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Published: September 29th 2007
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Happy Anniversary to us!
Celebrating our wedding anniversary at Crayfish Camp with a Tusker Beer. After finishing our driving safari in the Masai Mara, we decided to take things a step further and do both a walking and biking safari. This time, there was nothing between us and the animals!
After inquiring at our hostel, Crayfish Camp on Lake Naivasha, we were a little discouraged to find that the boat to Crescent Island was a whopping US$60. However, after more investigation, we found that Crescent Island is indeed not a real island, but more of a spit. Therefore, we ended up taking a matatu (local minibus) there for less than $1 each - that's more like it!
The $10 entry fee was inclusive of a guide and was a small price to pay for what you got. As there are no big cats on the "island", it is one of few places in Kenya that you can walk around freely amongst the animals. We spent an amazing morning wandering, first with our guide and then alone, amongst wildebeest, zebras, giraffes, hippos, waterbuck, and gazelles. Although safari in a vehicle is great, walking around with the animals just seems so much more natural.
The next day we decided to visit Hell's Gate National Park.
This park is also quite unique in that you can hire bicycles and explore it independently. The only catch was that you "might see a cheetah or a leopard". Yikes! Cheetahs and leopards around, and we are on a bike?!! A little wary, we asked the warden at the park gate, and he assured us that the cheetahs, leopards, and lions stayed in the driving part, and didn't venture into the biking part very often. Yikes again! Now lions have entered the scene, and there is no fence between the driving and biking parts of the park. Madness!
Not wanting to miss out on the park due to a little thing like the possibility of being eaten by a big cat, we decided to go for it. The park itself was quite spectacular, with high sun-lit cliffs and lush vegetation. We immediately saw a giraffe as we entered the park, and soon after a herd of zebras crossed the road in front of us. Then, horror struck. A lion! It was crouching in the grass and swishing its tail menacingly. Upon further inspection, we realized that it was actually a warthog - big sigh of relief! This lion-spotting frenzy
continued for the first few hours, with "lions" turning out to be everything from gazelles to tree stumps! Luckily, we never did see the real thing!
One of the highlights of this park, however, was the gorge. We left our bikes at the top for the hike down. At first we declined the use of a guide, but within minutes we realized it wasn't as easy to navigate as we had thought. Predictably, the guide came down after us, pointing out that we were just about to walk into a dangerous area full of water buffaloes. Equally predictably, we agreed to have a guide! It turned out to be well worth it.
Our guide was a Maasai warrior with a plethora of tales to tell. The most animated was a detailed account of the lion he had killed with his spear, but not before it had ripped open his chest. He proudly showed us the scar to prove it! He led us for an hour and a half into a deep gorge, pointing out various plants along the way. He also took us to a place where there are hot springs creating a natural hot shower for the
local Maasai villagers. It was a great trip.
On the return cycle ride, there were many more cars and bikes in the park because it was later in the day. Mysteriously, we didn't claim to see a single lion! Severely sunburnt but happy, we returned to Crayfish Camp for a Tusker beer overlooking the hippo pools (there were no hippos at that time though!)
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Fiona Peel
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Keep Em Coming!
Love seeing these - keep them coming!