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Masaai village Thanks to Parasar's relations with Emirates, I got hooked up with a discounted ticket to Nairobi, via Calcutta and Dubai. 😊 Just when I was starting to get a fondness for trains, busses and bumpy roads...
I wasn't planning on coming to Africa but ended up coming here on a whim. Actually, what had happened was I came across an internet ad for a flight from Kathmandu to Nairobi... and i thought, "Hm... Nairobi...interesting...Why not?" So I guess internet ads do work, at least in an inspirational sense.
It took me a while to peel myself away from Nepal, but after bumming around, drinking, dancing, partying for a week and a half, post-wedding, I knew it was just a matter of time (self-control?) before I had to bid farewell to all this fun.
I found myself at the airport in Calcutta, unable to leave the airport b/c I didn't have an India transit visa. So instead, I stayed overnight in the transit lounge with 35 other Nepali labor workers headed over to the Middle East, so you can imagine how good (or troubling!) it was for the self-esteem to have 35 lustful eyes staring at the only
female in the room.
I wasn't going to get a guidebook for Africa, as I planned to cross overland from Kenya to Ethiopia, Sudan and into Egypt. I mean, how hard could it be? But as I was getting ready to leave for the airport, I started to get nervous about the logistics so I went and bought the LP East Africa book. The East Africa book covers Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi, so you can imagine how my Kenya-to-Egypt plan started to change as I sat in the airplane reading more and more about the fascinating East African countries.
::Nairobi:: After two days of waiting, transferring, and flying, I arrived terribly exhausted into Jomo Kenyatta Int'l Airport at 9 p.m. I came to Nairobi with the same attitude I had when I arrived to Cambodia last year: paranoia overload based on the stories I've heard from other travelers who went through Africa. However, from that experience, I learned that the paranoia was unwarrented and we really do live in a culture of fear. Either way, i proceeded with caution from the moment I passed through the arrival gates and into the open, eager arms of the
touts. Thankfully, the airport touts didn't seem so bad-- or maybe I've perfected the art of dealing with touts from India. My paranoia went as far as me thinking that my taxi driver and his "friend" were going to kidnap me. Hahaa.. well, but as we started driving into the city, I was amazed by how modern the capital was, which is a direct result of its colonial past.
Kenya's colonial past is sort of a double-edged sword, as it's helped with things like education, infrastructure, development, etc... but as far as the gap between the haves and havenots, the gap is startling. It seems like many of the decendents from the colonial past are living it up as the Kenyan elite, whereas the local Kenyans are struggling day by day, eating only fries for lunch (whereas I'm one of the only ones in the local dive eating fries, a sandwich
and a salad) and searching for jobs overseas as they can't get jobs here because of corruption, bureaucracy, favoritism, and purely the fact that there are no jobs for these qualified Kenyans. There is such a huge discrepancy between classes that you see conformation to the Western ways--as
that facade seems superior--in all aspects to blend in, whether it's in their dress or in their speech. It's really sad to see. Also, most of the small businesses are owned by Indian immigrants, so I'm left to wonder how these people are ever going to catch up with their competition, as the black Kenyans seem to be lacking the opportunity for economic growth. I wonder why call-centers, outsourcing, and manufacture factories aren't established here, as the educated and trained locals seem just as capable and talented as the people in India or China. Anyhow, this is just my opinions...
I checked into New Kenya Lodge, on River Rd, and whenever a Kenyan hears that I'm staying there, they give me the "Uh-oh" look, but I haven't seen anything that bad here. Considering the unflattering nickname this city bears-- Nairobbery-- I don't sense any sinister vibes while walking in the streets at night. The people here have a genuine kindness to them, and everyone I have met have been very homey and helpful. I like it here... so far 😊
My first few days in Nairobi, I just chilled out to absorb the city and the new leg
of my travels. I walked around town, ate at cheap local dives, and socialized with locals and travelers in my guesthouse. On my third day in the city, I shopped around for a safari, and ended up signing with Savuka Tours up for a 5-day safari, which includes Hells Gate Nat'l Park, Lake Nakuru Nat'l Park and Masai Mara Nat'l Reserve. With my awesome negotiation skills and natural charm 😊 I was able to get per-day rate of $80! Gosh, I'm good! 😊 The thing about safaris in Kenya is that going independently is a real pain in the ass, and in the end, the money you save is not worth the hours and days lost getting everything together on your own, like park entrance, hiring a vehicle to take you into the park, taking local transport to the park, etc. So anyone planning on doing a safari in Kenya needs to come with the expectation that the organized safaris are going to cost anywhere from $80 to $500 per day, depending on how ghetto or luxurious you want to go.
::Hells Gate Nat'l Park:: Early next morning, Ben (our driver and guide) picked me up at my guesthouse,
and we picked up a pair of French airline workers and a Danish family of three. We drove to Hells Gate ( possibly named after German explorers party got slauthered by the local Masaai tribe in 1882), which is the only park where you can do a walking or biking safari. The park itself felt a bit dry and barren, but the backdrop was a scenic panaroma of savanna grass squeezed between canyon-like cliffs. We spotted zebras and giraffes, as well as massive vultures soaring in the sky. When I rented a bike, my inner laziness wishfully assumed that we'd be biking through asphalt roads... so imagine my surprise when we started our warmup to the park's entrance on the bumpy, rocky uphill road. It will get easier once we're inside, said a local man. Well, it didn't get that much better aside from the fact that it wasn't entirely uphill. We cycled about 15 km, roundtrip, and by the time my sweaty, dusty self got back to van, I was completely roasted from the searing African sun. That evening, the two French guys left, and I was a bit relieved as the younger guy was a bit weird/creepym like
when he grabbed my hands and kissed it when I gave him chocolate, and said cheesy stuff like, "...but it's not as beautiful as you." Maybe this is not creepy bahavior, but French behavior. 😊
::Lake Nakuru Nat'l Park:: We spent the night in nearby Naivasha, and early next morning, we left for Lake Nakuru Nat'l Park. This park is famous for its 2 million flamingos, all of which hang out around the lake, which as a result looks like a blur of pink from afar. It's soooooooo amazing seeing the hazy wave of pink engulfing the entire shore of the lake, and just as awesome to see packs of them soaring over the lake. I didn't know that flamingos could fly, I guess b/c the ones back home don't have room to fly in their compounds in the zoo.
We got pretty lucky with the wildlife as we saw plenty of them, despite the gloomy weather. We saw both the black and white rhino, zebras, giraffes, warthogs, buffalos, gazelles, and baboons. We were in our safari vehicle at the park, only to get out once at the flamingo-dominated lake, and once at Baboon Cliff. The rest of
chillin'
Lake Nakuru the park is considered too dangerous to walk around. I wanted so desperately to walk up to the rhinos, as they look so tempting to play with, but it wasn't possible. It's funny how when you see the animals in their natural habitat, looking so calm and serene, you almost forget that they are wild animals. There is one story of a drunk English man who insisted on getting a closer look at a buffalo, only to get killed when it attacked him... but who knows, this world is full of stories and myths.
The best view of the park is by far on Baboon Cliff--from which you get a panaromic view of the lake. Given the name, you can guess who the dominating species are, and they proved to be a bit intimidating. As I was occupied taking a photo with a baboon, one attempted to steal my bag, until Ben ran over and snatched it from the bench. Ben told us a story of a baboon who stole someone's bag, and left it on top of a tree! Hahaa... crazy primates.
This night, we slept at a camp site nearby. It was pretty decent, except that
the tent wasn't entirely sealed, which made for a grand entrance for the blood thirsty mosquitos, who in particular find me delicious.
::Masai Mara Nat'l Reserve:: From here, I split with the Danish family, and at a transit point, a new group joined us-- an English nurse, two French-Canadian idealists who spoke terrible English, and a hippy Australian couple. On our way to the Masai Mara, we had lunch at a transit restaurant. Ironically, I met two of my dorm neighbors from Nairobi. One guy had been traveling for two years and was on his way home via Cairo, while the other guy was starting on his 2-year trip with a round the world ticket. Although I love the freedom that comes with traveling, I cannot imagine going at it for two years... I think I would lose sense of reality if I were to go that long as a nomad. Anyhow, I still think it's cool what they are doing.
Masai Mara is the most popular place to do a safari in Kenya, as well as in East Africa, along with the Serengeti in Tanzania (the Masai Mara and Serengeti are next to each other, split only
by the Kenyan/Tanzanian border so they share many similarities). The first night we got there, we were supposed to do an early evening game drive when Ben suggested that we go view the traditions of the local Maasai village. It cost KSh 1,000 (about $15) and half of us were uncertain about the tourist trap, while the two Canadians were, "It's such a good way to give to the local community" about it. In the end, we went to the village and it turned out to be every bit a disappointment as we had expected. I felt like it was a total scam... a fraud! I was actually pretty pissed off after the whole thing b/c we're talking about a rural village that is totally being exploited by its own people; while couple of the village leaders pocket the huge amount of money (in their standards, and even in Kenyan standards), while the other villagers are left to be gawked at by tourists. They told us the women would do a traditional dance, and the guys would do a warrior dance. Well, in the middle of the dance, the women
forgot their lines! And we never even saw the warrior
color
Masaai village dance. Later on, they hurried us to the village's souvenier area, and hassled us to buy things at quadruple rate. I was so annoyed by the whole thing, and a bit pissed at Ben as he knowingly sent us to this joke of a cultural experience so he could get the commission cut for himself. The next night, the Maasai men offered to show us a warrior dance (which they didn't show us the night before), but at USh 500 (about $8) per person. WTF? We passed. Next to the Maasai village, there is a more developed town with concrete homes, and I jokingly said that I bet the Maasai people go over there and surf the web or watch satillite TV while counting all their shillings after all the tourists leave, and stay in the mud huts during the afternoon as a show for the tourists.
Early next morning, we were up and out by 6 a.m., to enter the park when it opened at 6:30 a.m. We started the day with the usual siting of Thomson's gazelle, impalas and the tiny Kirk's dik-dik (looks like a minature Bambi). Then came the large African elephants, African buffalos, giraffes,
zebras, warthogs, jackals, topis (like gazelles but bigger, fatter and with smaller horns and a reddish brown color with sporadic black patches). The animal we saw only twice were the lion. The first time we saw them, it was mid afternoon and they were lazily sleeping under the African sun. Later on in the day, we saw a pair of female lions preying on a group of gazelles. We watched the whole thing unfold, excited to see a Nat'l Geographics episode play out before our eyes. I thought, "Geez, poor gazelles." About 10 minutes into the hunt, the gazelles (and two warthogs) sensed that they are being preyed on. They started to dart back and forth, uncertain as to what they should do, eventually spliting into two groups, and successfully eluded the predator. No blood and guts today.
We went to the Hippo Pool (I don't know why it's called a pool, as it's a river) later on in the day, but all the hippos were submerged under the water, so all we saw were their nostrils sticking out of the water. A little up the river, we did see some humongous crocodiles... creepy!!! After the hippo pool, we
were having lunch, while a group of vervet monkys started to close in on us. So as any idiotic rule-breaking (don't feed the monkeys!!) visitor would do, we started to throw leftover fruit at them. If you could only have seen the alpha female greedily monopolizing the food, hissing at the others who dared to come close-- all while the baby was nursing on her. Then the cute little mongooses started to try at get in on the action, only to get the leftovers the monkeys left behind. The crazy thing about these vervet monkey is that the males have bright, neon, skyblue balls and a red penis! Hhaahaha.. it was so unnatural to see, as it was such a vivid fluorescent color. It seemed like the alpha male had the brightest blue balls, while the other males had less brightness to them.
By the third day at Masai Mara, our entire group had become totally jaded by the zebras, impalas, gazelles, elephants, etc... what we really wanted to see now were the cheetahs or leopards. Our stressed out driver, Ben, was really off-roading it to find some for us, but after driving deep through savanna grass and plowing
through some bushes, we gave up. Nontheless, everything was as amazing and impressive as I imagined it would be. It sure beats the zoo! 😊
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scott
non-member comment
lions and jackals and blue balls oh my!
grace, once again your combination of courage and enthusiasm shine through in the way you recount your ongoing adventure. i am truly impressed at the way in which you capture and distinguish what is "real" from the outgrageous "fear-driven" misconceptions we are fed. i wish you all the best and look forward to reading more entertaining entries about your fascinating journey.