Kenya Again

Left Uganda on 6/23 we drove to the first place that we had our first bush camp which is in Eldorat. Again, it was freezing and I didn't enjoy it the second time either.

From there we went to Nakuru, when we first arrived we had some time to shop in the town. Not my favorite. The people are not so nice, the good part was it is not the dirtiest of cities. In the afternoon our group was picked up by small vans so that we could go on a game drive in Nakuru National Park. The park is located about 4KM outside of the town it was a very short drive. The drivers parked in a lot and let us all look a the velvet monkeys. I thought they were so cute until one jumped into our van through the open roof and stole our food. Then another one tried, I tried to stop him and the little devil chased me. I don't have a rabies vaccination so this 2 foot tall monkey scared the living poop out of me. I don't really think they are so cute anymore.

Inside the park, I saw my first wild lion in Africa. She was laying in a tree a far distance, so it wasn't the best view. In addition, I saw the typical African animals: Eland, dik dik, gazelles, and loads of birds. The coolest bird that we saw in this park was the Long Crested Eagle. We did see two hyenas close by, they are very ugly beasts. We also saw a rhino very close. We sat with rhino for about 8 minutes and in the time we watched him it took him like 45 seconds to a minute to lay down, then something startled him and it took him 2 seconds to jump up and do a very small charge at our vehicle. It was pretty exciting. This game drive was very long, and our driver sucked. He would drive really slow when there was nothing to look at, then when he saw a bunch of other vehicles, he would speed as fast as he could, slam on the breaks right in front of the animal, scare the poo out of it, and by the time the dust cloud settled the animal was gone.

Highlight of this game drive: Baboon Ridge. At the top of this hill, there is a view point called Baboon Ridge. The view looks over the lake and valley. There was this baboon just sitting there doing nothing. Everyone was taking pictures with him and he really wasn't doing anything. We all thought that he was very sweet. Then this guy put his camera right in the baboons face and it made him upset, the baboon growled at him and then walked away. Our driver then said lets go so 4 of us got in the truck, Jen, Gary (another passenger), and I were in the very back. Anna (another passenger) got in the seat right in front of Jen and the seat in front of me was empty. While we were waiting for the rest of the group, Anna offered us some Macadamia nuts which I gladly accepted. Her last words, "Have as many as you like." While I was opening the bag for 2 seconds a medium sized baboon came running into our van out of no where and jumped on the set in front of me. It took me a second to realize he wanted the nuts. I threw the bag at him, had a slapping fight with him, and then coward away. All I could hear was Jen saying to Gary, "Put your water away" and the driver saying "Get out baboon" The baboon did get out. He split the bag of nuts all over the van, I don't think he ended up with one, but he did manage to steal another bag of something. I ended up with a small scratch on my hand from his fingernail, but it didn't break the skin.

June 25th we were back in Nairobi, this was day 18 of our trip and Jen said to me that she needed a day from Africa. We stayed at the same hostel as before, Karen Camp. It was Bridgette's birthday, she turned 67, and 4 of our passengers were leaving the truck the next day. The truck has to be cleaned anytime we change passengers, with 18 of us cleaning it took a couple of hours. At the end, we all toasted with a beer, and then drank the rest of the evening in celebration of a successful first part of the trip.

June 26th, a day from Africa! Jen, Gary, I and two new people Lucy and Ralph, all went to a shopping center in Karen. Our first stop, Java Hut. Jen and I shared a quesadilla. I had a latte and she had a mocha. Gary had a milkshake to drink and a banana split for lunch. It was all very tasty, the best part was it was served with a napkin. Napkins are very rare here. We then went into an air conditioned area and decided to see a movie, Terminator (the new one). We bought our tickets an hour before the movie started, so there was time to go shopping! I bought a new camera because my other one is broken. Jen bought a ton of clothes! Back at the theater Jen bought a huge bucket of popcorn that cost around a $1 US. While walking in the the theater, I had a smile on my face that was big as when we were hiking through the bamboo to see the gorillas. The movie started, and I was in heaven. It was a great day!

The next day we said see you later to our old friends and hello to our new friends...

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