Kenya

Nairobi

Arriving into Nairobi at night time after spending the previous day and night in the Heathrow Airport was an exhausting experience. However, we were greeted by the warmth and kindness of the Kenyan people from the moment we stepped off of the plane. Upon arrival at our guest house, we set up our tent for the first of many nights to be spent camping in Africa. The next morning we set off into town, checking out the central market and eating a traditional meal of nyama choma, barbecued meat. The rest of that afternoon was spent looking at different tour companies to take us on safari to the Masai Mara and Lake Nakuru. The next night we went to one of the most famous restaurants in Kenya, Carnivore. Obviously the theme there is grilled meats, and they are served in a Brazilian barbecue style, with a Kenyan touch, being that they are served on traditional Masai swords and carved onto your plate in heaping portions. We tried many types of meat including ostrich meatballs and crocodile.

Safari

The next morning we set out on safari to Lake Nakuru, which is famous for huge flocks of flamingos surrounded

Grill at Carnivore Restaurant, Nairobi

by the rest of the plains animals (lions, rhinos, buffalo, etc.) While at a look out point over the lake, Rachel had her bag of valuables stolen right out of her hands. It was quite a frightening experience and you can see a picture of the culprit below. Fortunately, the bag and all the valuables were found down a cliff thrown all over the place.

While at Lake Nakuru we thoroughly enjoyed our first day of safari. Almost immediately upon entering the park we saw all sorts of animals. We were lucky to see both a white and a black rhino, thousands of flamingos, buffalo, zebras, hyenas, two very far off lions, baboons, and a variety of gazelle like animals.

The next day we went on safari to the Masai Mara, which is the most famous National Park in Kenya as it is the Kenyan extension of the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. On the way to the park, we had to cross a stream and we were shocked to find out that our safari van was only 2 wheel drive. Needless to say, our van got stuck in the mud and it took the help of many

Menu at Carnivore

local Masai people to get us out.

The park was teeming with wildlife and upon entering the park we saw huge herds of antelope, gazelle, impala, zebra, and wildebeest. Shortly thereafter, we came upon a family of lions which included two males, two females, and three cubs. This was by far the highlight of our first day as the lions were within a few feet of our safari van. We spent almost an hour watching the adults laze around and the youngsters play. To add to the beauty of it all, there was a double rainbow in the sky making a lovely backdrop to the lions.

The following day we woke up at sunrise to set off for an all day game drive in the park. Upon entering the park, we immediately came upon a large herd of giraffes meandering through the acacia trees. After the giraffes we began driving towards the Mara River, where we could see numerous hippos and crocodiles. On the way we saw a herd of elephant, many warthogs, jackals, and many of the other animals we saw the first day. We think we saw a cheetah in the grass, but the only photo

Server slicing meat off a sword at Carnivore

evidence we have is a black spotted smudge in the grass over 100 feet away from us. That morning we also saw an injured mother lion with three cubs drinking from a river. After lunch at the Mara river, we drove back through the park spotting many animals before it began to rain on us and sent the rest of the animals into hiding.

Overall, our experience in Kenya was better than we could have hoped for. The people of this country are incredibly friendly and outgoing. The safari was exceptional and the animals were much closer that either of us had envisioned.

Additional photos below

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