Blogs from Lake Naivasha, Rift Valley Province, Kenya, Africa

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Africa » Kenya » Rift Valley Province » Lake Naivasha November 1st 2022

The past two mornings have been camping cold – shivering out of bed to the alarm clock and shrugging on a fleece jacket. Overnight was warm in bed, because the room steward put two very heavy water bottles between the sheets that were still warm in the morning. They might be filled with something other than water because they were almost too heavy to move. The bed was also covered with a thick blanket and a heavy duvet. The grass turned spring green with the short rain we had yesterday during the game ride. Everything looked fresh as we started the journey to and through the Aberdare Mountain Range . Near to the Conservancy gates were three schools, children dressed in uniforms. The important town of Nanyuki was where the drivers stopped to increase the tire ... read more
Nyhaururu
TransAfrica Highway
 Cape Buffalo

Africa » Kenya » Rift Valley Province » Lake Naivasha November 1st 2022

Instead of a boxed lunch (thank heavens!), Lucas brought us to an upscale local restaurant for a lunch of Kenyan foods. We were asked to wash our hands at an outdoor tap and sink before entering. The buffet lunch included mashed-potato-corn-greens, chicken pieces in a peppery tomato sauce, goat, ugali (similar to polenta), steamed shredded cabbage and carrots, triangles of chapatti, and small deep-fried potatoes. On the table was a sweet sauce and a mild chili sauce. My favourites were the tender goat, potato-corn-greens, and the small potatoes. Potatoes in Kenya are particularly good. I had black tea afterwards – I really like this Kenyan Gold tea, both black and green. We drove for another hour on the highway, until reaching Lake Naivasha , one of seven lakes in the Kenyan part of the url=https://www.cs.mcgill.ca/~rwest/wikispe... read more
Grounds of Lake Naivasha Lodge
Waterbuck at dusk
Ibis high in the tree

Africa » Kenya » Rift Valley Province » Lake Naivasha February 9th 2016

The next morning, I got up slightly earlier than I needed to to have a look around the hotel to see if there were any birds that could be spotted. Having arrived after dark, I didn’t know how large the grounds were, but they turned out to be quite small with little more than a car park with gardens on either side. I did see a few birds however, and these were some Superb Starlings, Common Bulbuls, and one year bird which was a White-fronted Bee-eater perched on a cable. After breakfast, we went the short distance to Lake Naivasha to have a morning boat ride on the lake. Along the sides of the road heading down to the lake there were quite a few Defassa Waterbuck, including some with some quite young babies. Upon reaching ... read more

Africa » Kenya » Rift Valley Province » Lake Naivasha June 15th 2014

15 June: Naivasha to Nakuru, Kenya We had the morning to enjoy another activity if we wanted to. Therefore, after a warm breakfast of scrambled eggs, Samantha, Mark and Julie, Tess and Vicki, and myself did the hippo cruise. Was really nice. The six of us wen on this little boat and went around the lake. We were able to see a great about of hippos. First was a group that had their heads popping up near shore (about 4 of 5), followed by a family later sun bathing on a small little island (about 10-12), then lastly another group huddled together of about 20 where we had one yawn nice and big for the camera (Samantha's amazing photo of this attached). We also saw many birds including then African hawk. Our boats men threw him ... read more
A gorgeous bird that was at our campsite
Us on the boat
Hippo cruise

Africa » Kenya » Rift Valley Province » Lake Naivasha April 30th 2014

Traveling always helps you to see the world with different eyes. Since you're born you live in a certain culture, certain rules are followed by the society and that appears as the only valid reality, you expect that the whole world is like this. But when going abroad, you soon discover that the obvious truth for you is something that doesn't exist in other cultures. People think differently, they have others morals, their habits are completely opposite to the yours. These differences range from simple everyday things that we do, up to life patterns and society standards. Once I remember I ordered coffee with milk and a coke in Colombia and the waiter asked for whom the coke would be, since I was alone. I said, well, it's for me. He then looked at me completely ... read more

Africa » Kenya » Rift Valley Province » Lake Naivasha January 7th 2014

For my third trip to Africa, I decided it was time to see some big animals up close and personal in the wild. My British friend Caroline and I settled on a trip to Kenya; in part, this was because I had a friend who had lived in Kenya, and had great information on the ready for where to go, what to do, and who to contact. Two weeks is never long enough, but our "budget" trip ended up costing a fortune, although it was indeed worth every shilling. We flew direct from Dubai to Nairobi, and, with the help of a Christmas deal on booking.com, got a "cheap" room at the Hilton hotel in a slightly less dodgy area of town. The building looked straight out of the 70s. The AstroTurf hallways and furnishings made ... read more
Masai Mara Giraffes
One-eye Leopard
Black Rhino

Africa » Kenya » Rift Valley Province » Lake Naivasha September 8th 2011

The morning was bright and sunny. By lunch the clouds had rolled in. We headed out to a different area of the Mara for our afternoon drive. A group of velvet monkeys handed us off to a family of baboon. The Marabou Stork was on sentinel duty and the Secretary Bird was off to work. This bird is named for it’s appearance and it’s behavior. It walks with a very proper strut and when it catches it’s prey, a snake, it looks like it’s typing as it holds it down for a meal. It has with white legs (like stockings) and black feathers like a mini skirt. It even looks like it’s wearing lipstick. We saw a handsome black mane lion and then spotted a group of females stalking a gazelle. They were very cautious and ... read more

Africa » Kenya » Rift Valley Province » Lake Naivasha July 10th 2011

Nicht weit von Nairobi liegt der See Naivasha, an dem sich einiges unternehmen lässt. Vor allem kann man hier die ostafrikanische Tierwelt auch zu Fuß und mit dem Fahrrad erleben. Im See ragt der Rand eines erloschenen Vulkans aus dem Wasser und bildet das private Naturschutzgebiet Crescent Island, das man zu Fuß mit einem Führer erkunden kann. Auf der Halbinsel leben einige Hundert Zebras, Impalas, Grant- und Thompson Gazellen, Gnus, Giraffen und Hyänen, und man spaziert ganz in der Nähe der Herden über die grünen Hügel. Gleich am nächsten Tag mieten wir uns Fahrräder um in den Hell´s Gate Nationalpark zu fahren. Die Schotterpiste ist recht flach und man radelt vorbei an den Weideflächen der wild lebenden Tiere, die in einiger Entfernung von steilen Felswänden begrenzt sind. Tiere, die Fußgängern oder Radfahrern Gefährlich werden könnten, wie ... read more
Crescent Island 2
Crescent Island 3
Hells Gate NP 1

Africa » Kenya » Rift Valley Province » Lake Naivasha January 23rd 2011

"Non avvicinarti al lago di notte", ippopotami "veri dengerus", e poi il fatto che, dopo gli altrettanto tranquilli bufali, sono proprio questi i mammiferi che uccidono il maggior numero di esseri umani in Africa; con queste premesse il Mercante viene accolto in Kenia, in un isolato campeggio sulle rive del lago Naivasha, nel cuore dell' arida Rift valley; in questa estesa vallata risiedono un gran numero di animali, ed e' per questo che mi giochero' qui la carta del doveroso safari africano, quello in cui gruppi di mzungu arrostiti dal sole, a bordo di potenti e rumorosi fuoristrada, inseguono spaventati animali selvatici, infastiditi ma impotenti di fronte a questa indesiderata invasione del loro territorio. "Mzungu" e' il termine con cui viene apostrofato l' uomo bianco in territorio africano. Gia' da subito ho l' occasione per un ... read more
Le giraffe dell' Hell's Gate N.P.
Pedalando nella savana (precedenza agli animali...)
Una sosta sulla linea dell' equatore

Africa » Kenya » Rift Valley Province » Lake Naivasha July 12th 2010

I earned myself a pretty epic sunburn being outside all day at the kids' soccer tournement. It was cloudy and I didn't think I would be out as long as I was so I didn't wear sun screen. Oops. So I had a few days to kill avoiding the sun before I could carry on doing interesting stuff. My plan was to go to Hell's Gate during the week. I had heard a bit about it from some other travelers at the hostel and the basic impression I got was that you chase whild animals around on a bicycle all day. Sign me up. After getting burnt though, the earliest I would have been able to leave was likely to be Thursday. I knew Will wanted to go, but he only gets weekends off from teaching. ... read more
gross
at the caves
climbing rock




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