver would then position the vehicle so that they would come right by us.  I guess they are so used to people that they just ignored us.  It was a bit crazy sometimes though when a huge male lion would walk within pawing distance of us in our open sided vehicle and sometimes take the time to eyeball you.

The last thing maybe to note was that usually in the morning towards the end of your drive you stop for breakfast. I find them all a bit much to be honest.  They often have table cloths and napkins and all manner of food.  The Masai Mara version was probably the best of the lot and we did enjoy drinking our coffee and eating croissants while gazing over a watering hole with loads of frolicking hippos!  Not a bad way to spend breakfast!

Overall an amazing trip.  If we were to do it again we would try to plan in more downtime between the areas. It was amazing but actually quite tiring.  We already have a trip planned to go back to Naivasha so Kenya is definitely in our future.