The travels of Tim and Megan: Africa Safari: Kenya

Kenya

On 5 October 2011, we farewelled London for the last time (well, not the last time, but you know) and began the final leg of nearly five years of OE adventures. We got a flight from Heathrow at some crazy hour and flew to Nairobi, Kenya (via Brussels and Bujumbura in Burundi) to begin a two month safari through 10 countries in the east and south of Africa.

We arrived at Nairobi airport around 11pm local time. We were greeted by an On the Go Tours rep and taken to our hotel for the night, the Comfort Inn. It did not take long to spot our first wildlife in Africa - a jackal ran across the road in front of us as we drove through Nairobi. Needless to say we crashed as soon as we had checked in to the hotel.

Bolt-on Day 1: Nairobi to Masai Mara

We were booked on a 57 day tour through Africa, but we had also signed up for a free "bolt-on" which gave us three additional days in Kenya's Masai Mara game park. The Masai Mara is a large game reserve in south-west Kenya, which is essentially the northern continuation of the Serengeti National Park, across the border in Tanzania. It is named after the local Masai people. We woke at 7am and met Neena for breakfast in the hotel lobby. We then met the rest of the tour group and our tour leader, Anthony. Our tour party had 21 people - mainly Aussies plus a few Kiwis, Americans and English.

Kenya is a country in east Africa that lies on the equator. With the Indian Ocean to its south-east, it is bordered by Tanzania to the south, Uganda to the west, South Sudan to the north-west, Ethiopia to the north and Somalia to the north-east. Kenya has a population of nearly 41 million, representing 42 different peoples and cultures. Kenya gained its independence from Britain in 1963. Its official languages are Swahili and English. Its capital city is Nairobi, which has a population of around 3 million.

Day 1 of the bolt-on was a big driving day. After the welcome meeting, we boarded the massive truck and made our way through the streets of Kenya's capital. We stopped at a big shopping mall for some supplies and then set off for the Masai Mara. We stopped for lunch and a couple of breaks along the way and eventually arrived at our camping ground in the Masai Mara at about 7pm. Being so close to the equator in central Africa, the sun rises around 6am and sets around 6pm all year round, so it gets dark very early, and it's very, very dark.

The camping ground was pretty good - we stayed in massive two-person tents, big enough for Tim to stand up in, which were covered by little huts. They were fully equipped with beds, so it was relative luxury! We had three crew members travelling with us the whole time - a tour leader, a truck driver and a chef. Dinner was solid - tomato soup and bread to start and then spaghetti bolognese and chopped veges. We had a few beers after dinner by an open camp fire and got to know some of the tour party, and then went to bed. We could hear hyenas cackling around the camping ground all night. Pretty exciting.

Bolt-on Day 2: Masai Mara game drive

We would get very used to early starts during the Africa tour. We woke at 5.45am and had breakfast at 6.10am. We boarded the truck and left the camping ground at 6.45am. It was not long before we passed through the gates of the actual game park and had our first proper look at Africa's wild animals! Just through the gates we passed by the lions' buffet section - all you can eat impala, gazelles, zebras and wildebeest! Delicious. Not much further and we passed a few giraffes, quietly grazing away - it should be noted that giraffes are the the most elegant of all the animals. It was so exciting. We had been looking forward to a game drive for months and we could not believe how many animals we had seen so soon - they were literally everywhere, hundreds of them.

Next up we saw the first of the "Big Five". The term "Big Five" was originally used by white hunters to refer to the five most difficult or dangerous African animals to hunt on foot, those animals being the lion, elephant, leopard, buffalo and rhinoceros. These days the Big Five are still highly sought after by tourists, but not so much for hunting as viewing! Our first was the buffalo - very common in the Masai Mara. In fact by the time we left Kenya, buffalo had become so commonplace that they hardly warranted a mention. But the first few times we saw them were very cool. Buffaloes are massive and can be very aggressive. Lions rarely tackle a buffalo unless they are super hungry and there are four or five lions on to one buffalo, as it is a risky business.

We did not have to wait long to spot our second of the Big Five - the lion! There was a large pride of around 10 lions, consisting of three fully grown females, a few younger ones and some small cubs. No sign of an adult male though! They were lying on the road and when our truck and a few other trucks came along to get a better view of them, they lazily got up and ambled away into the bushes. Lions are exceptionally lazy animals. They usually sleep all day in a shady spot and hunt at night.

We carried on driving through our small patch of the massive Masai Mara game park and we soon saw a herd of elephants - our third of the Big Five. The adults were very protective of the babies and, given that a fully grown male stands at more than 4 metres tall and weighs a touch over 6 tonnes, we wisely kept our distance. Next up we saw two cheetahs lying in the shade under a tree. Cheetahs are now very endangered and are getting difficult to see in game parks across Africa, so we were very fortunate to see two cheetahs up so close. We parked the truck right next to the tree and watched them for 15 minutes or so. We would have loved to see them running or making a kill, but we were lucky to see them at all. Rounding off a solid morning's game drive, we also saw ostriches, mongooses, some vultures and various other sorts of antelopes.

After lunch, we drove along the the banks of the Mara River, where we got a great view of some massive crocodiles sunning themselves on the edge of the water and several huge hippos bobbing in the river like barrels. Apparently, if you are lucky enough, you can sometimes see wildebeest and zebras crossing the river during the Great Migration and some unfortunate ones get snapped up by the waiting crocs. No such luck for us. As we were driving back through the game park, we saw a few trucks gathered around a stream, so we headed over to see what the attraction was. The attraction was, quite unbelievably, our fourth of the Big Five (all in one day), a leopard.

Leopards are also very rare and they are extremely difficult to see, as they are very shy animals and they tend to sleep or hide during the day and hunt and roam around at night. Our leopard was sitting across the other side of a small stream, in full view, almost posing for photos! Anthony told us we were very lucky, as he only sees a leopard maybe once a month, if that, and it is hardly ever such a good view. Later in the afternoon, we saw lots more giraffes (very elegant), zebras and elephants and also a few wart hogs and some baboons. We couldn't quite manage the elusive rhino to top off the Big Five in one day and we also did not see a male lion, but all in all, it was an amazing day of game viewing.

Back at camp, we had a cold shower before dinner, which was chicken soup followed by beef stew on rice. Once again, we sat around the camp fire after dinner and then headed off to bed early. Because it got dark at around 6pm and we were getting up so early, we generally went to bed at about 9pm, sometimes earlier. It was also very cold at night - we were at nearly 2,000m altitude in Kenya, so the days were pretty hot but the nights were freezing.

Bolt-on Day 3 / Tour Day 1: Masai village tour

It was another very early start on Saturday - up at 5.50am and it was very cold out of the sleeping bag! We had breakfast at 6.10am and the truck left the camping ground at 6.45am, bound for a cultural visit at the Masai village just along the road. The Masai people are a group of semi-nomdaic people located in Kenya and northern Tanzania. The Masai village that we visited was home to around 50 Masai people. The village was set up as a collection of mud huts surrounding a large open space in the centre, like a town square. Then there was a fence right around the perimeter of the village, to keep wild animals out!

The villagers owned a large herd of cows and goats, which they use for milk and occasionally for meat, but they mainly eat fruit and vegetables that they grow themselves - they are very self-sufficient. They keep the cows and goats inside a pen during the night, to keep them safe and then they let them outside the village gates to graze during the day. They also have several dogs, who bark at night when hyenas, lions or other wild animals are lurking near the village, to alert the villagers to the danger. It is a big loss for them if they lose goats or cows to wild animals.

We were treated to a traditional dance by some of the young males of the village - an important part of their dance to jump very high straight up in the air - the higher you jump, the more manly you are! Some of the women sang us a song, the men started a fire using two sticks and we also got to see inside the mud huts, where the villagers live. They were very small and cramped living conditions, but everything is pretty basic really. Tim bought a necklace (supposedly decorated with a cheetah's tooth - we knew it was not a cheetah's tooth, but probably shin bone from a cow that they ate) but we resisted the temptation to buy any more nik-naks. There would be plenty of opportunities for that.

At the end of the village tour, a few of us walked back to our camp, while most of the tour party carried on in the truck all the way back to Nairobi. The three day bolt-on was made up of people doing all sorts of different tours, most of whom were not continuing on with us on the 57 day safari. Back at the camping ground, there was a large family of baboons running amok. Thankfully they seemed quite scared of us, although one managed to grab a packet of chips from somewhere and he looked very chuffed with himself as he ran off into the bushes with it. The rest of the day was very cruisy - we had a little nap, then ate a delicious lunch at the camp's restaurant and then sat in the sun in the afternoon. There was more interesting wildlife to keep us on our toes - huge bumble bees about the size of a field mouse that would buzz about our heads and sound like a light aircraft as they passed; and some little vervet monkeys, stealing scraps out of the rubbish bins.

Later in the day, Mike, Terry and Tim wandered into the little township to check out the pub scene. The pub we went into was absolutely rammed full and everybody stopped and looked at us as we entered. We were the only white people there and even though we thought we may never leave alive, we sat down and ordered a beer. It was very warm beer and we drank it quickly and left. We safely made it back to the camping ground before dark - crucial - and we had dinner and drinks around the camp fire again. As there was hardly anyone staying in the camping ground, we got hot showers and then retired to our comfy tents, where we listened to cackling hyenas as we fell asleep.

Day 2: Masai Mara game drive

The benefit of staying in the Masai Mara rather than returning to Nairobi was that we could have another full day's game drive in the Masai Mara. This time was even better, as the six of us who stayed behind went out in a 4x4 jeep rather than the big truck, so we could get a lot closer to the animals and move around more quickly. It also meant that we had open top and sides so we got a much better view. Our driver/tour guide for the day was a local Masai guy named "Lefty". He was an experienced rhino tracker and, given that we had seen four of the Big Five aside from the elusive rhino, we asked him to find us a rhino.

We started the morning by getting crazily close to a pride of lions - like about two metres away from them!!! They looked pretty sleepy, just lying on the grass and they were not too bothered at all that our jeep had just about run over their tails to get nice and close. Later in the day we saw another small pride sleeping and then a male and a female hiding in the bushes - the male looked like he might pounce at us (but he didn't).

But perhaps the best lion action of the day was an adult male that had a stare-off with a buffalo (he wanted to eat the baby buffalo that the adult buffalo was protecting). The lion thought better of it and backed off and then walked literally right past our jeep (so close he nearly jumped in - photo below), so we got a magnificent view of him. He had a lot of scars on his face, like he had been in a lot of battles over the years.

We saw the same two cheetahs (again resting under a tree), lots of elephants, lots of wart hogs, a hyena (they are very ugly animals), some meerkats and all of the usual antelope suspects, zebras, wildebeest, etc. There was a rumour that a leopard was hiding in some bushes, so we sat patiently waiting for him to appear, but no luck. There was a freshly killed antelope lying at the base of a tree near the suspected leopard hiding place, so chances are the leopard killed it and had not got around to hawling it up the tree for safe-keeping yet.

In the afternoon, we tried really hard to find a rhino - Lefty took us to the most likely spots, scouting around the thick bush where rhinos like to hide, visiting spots where he had seen them just days earlier, but alas, it was a rhino-free zone! There were fewer animals around in the afternoon, as it was scorching hot, so they were most likely seeking some shade or sleeping. The early morning and evening are the best times for game viewing.

In the evening, we were joined by our new tour group, who had arrived from Nairobi. There were 17 in total in the tour party - still mainly Aussies, a few Kiwis, a couple of Britons and a lonely South African. Our new crew was excellent. Our tour leader, Mwangi, was really funny and well organised. He had already made up a roster for chores, so that everyone did their bit. We also had an excellent cook, Mwai, and driver, Nick. Dinner was solid and we had a couple of drinks while we got to know the newbies, before we crashed and had a great night's sleep.

Day 3: Masai Mara game drive (again)

Monday was more of the same - 6.30am breakfast and we entered the game park at 7.00am sharp. While this was our third full day of game viewing, you can never get sick of it. No two days are ever the same. Even if you see the same animals, they are always doing something different...particularly the lions!!! It was another hot, sunny morning and we were greeted by lots of giraffes - which (as you will recall) are the most elegant of all the animals. A short distance further we stumbled upon four lions sitting proudly around the demolished carcass of a wildebeest. One of the cubs was getting into it, blood all around its face, while the other watched on (photo below). Lurking just out of reach of the lions was a hungry jackal and several vultures, waiting for scraps.

Later in the morning we saw two lions mating. It was a fascinating experience. Apparently a male and one of the females will leave the pride for a few days and go off on on their own to mate. They will do the deed roughly once every 15-30 minutes for a few days, with each effort lasting only a few seconds. It looked rather aggressive - snarling and swiping at each other.

We had lunch on the bank of the Mara River and we got to go for a little walk along the bank, where we got great views of some hippos (including a baby hippo, closely guarded by its mother) and some pretty nasty looking crocs. Once again, we did not see much in the afternoon, as the intense heat kept the animals away!

We got back to the camp at about 4.30pm so we had plenty of time to pack up our things, have showers and get sorted to leave the following day. Some of the Masai guys who worked at the camp had challeneged Tim to a Masai club throwing contest. They claimed that they could throw their wooden mallet-type weapon over 100m, which we told them was impossible - you can't even throw a cricket ball that far. Tim accepted the duel and did fairly well, given he had never seen a Masai club before, let alone thrown one. Tim threw about 60m and the Masai guys threw about 70-75m. It was pretty fun. After dinner, we crashed in bed and had an awesome night's sleep!

Day 4: Travel to Kisumu

Tuesday was a big travel day - something we would get very used to! We left the campsite at 7am and drove pretty much all day. We stopped for "morning tea" in a town called Narok, where we had delicious vege samosas to keep us going. It was a hot day and the road was really bumpy, so it was not super comfortable.

We stopped for lunch later and drew a crowd of locals, who watched on eagerly. We gave them the leftovers and they were pretty chuffed with that! We arrived in Kisumu at around 4pm and stopped in at a shopping mall so we could get some cash out at the ATM and stock up on bottled water and snacks. Kisumu is a port city in west Kenya, situated on the shores of the massive Lake Victoria. Kisumu is Kenya's third largest city with a population of around 400,000.

The camping ground in Kisumu was OK - it had free WIFI, a decent bar and power points so we could charge batteries etc, but the bathrooms were pretty grotty and there were some particularly dangerous pets. The camp was literally on the banks of Lake Victoria, and there were hippos grazing on the lawns of the camping ground!

The interesting thing about hippos is that while they look rather ridiculous and harmless, they are actually responsible for more human deaths every year than any other African wild animal. They are herbivores but they are fiercely territorial and generally angry with the world. If you ever get too close to a young hippo or if you ever get between a hippo and the water, chances are you will be cut in half in the mouth of a hippo! We were warned about not going near the hippos, which made everyone a little nervous when night fell and it was pitch black but we could hear them grunting on the lawns close to our tents!

While it was just a travel day, we still saw a lot of interesting and exciting things. We loved passing through the small villages, where the locals (especially the children) would run towards the truck waving and smiling. We also saw donkeys having sex in a field, which was rather amusing for all. Tomorrow we would be crossing the border into Uganda!