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Published: June 15th 2009
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Breakfast gives a confirmation of my long-term traveller status - I've worn pretty much the same clothes for the entire safari, whereas everyone else has rolled out a new outfit each day. I'm not sure I haven't lost the ability to tell if I smell.
We only have one game drive in Lake Nakuru National Park. You can't stray from the tracks in this park, so there are several occasions when we see animals but have to frustratingly stay a couple of hundred metres away. The reserve is centred on Lake Nakuru, which is home to well over a million flamingos, of the greater and lesser species. A good chunk of them are currently in Tanzania but there are plenty enough still in residence to create an amazing sight. It's not just the visual sensation of such a vast collection of birds, but also the sound of their subdued chuntering and a pervasive guano smell. Hyenas prey on the flamingos - it's not that they're so fast they can zoom in and catch one, or that they have cover to hide behind and spring out from, rather that some of the flamingos are just too damned lazy to take off
Tick bird
On a waterbuck so they are caught and eaten.
We find a BMW X5 stuck in the mud, which amuses me a la the Kuoni minibus we had dragged from the water in the Masai Mara. However the BMW's driver is sanguine about his predicament and, having called a rescue vehicle, is now having a nap in his car.
The park also has a large population of white rhinos, of which we see about a dozen, and is well-known for leopards and tree-climbing lions but we see neither. The Danish guy had seen a leopard in the Masai Mara so he is happy to have ticked off the Big Five. There are plenty of animals that Lake Nakuru has in common with the Masai Mara, including lion, various antelope, and buffalo, but the specimens here look much weedier, apparently due to there being a shortage of food. We also see Rothschild giraffes and waterbuck, neither of which we'd seen in the Masai Mara.
From the lake, we drive up to Baboon Cliff lookout for a panoramic view. The eponymous baboons apparently only come out at lunchtime and not for mere elevenses. We see several hyrax lounging in the sun, their
rodent-like appearance concealing the fact that their closest relatives genetically are actually elephants.
We then complete our circuit of the lake, seeing a flock of pelicans and viewing the flamingos from a different angle, but sadly striking out on the leopard front. That will give me something to look forward to in the countries south of here where I'm hoping to also do safaris.
It's then a dull drive back to our lunch spot of yesterday. I bump into the Canadian girl previously met in Karima, Aksum, and Addis, and learn that she was in Moyale on one of the rare occasions when the bus actually left for Nairobi. She notes that it was considerably more comfortable than anything she took in Sudan or Ethiopia. A vendor tries to sell me a Chaka Demus and Pliers tape, which is one of the more tempting options I've had here. We talk about work and, when I tell him that I hated mine, he tells me wisely that you should always do what you like.
It's then a long drive back to Nairobi, during which I doze and listen to music. I've thoroughly enjoyed the safari, and have been
sufficiently garrulous in company as to make me think I've been on my own for too long. Back in the city, we say our goodbyes and I return to the hotel I'd left 4 days previously. I am given the same room, and find that the condom tally is now down to 81. As one of the three bears said (can't remember which one) - someone's been shagging in my bed.
Dull but possibly useful info i. For general information about the safari package, see
Undomesticated bliss
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Michael & Kelley Turner
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HAHAHAHA! Love the Schadenfreude picture!! Mike T.