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KENYA SAFARI 1999
16th December 1999 - Gatwick
Packed. Took cab to Gatwick. No sign of any companion expedition seekers. Plane continues to Mauritius after Nairobi. Flight delayed by 45 minutes due to some people not getting through immigration. Flight-time 8 hours, Nairobi 3 hours ahead.
17th December 1999 - Nairobi
Arrived Nairobi at 10am, didn’t see the Rift Valley, as didn’t have a window seat. Changed money to Kenyan Shillings at the airport and waited for the luggage. Met ‘taxi-driver’ OK and took me to the hotel. Boulevard Hotel is excellent, nice pool. Had a burger and met a couple of others on same trip as me. Had briefing at 5pm, then meal at hotel. Didn’t sleep well traffic on main road outside.
18th December 1999 - Amboseli
Nice breakfast in hotel. Packed gear into truck just enough room for my stuff. Drove to Amboseli, quite warm but overcast. Stopped for drinks and charcoal in tiny villages. Maasai look good in their robes. Got to the Tanzanian border before turning left down a dirt track to Amboseli. In park saw zebra, impala, Thompson gazelle, hippo, and giraffe. Quite a lot. Mt Kilimanjaro was covered in cloud but saw a few glimpses, especially towards the end of the day. Good meal and nasty drop toilets. Bed at 22:30.
19th December 1999 - Amboseli
Up at 05:45 for game drives in Amboseli. Sunrise at 6am took a few photos but nothing outstanding. Best view was of elephants with Kilimanjaro in the background camera set at wrong film speed though! Also saw hyena and jackals, crown-cranes etc. Went up Observation Hill then back to camp for brunch at 11am. After brunch, went to Amboseli lodge for dip in the pool, then game drive back to camp. Saw several herds of elephants (under Kilimanjaro) as well as monkeys loads of them. Dinner was good followed by some silly campfire games from Patrick. Bed at 10pm.
20th December 1999 Maasai Camp
Woken before dawn by the rain. The tents are useless as they let in water. Everyone got up earlier than planned, as they were wet and cold. Breakfast was eggs and sossies then off for a game drive at 8:30. By which time it started to rain again. Saw a hippo out of the water being followed by 4 landrovers walking down the road! Drove back to town on the border for a walk round the shops very intriguing. Drove to camp near Maasai village and put up tents still wet from the morning. Went to hear about the Maasai culture all circumcision and cows and work for women! Sheltered from the rain in one of their houses quite small and dark but cool. Goat for dinner. Very chewy and fatty not nice. Watched the Maasai jumping / dancing / squealing then bed at 10:30.
21st December 1999 Mt Kenya
Woke by rain again. Up before dawn. Scrambled eggs for brekkie followed by the Maasai spear and club throwing show. Drove to Nairobi, then spent hours in the bank trying to change money. Drove to Mt Kenya, cloudy so couldn’t see the Mountain. Scenery different almost equatorial / China like with palm trees and crops growing on the hillside. Hot showers at camp, spaghetti bolognaise nice. Evening watched the evening tribal dance and cabaret unbelievably (but not deliberately) funny.
22nd December 1999 - Samburu
Bit late for my turn to help with breakfast. Had a snooze in tent but too hot. Had shower and did laundry. After lunch, the truck broke down flat battery. We watched baboons whilst another truck belching smoke jumped ours. The road to Samburu was pretty bumpy with wide roads and deep tracks. We were late arriving in Samburu and went straight to Buffalo Springs. The moon was beautiful, glowing red from the setting sun. Camped next to chocolate brown river and told to be aware of crocodiles had a soldier for company. Took some photos of the fullish moon and then tried to see it in the telescope very tricky. Had spaghetti bolognaise (?) and then to bed early for the game drives the next day.
23rd December 1999 - Samburu
Up at 5:30 for the game drive. Saw nothing for the first hour and then a large pride of lions (7). Saw loads of reticulated giraffe, a couple of Grevy’s zebra and Gerenuk gazelle that stands on its hind legs. Went to a hot springs at Buffalo Springs and then a dip in the pool at Buffalo Springs lodge. Afternoon game drive was excellent. Saw a heron eating a lizard, a baby elephant playing and a leopard. At camp a genet joined us for fried chicken.
24th December 1999 - Nakuru
Up early for the 12-hour drive to Nakuru. Saw an elephant bathing in the mud near camp. Stopped at the equator to see the effect of the water through a plughole. Bought 5 woodcarvings for KSH500. Stopped at a small town for drinks and saw local buses and farm tractors packed with locals going home for Christmas. Crossed the Rift Valley and bough 3 stone carvings for KSH300. Went to bed at 10:30 ready for early game drive.
25th December 1999 Nakuru Camp
Up at 5am to have breakfast and packed for game drive in Nakuru. Saw Eland, White Rhino and dead buffalo. Not may flamingos. Drove to campsite for Christmas dinner where there were 5 other trucks. They did laundry but didn’t dry it. Christmas dinner was excellent, ate loads but everyone went to bed early.
26th December 1999 Lake Naivasha
Drove to Lake Bogoria to see the flamingos lake was pink around shore. Very hot and arid. Also some geysers and loads of very high termite mounds. Dried our laundry then drove back through Nakuru to Lake Naivasha. Some rain showers. Camp is good with warm showers. Had spaghetti bolognaise. Hippo was grazing near our truck in the night at 9:30 pm. Rather cute. Watched him for an hour - he got really close within 5 meters.
27th December 1999 Lake Naivasha
Lay-in before going into Hells Gate National Park. Quite hot got a ranger to walk us through the gorge to the hot springs. Saw nice hot waterfalls as well as the bubbly spring smelt of sulphur. Also saw leopard prints and various rocks red ochre which Maasai use to dye their hair, chalk, asbestos and black shiny volcanic rock. Walked through the park and got to within 10m of a giraffe. Also saw zebra and hartebeest. Rained in afternoon. Heard hippo during the night next to my tent. Apparently a guard was charged after getting too close.
28th December 1999 Maasai Mara
Drove to the Maasai Mara. Changed money and bought stamps on the way in Narok. The landscape has changed again from thickets to savannah. Saw several villages surrounded by Acacia fences as well as a sausage tree - the fruit is like German sausages. Had punch that knocked me out and heard hyenas in the night.
29th December 1999 Maasai Mara
Up at 5:30 for a 12-hour game drive. Sunrise was wonderful. On game drive, followed a pride of lions (7) as they stole a kill from jackals and chased another pride. They also growled and fought each other. A lone hartebeest was ignored. Saw a leopard go from one tree to another and saw 2 crocodiles and hippos at the Mara River. Went to the Tanzanian border and saw a hyena and some crown cranes on the way back. Also saw another 2 lions lying in the sun.
30th December 1999 Maasai Mara
Up at 4am for the balloon flight. Nice sunrise. Lift-off and landing were really smooth. Saw elephants, giraffes and a pride of lions from the balloon. Had nice champagne breakfast banquet on landing. Went for a game drive in landrover and saw a Marshall eagle, baby elephants and a pride of lions (9) with 3 baby cubs and 3 young cubs. On seeing the lions the 4x4 broke down and the driver got out to try to fix it! We got a push start after 20 mins from another jeep. Rejoined the group and saw 2 cheetah lying under a tree. Noticed I’d been bitten all over my face the night before by nasty mossies. Spent the afternoon at a lodge for swimming. In the afternoon, game drive saw 2 lions on a mound in the distance then watched a female cheetah and five largish cubs playing followed by 4 vehicles. The stars were great!
31st December 1999 - Nairobi
Had a lay-in until 7:30. Drove out of the Mara didn’t see anything except a few impala, zebra and wildebeest on the plain outside the park. Stopped at Narok then continued through the Rift Valley. Stopped for lunch - very hot and bought a rug for KSH500. Carried on to Nairobi after stopping at the escarpment for group photos. Unloaded the van at the Boulevard Hotel and went for a meal at an Italian restaurant. The club was too crowded so went to the hotel to celebrate the New Year. There was no disco so a barman played a few records for us in the dining room. There were no disco-lights so we shone torches at the glitter-ball. Then the rest of the hotel patron joined us mainly Indian. We welcomed the New Year under a glitter-ball in the middle of Nariobi singing along to Abba with a bunch of Indians! Unforgettable!
1St January 2000 - Nairobi
Up at 10:30. Bought a travel bag for KSH800. Had a burger by the pool and saw a small jumping spider. Did laundry in the bath and wrote postcards. Had a few beers in the bar and meal in the hotel.
2nd January 2000 - Nairobi
Lay-in until 10am. Had breakfast then went into town to the supermarket to buy sunscreen. Lazed by the pool and then went to the National Museum lots of stuffed animals and great tribe pictures my Joy Adamson. Had dinner in the Boulevard then a few beers in the bar.
Animals Seen in Kenya
Lions28 Cheetah8 Hyeana3 Jackals15 Leopard3 White Rhino7 Elephants100’s Serval1 Genet1
Highlights
§Long-Drop toilets, Bumpy roads §28 lions, 3 leopards, 8 cheetah §Rift Valley flamingos §Amboseli Baby elephants §Goat meat chewy §Sunsets, sunrise §Rain leaky tents §Crossed equators 4 times §Local buses §Grazing hippo at camp §Balloon flight
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