Blogs from Rift Valley Province, Kenya, Africa - page 14

After our busy first week, we had a long weekend recuperating in Nairobi chez Belinda. We spent our time eating dim sum, relaxing in cafes, taking in city views from the top of the Kenyatta Conference Centre and battling through the crazy Nairobi traffic. There was some how time for an unintentional Sandra Bullock movie marathon and a night on the town with the Nairobi Capital FM crew and a Big Brother Africa winner..! After this excitement, and a heavy dose of DVD watching, we thought it was time to leave Nairobi and headed north to Kericho, and its tea plantations. We spent a relaxing morning soaking up the Kenyan sunshine and enjoyed a local brew before setting off to Kisumu on Lake Victoria. We thought we were in luck as the bus we jumped on ... read more

A long and bumpy trip on the road in Kenya’s wildness, and we’re on the way to Masai Mara. The scenery is constantly changing but the terrible road remains the same. Some workers try to fix the road by the hands and put some sand in the holes of the road but it seems it doesn’t stay too long. The Masai Mara is the number one draw card for the country and brings a great deal of income, but the road to the park is crazy, maybe it adds to the wilderness part of the trip. It is a long but interesting trip through Kenya’s beautiful landscapes and the dusty villages. It seems that the locals have no rush in their lives. The kids are waiving at the passing cars and they are really cute – ... read more

The morning was bright and sunny. By lunch the clouds had rolled in. We headed out to a different area of the Mara for our afternoon drive. A group of velvet monkeys handed us off to a family of baboon. The Marabou Stork was on sentinel duty and the Secretary Bird was off to work. This bird is named for it’s appearance and it’s behavior. It walks with a very proper strut and when it catches it’s prey, a snake, it looks like it’s typing as it holds it down for a meal. It has with white legs (like stockings) and black feathers like a mini skirt. It even looks like it’s wearing lipstick. We saw a handsome black mane lion and then spotted a group of females stalking a gazelle. They were very cautious and ... read more

Accommodation: Kichwa Tembo Game Viewing: Lions, Elephants, Hippos, Buffalo, Cheetah, Black Rhino, Hyenas, Zebra, Wildebeest (veryfew) & Birds. Game drives: 6:30/7:00am to 10:30am and then 3:30/4:00pm to 6:30pm (park closes at 6:30pm). However we bucked this trend and went from 7:30am to 2:00/2:30pm. The advantage of doing this was we literally had the entire park to ourselves while the rest had gone back to their various lodges for lunch. There were several occasions where we just hung out with the lions with nobody in sight or no sounds of vehicles, it was truly amazing. Guide: Douglas – very good. From the Seregenti we flew to Tarime which was an amazing flight. It was just the two of us and we followed the Mara River at just 1,000 Ft, allowing again for spectacular game viewing. This was ... read more

Well...overall the food has been good but we are starting to see a very familiar pattern. Breakfast (at guest house we are staying at) = omelets, sausage (of what variety we are still not quite sure), toast, fruit and the occasional mashed potatoes. Lunch (on the build site cooked by the family we are building for) = rice, potatoes, pasta (in same meal often times), kale, cabbage, beef or chicken (fresh off the homeowners farm), and very often this really great fry bread called chipati (like a tortilla but way better). Dinner (back at guest house) = more rice, potatoes, cabbage, kale, carrots, beef or chicken and more chipati when I'm lucky! Every once in a while we get dessert (breaded and deep fried bananas or pineapple). They spoiled us the first two nights with these ... read more