Day 34 - Getting Closer to the End

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A sleep in today. Awake at 0730, finish packing bags and out of the tent by 0830 for a leisurely breakfast. We are meant to be leaving at 1000 for the flight to Nairobi. Get to breakfast and told the flight is delayed and we won’t leave until 1030. No problems, have time to shop a bit and catch up on blogs, etc.

Go and pay the bills then we are told the plane is even later so we will leave soon and do a final game drive on the way to the airstrip. Good idea. Pack the bags into the trucks and away we go. Over the same territory as yesterday. We search for the lions we had seen. Get news that the lions are in the area. We search one way, others in different directions. Radio crackles and a large male lion has been found. Off we go. Find the big bugger under a tree sleeping. Click click, then we say we have had enough and drive away.

We then find a female with 2 very new cubs suckling. Great to see, but she is under another tree and hard to get good shots. This time it will have to be the eye and brain camera that works here... We move on further and there is a pride of lions with their cubs under trees a little way off. Lion day today. Decide it is time to head for the airfield, but bugger me, another pride hiding under some green growth (akin to the castor oil family of bushes). Blink and you would miss them. Lucky we have great drivers who know what to look for. A few last pics then off we go.

Arrive at the airfield with several other trucks of people waiting. No plane to be seen. It was due to take off at 1210, but at 1210 nothing in sight. Eventually it arrives at about 1230. Bags are packed in the plane, we bid find farewells to Simon and the other driver and clamber aboard. A larger plane this time - Dash 7 - a 4 turbo prop job that is built for the short landings and take offs of the African airfields. Find a seat in the exit row. Only problem is the seats are facing each other so we sit knee to knee. Flight is due to take 1 hour to Nairobi. Smooth take off and flight. Land at Nairobi in under 50 minutes. Our guide is impressed.

Walk out and are greeted by the local APT representative. He has a bus waiting and we are ushered to that. Bags follow shortly and we are off. Drive is intersting. The roads have speed humps everywhere, even on the main highway. Traffic is all over the place and at one point the road is so bad we wished we were back in the safari trucks. Finally arrive at our hotel. Another spectacular place, nowhere near the city of Nairobi. Evidentry traffic is so bad it is useless to stay there. Out of the bus. Briefed on the hotel and our times for later on today. Into the golf carts to our rooms. Great outlook over spectacular gardens. We unpack our provided APT soft bags so we can return them.

Walk back up to reception through the wonderful gardens. Puffing a bit so realise the gorillas will be a test of stamina. Will need to pace ourselves.... Order a light lunch and stress we need to be gone by 1600. No problems. Drinks arrive and food then comes at 1545. We eat and run to our next outing. We are now visiting an elephant orphanage. Cute little elephants being tended by keepers and then re-introducing them into the wild.

Back to the hotel for a performance by the Kenyan Boys Choir. I am expecting a mob of young boys in white shirts - WRONG. In come these young adults dressed in black pants and t shirts. They start to sing and the harmony and range they have is amazing, even if we can’t understand a word they are singing. Our resident 4wd and choir people are in seventh heaven, joining in every so often, or just humming along with the fingers constantly on the go. Quite a few songs later they are done. They are selling their latest CD. All are sold and they leave happy campers.

We then head downstairs to the dining room for our last supper as a group. Beautiful food and we just sit and chat. Last as usual but we have to re-pack our bags for our Rwanda trip. On the road again.......

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