Through the Foothills of Giant (Mt.Kenya)





Mt. Kenya in the distance

  


Our first time crossing the equator on land



We woke up in the morning feeling quite well rested considering we slept in a tent, had tree hyrax's bellowing at the top of their lungs, and there was a party going on at a local bar down the road.  We packed up, at breakfast and were now off to the northern semi-arid park of Samburu. On our way we finally caught a glimpse of Mt. Kenya off in the distance.  Marlene quickly noted that it is a very oddly shaped mountain with 5 separate peaks.  The significance being, we had initially pondered about hiking this mountain, with five very large peaks, getting to the top one would have proven to be quite painful.  There are options to just climb one peak, but what's the point in that? During this drive we found ourselves crossing over the equator (something we'd do SEVERAL times before this trip was through) and since this was our first time to ever do this on land we decided to make a stop and watch the legendary water demonstration. You know the one where they claim that water will drain in a clock-wise direction in the north and a counter-clockwise direction in the south? Well what I didn't know is that if you stand directly on the equator the water will drain straight down!  In order to prove this all we had to do was walk approximately 20M to either side of the equator and the water began to change directions as it filtered through a hole in the bottom of a bucket, pretty amazing.  Marlene took videos of this to show to her science class (geek!).  After the demonstration we were ushered to some local shops where the shop keeper tried intensely to convince us to buy something to remember him by.  Talk about the best way to put a damper on an otherwise unique experience. Back in the van!  Our next stop would be a town called Isiolo, which is dubbed the gateway to the North (and Ethiopia).  The look and feel of this place was quite different from anywhere else we had seen thus far in Kenya, and we quickly realized why, it is a predominantly Muslim community mostly made up of Somali and Ethiopians migrants.  It took us about 4 hours to get from Mt. Kenya to Samburu park.



Gerenuk



Once in the park, it was clear we were nearing desert territory, officially it is semi-arid, either way its very very dry.  There are large bushes sparsely populating the sands, with desert palms shading the riverbed.  They are nearing the end of the wet season in the portion of the park and it certainly shows.  The beauty of Samburu is that it is as natural a park as you can imagine.  I say this because the park has no physical boundaries and the animals are free to roam where ever they choose.  This means that the animals are not in this park all year round like they are in other parts of the country.  Once we arrived at the campsite, I was eager to go wandering around since our campsite was located directly inside the park (this gave us mixed emotions...mostly for sleeping purposes, you never know what can wander in at night!).  We took a walk down to the river where there were dozens of monkeys and baboons just hanging out in the shade, close to the waters edge...it gets very hot here in the mid-day sun. We also came across a group of gazelles and a greater Kudu (a very rare deer looking animal with stripes).  We had never seen one of these Kudu so we asked our guide later what sort of animal it was by describing it to him.  He told us that it sounds like we were describing a greater Kudu but that it would be impossible since these animals are usually very shy and very very rare.  We confirmed the next day that it was in fact a greater Kudu that we had seen that day when we came across another one in our guide's presence...he could not believe how lucky we are!  This seemed to be a reoccurring theme so far in our early days of travel in Kenya.





river drying out

 

At this time of year, the river is very low and we were told that as the dry season continues the river eventually dries up completely above ground, but continues to flow underground.  Apparently the large population of elephants in the park help out all the animals at this point since they are able to dredge huge holes in the soft river bed to get at the water.  As per our guide, lots of animals would die of dehydration if not for the elephants. We were also informed that not more then 3 weeks ago there were heavy rains which caused massive flooding up stream.  These floods were so severe they eventually resulted in the breaching of 3 dams and massive flooding and destruction to roads and bridges in Samburu.

elephants drinking from river




the large bull elephant charging us

 

Later that afternoon (its far too hot mid day) we went for a game drive and much to our surprise, there wasn't a whole lot of activity, we began to think that perhaps our luck was changing?  We did come across a couple of lionesses just lounging in the shade, but they were not very active so we continued onward toward the river.  This is where we had our famous meeting with a very large bull elephant.  We were just riding in the van minding our own business when a male elephant decided he didn't like us being so close (at this point we were about 30ft away). He turned to face us directly and began to wiggle its giant ears (a sign of aggression) and proceeded to slowly stomp toward us.  At this point Marlene got very nervous and shuffled to the other side of the van and pushed me into direct line of sight (thanks honey!). Mike turned to her and asked "are you scared?" "yyyess!" so he started the van and began to drive off...at this point the elephant was no more then 10ft from us and was definitely not changing its course! Rather then cower I continued to snap photos of the mamoth beast!  The next most entertaining thing we saw on our first game drive in Samburu was a large family of elephants who were hanging out by the river drinking and eating.  We watched them for quite some time, I am still amazed at their size and grace.  A point on interest in Samburu National Park, and the animal that is unique here is something called a Gerenuk. This is a gazelle or antelope looking creature but it stretches upright on its hind legs to reach the leaves and berries of the tall bushes!  Very neat to watch these guys in action.

 Back to the camp for a much needed shower (its super dusty here!) dinner and early to bed as we had to get up at sunrise for our 6am game drive!  Our accomdations are very simple, heavy canvas tents again and a millitary style kitchen area.  But this IS Africa, here we are in the middle of a national preserve with no electric fences or barriers...at night when its really quiet you can really here the animals!

A UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and Kenya's highest peak





lone tree in the plains



Today we will spend the better part of the day in the van. As much as I'm not one for road travel, our destination definitely keeps the excitement up. The plan is to drive from Amboseli (bye bye Killi) and head to Mt Kenya via Nairobi.  Again, these roads are ATROCIOUS, one minute you're cruising along fine on nice tarmac, the next you're riding in the ditch cause the road disappeared.  All of the roads in Nairobi itself seem to be under construction as well, and its not until we're a good 50 km on the other side of the city that the roads improve. All I have to say is I am very grateful that I am not the one behind the wheel. This is where the geography begins to change and the scenery becomes increasingly beautiful...Marlene kept mentioning how much it looked like Colombia, mountainous, fertile and lush! The Kenyan highlands are where they grow everything from sweet bananas and mangos to pineapples, coffee, and tea.  I remember my friend Anne telling me one of the things she enjoys most about going back home to Kenya is that the fruit actually tastes like fruit, and now we understand what she means.  Neither of us have ever tasted such delicious, mouth watering, fresh, bursting with flavour, fruit in our lives.  It really is unbelievable how much stronger, juicier, and flavourful everything is. As we past through the different plantation areas our driver pulled off to the side to purchase the various fruits being sold, which, as he mentioned, had been hand picked that morning.



Chimp at Sweatwaters



The contrast between this and the arid planes is remarkable and personally, I much prefer this to the dusty air of Amboseli.  Today's drive took about 8 hours in total and we arrived at our camp ground with just enough time to drop our cook off with our stuff and then rush our way toward Sweet Waters Chimpanzee Sanctuary.  Our driver Mike drove like a complete maniac trying to get us to this park.  When we first arrived we didn't quite understand his urgency as the park didn't seem to be that special. But we later found out its a sanctuary for Chimps that have been rescued from irresponsible humans who thought they'd make good pets, and situations where poachers killed the mothers of these babies, and other situations where their natural habitat simply does not exist anymore due to deforestation.  The park exists solely through the donations of generous and concerned people and can house up to 100 chimps, currently there are 52.  The great thing about it is that since most of the chimps were held captive by humans, they've grown used to having us around and are therefore not very camera shy at all.  



Sweet Waters is also a Rhino sanctuary and houses both the black and white variety. We did manage to see a couple of white rhinos from a distance and on the other side of an electric fence.  The fence is there mostly to keep poachers away, as another precaution from poachers, Sweetwaters Sanctuary also cut the horns off of these beasts (which do eventually grow back). Next Mike starts asking us if we've ever seen one up close or touched one, of course our answer was NO, so he begins to tell us that they've got one in the park that you can feed and touch.  We thought he was kidding and that he'd lead us to some stuffed animal or something, but sure enough he was telling the truth!  Today we touched and fed a part of wildlife history as this is one of the last remaining Black Rhinos in the world. Not only is it a rare animal but it is also of a rare temperment.  The Black rhinos are usually quite aggressive and normally humans are unable to approach them, but this one is blind and has lived in captivity for most of its life.  So this big beast is used to having humans around...we took advantage of this truly rare opportunity and snapped several up close and personal pictures with her.  In addition to housing this Rhino, we also learned that this park has 4 out of the 8 remaining Northern White Rhinos in the world.  Definitely a worthwile stop over, especially since most of our park fees go to the operation and up keep of the grounds and animals.  The distinction should however, be made, that this is infact a wildlife preserve and sanctuary which is quite different from the wild park of Amboseli we had just come from.  In terms of wildlife, about the only other thing worth mentioning were some vultures feeding on a dead girafe in the swamp, that sure smelt pleasant!  mmmm the life cycle in its full glory!!

We later returned to our tented camp site for dinner and a camp fire, and then off to bed!



The cycle of Life



Amboselli - Kenya - Day 2 Safari



Mt. Kilimanjaro

  

Sunrising over Amboseli



Marlene in the Banda



Our second day began early in the morning (6am) as we were both eager to catch a glimpse of the elusive Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest point in Africa at just under 20 000ft.  Although we were extremely tired and the morning was quite chilly, the view we got the second we opened our tent was truly magnificent and made us forget everything else.  The camp ground we were staying at sat directly adjacent to the extinct volcano of Kilimanjaro with its ever receding glacier shimmering in the light of the rising sun.  As we prepared for our long day of game driving we were even more pleased with our decision to rise early because the clouds had already begun to obscure the peaks of the giant. Upon entering the park on day two we are met with a little humour.  As we approached the gate, Marlene was attempting to put in her eye contacts, Mike being the comedian he is, decided to have a little fun.  As the locals approached our van to attempt to sell us some crafts, Mike opened his window and said something in the local language.  Suddenly all the women came over to Marlene's side of the van and began to stare intensely. Some of the women stood there for several minutes with looks of awe and disgust.  Meanwhile Mike is just killing himself laughing in the front seat, he turns to us and says "I told these ladies to look at the foreigner, she's putting in her eyes!".  Nothing like a little early morning humour.  As we enter the park we are greeted by large herds of zebra followed by many gazelle and giraffe.  We were beginning to realize that all this hype of animals in Africa was reality...I mean we expected to see animals but we didn't realize they would appear in such great numbers and in every corner of the park. 



Hippos and Elephants with foothills of Killi



Stalking Cheetah



We had started out on a different path today toward the swamp lands of the park in hopes of viewing some hippos but about 1 hour into the drive our driver Mike's ears perked up about a transmission over the CB radio.  We quickly turned around and started heading back to where we had seen the lions yesterday.  Before we reached the lions Mike spots it...its a cheetah!  We watched the Cheetah from a fairly close distance as it attempted to cross the road to reach the cool shaded area on the other side. As it proceeds to make its way toward the trees it decides to have a little fun with the nearby zebra...the zebra take off in a cloud of dust even though the small cat is no threat to them. 



our guide estimated this elephant was about 1 month old



Hyenas trying to get in on the lions kill from last night

Just a few meters from here is where the lions are now guarding their zebra kill from the hyenas who have shown up in numbers today.  Some of the hyenas are attempting to get the lions to chase them in hopes that while the lions are distracted the other hyenas can steal some of the zebra meat. But the lions are obviously too smart for this and don't play into the games.  This one small stretch of road is Africa at its finest. On one side of the road we have 3 female lions and a male lion guarding their food from dozens of hyenas while zebra, gazelle, wildebeest, and giraffe all attempt to cross the road in order to get to the watering hole which lays directly behind the occupied lions.  A few hundred feet beyond that there are elephants, more giraffe, and ostrich all grazing in the plains...we could have easily spent all morning there watching all these animals! 

Killi quickly disappearing behind the clouds

In this part of the park, all the animals return to the forested hills around Kilimanjaro at night, and then head back towards the watering holes in the day time...the road is strategically placed between these two biospheres.  It was just surreal to see all of this happen at once, all within about 1 sq. km.  We eventually proceed to the swampy areas so that Marlene could see her favourite animals, the hippo.  Once in the swamps, we quickly came across a few hippos, but they are hard to spot as they are submerged, however as we continued along the road we eventually came across a pair of them that were out of the water, they sure are massive!  These animals are not particularly comfortable on land and quickly retreat to the safety of the reeds when they see us coming.  In these swamp lands there are also a significant amount of white and pink flamingos which are happily feeding in the receding waters of the park...there are also pelicans, ducks, and storks amongst the flamingos. So much wildlife everywhere you look.

view of the welands

Flamingoes

Today we brought a packed lunch which we enjoyed atop of a large look out point where we had an excellent view of both the wetlands and the plains...and of course the mountains around killi.  It is explained to us that without the glacial runoff and rainwater from Kilimanjaro and the surrounding area which travels to Amboseli via underground rivers, this park would be a desert. All runoff from the mountains flows this way and thus sustains life in the park.  The rest of the afternoon was spent viewing hippos and elephants in the surrounding marshes.  We returned to our campsite for some R&R at around 3pm.  We had a long drive ahead of us...tomorrow we head to the Kenyan highlands.

Bright and Early to see Killi!

Welcome to Africa!! - Through the Arid Plains to our first SAFARI GAME DRIVE!!



Hello to all near and far and welcome to the very first entry of my (our, as Marlene reads this over my shoulder) travel blog to Africa.      



Ladies Going for High Tea at Buckingham



Standing Guard



Our first stop on this trip found us arriving at London's Heathrow airport, slightly blurry eyed and grumpy from a lack of sleep on our over night flight.  Our first order of business was to try to find something to eat, and we quickly settled on trying to find the hole in the wall Cafe we found ourselves at 3 years ago which served AMAZING baked Jacket potatoes.  For those who don't know, these are giant potatoes stuffed with anything from cheese and beans (Marlene's choice) to curry chicken (my choice).  We were positive that we were in the correct area of the city but were simply unable to find said restaurant so we opted for similar cafe (they are a dime a dozen).  Once our potatoes were actually cooked (it took 2 attempts and they still weren't cooked!) we made quick work of them and we were off to a quick walking tour of the city Marlene style.  We made a quick pass by Buckingham palace where we were treated to a display of very proper English men and women set to have "high tea" in the palace...I found their hats to be quite amusing...blame it on lack of sleep.  After a few quick photos we were on to our real destination, Green Park.  Oh that's right, we were THOSE people who made a temporary bed on the grass under a large tree and slept the afternoon away!  Well maybe not the entire afternoon, but we had a good lie down and caught up on some much needed zzzzz.  We then had a meandering walk through the park and continued onward to catch a glimpse of Big Ben, Scotland Yard, Westminster Abbey, Parliament buildings etc etc. It was a quick visit but alas, we had a plane to Nairobi to catch...plus the underground train ride took a little longer then expected.




After our nap in Green Park

 

Our welcome Ostrich...the first animal you see if your good luck animal

 Immediately upon boarding our overnight Virgin Air flight we both knew it was going to be a much better experience...everything just seemed to be vibrant and the atmosphere on board was much more appealing then that of the Air India Flight...not to say that I got much sleep, but I at least got a few hours before landing in Nairobi.  Upon arrival we truly did feel like celebrities as our tour leader held a placard bearing our names, and we had 3 more gentlemen to welcome us to beautiful Kenya.  The first being our driver/guide Mike, the second, our excellent cook Guidian, and the third, none other then Mr. Mbuthia!! Mr Mbuthia is the father of my ex roomate Anne, whom, for those of you who attended our wedding, had the second reading at our ceremony.  Anyway, he was there to accept a package consisting of Arm and Hammer tooth paste brought to him straight from Canada at his request...don't ask LOL.  Anyhow, our initial impressions of Kenyan people were exactly as we expected...happy, friendly, and welcoming.  We already knew we were in good hands.                                                                          



The View from the Van



Marlene making the most of her first game drive



 So, immediately upon arrival and a quick monetary exchange later, we were off to our very first game drive in Amboseli National Park.  It took about 5 hours to drive to the park putting us at the park at approximately 3PM.  Along the way we had already discovered many things #1 the roads are atrocious, being from Sudbury, I've always heard of pot holes you could lose your front end in but I had never actually seen one..until now!  You know its bad when in order to avoid potholes you consistently drive on the wrong side of the road (which is the right side for us North Americans) and will take to the shoulders and ditches because they are...ahem...a smoother ride. #2 Kenya still believes in strong local farming and the results are delicious, fresh, ripe fruit.  Our cook stopped several times along the way to pick up fresh ingredients for our meals to come.  #3 The shop keepers will try any tactic including barter, trade, guilt, and occasionally intimidation in order to sell us things we clearly did not want.  I can't count the number of times I heard "why you not want to promote my business" or "my name is George buy something to remember me by" and when all else fails "ok you want to trade your hat for something?  How 'bout a pen so I can give to my children" on and on...we were entertained by the consistency of these lines, its like every shop keeper took some course on how to sell stuff to tourists...that being said, we did manage to pick up some really beautiful items to bring back and there is certainly a lot of talented artists to be found.





momma and baby Gazelle

   On our way through the arid plains toward Amboseli  Park several large volcanoes began to appear on the horizon and we eagerly anticipated our first sighting of Kilimanjaro..which we have since discovered is quite elusive and mostly hidden by clouds except at sunrise..guess what we were going to do the next morning!!  The area surrounding Amboseli is resided by the Masai people. A very strong and traditional people who refuse to give in to western ideals.  These are the people (woman) who walk 20km to fetch both water and firewood to maintain their subsistence.  It was quite striking to see their bright red clothes against the paleness of the arid plains.  Not to mention gaining a bit of experience at the sight of these people going about their daily business.



Finally into the park!!  Amboseli is located off the main highway down 25km of dirt road, and this is the type of dirt road that has received ZERO maintenance probably since it was built...so 25km equates to about 1hour of incredibly rough terrain.  The very first creature to greet us (and this wasn't the actual park just yet) was the Ostrich...not exactly the most exotic or exciting of animals, but as we were about to find out, the best was definitely yet to come.



Giraffes in Amboseli

Our first order of business was to get to camp and to have lunch, then it was off to the game drive!  Our accommodations for two nights were quite simple, but there were toilets and hot water, and we also got up graded to a banda (heavy canvas tents with full beds in them) so we had nothing to complain about.  After a quick meal of pasta and tea we set out into the hot African sun for our first evening game drive in Amboseli.  Almost immediately upon arrival into the park we were greeted with zebra, giraffe, antelope, gazelle, elephant, and even lions!  We were extremely lucky to have found lions so early on...luck seemed to be the one recurring theme throughout the entire journey.  There was a mother lion and her two young daughters standing around a zebra they had just killed.  We watched in amazement for several minutes as the lions guarded their kill and also began to shred it up, devouring large chunks of meet.  As incredible as this was to us, we had not even seen 1/10th of the park yet, so we continued on our safari and saw many more animals and birds, but nothing as exciting as the lions.  As the sun begins to set in that stunning African brilliance we returned to the sight of the lions. They are still resting from the long day...something we both needed to do.

Sunset over Amboseli savanah

Welcome to the new home of Viracocha travels!!

Hello Everyone and Welcome to my NEW Blog!!!

Unfortunately my last travel blog "realtravel.com" suffered a slow and painful death due to my inability to actual "compose" any information into the main body of the text.  After several months of waiting, and several emails being sent to the site administrator, and no progress being made, I've decided to move any information from that site and post it here...and of course complete my tales of our African Adventure!!

In the interest of those who may not have had a chance to read the posts on my previous site (it will soon be deleted completely) I will include my entire travel blog on this site.