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Published: December 8th 2010
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You've probably heard the stories about Nairobi ('Nairobbery'). We have. We arrive at 3.30am, the airport ATM is out of money and we have no American dollars or Kenyan shillings for our entry visas. Welcome to Kenya, but hakuna matata (no worries) at customs they are helpful and we eventually get through with little hassle.
We find Nairobi unexpectedly safe and hear from numerous locals that behaviour on the streets has improved a lot over recent years. But the traffic is as mad as ever and at the busiest times it's often quicker to walk than to take transport.
Tessa meets up again with her Kenyan friend Stanley who she hasn't seen for twenty years. It's great for Keith and me to meet him too and get a local perspective on Kenya. We also have a fun Ethiopian meal with a New Zealand friend, Nigel, who now lives in Australia and is in only in Kenya for the week.
English is an official language here and it's refreshing to be able to talk to people on the streets and in shops, to ask questions and to understand the answers. We spend a couple of days getting the hard
sell from safari touts and their bosses. Weighing them all up we decide on a safari to the famous Maasai Mara National Reserve and Lake Nakuru National Park.
It's a four day trip and our traveling companions are a lucky dip but we are fortunate to get an interesting mix of people including one Kiwi. It's strange to hear an accent from home.
It's even stranger to see so many iconic African animals up close in the wild. Although the wildebeest migration is over there are still large numbers of grazing animals in the Maasai Mara area and we are lucky enough to see the 'big five' in no time. And leopard sightings are not common. Our one is perched in its tree and sleeps through the whole experience characteristic doorbell tail dangling.
Amongst the wide variety of wildlife we see we each have our favourites. Keith likes the alert warthogs, trotting tail up with young ones trailing. I like the ostriches with their big fluffy bodies, long skinny necks and ungainly walks. Tessa likes the giraffes their long necks easily visible high above the vegetation and even at a slow lope covering the ground fast.
A big sleepy lion
Don't turn your back for too long It's fun to identify and list new animals we've seen each day and to do early and late game drives to observe different behaviour.
We also get an interesting insight into the Maasai people's way of life when we visit a local village. They are usually nomadic but now tend to settle more in one area. They tell us they still have to move regularly as termites eat through the wooden framework of their cow dung and earth huts. Very distinctive in their colourful red wraps you can spot the Maasai from a long distance grazing their herds of livestock.
The Maasai Mara is a vast area, whereas the more northerly Lake Nakuru is compact and easy to navigate around. It's a bird lovers paradise with hordes of pink flamingos, pink tinged pelicans and large awkward looking storks around the lake edge. We are painfully fascinated by the behaviour of troupes of baboons with their shiny scabby rear ends, babies clinging to mothers and dominant males aggressively displaying their wares. We also see loads of rhinos and the unusual tree climbing lions. It's full moon and from our lodge at night we spot gazelles and zebras feeding nearby.
As we bump our way back through the Great Rift Valley towards Nairobi we are thinking of ways to see more of the intriguing wildlife of Kenya.
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