For The Love of Travel

After a very early breakfast, we headed off for a boat ride on Lake Naivasha, which supports a whole host of water birds, inc. African fish eagles, crested crane (symbol of Uganda), pelicans, flamingos and pied kingfishers.

 

 

 

 

 

We then left the Rift Valley behind for our long road journey back to Nairobi, then heading south to Amboseli, 400 square kilometres of plains with a stunning spectacle of Mt Kilimanjaro (at the core of an 8,000 sq kilometre ecosystem that spreads across the Tanzanian/Kenyan border. The melting snow of the mountain flow underground into the park, continually feeding water to springs, swamps and marshes across the system. Lots of elephants, hippo, oryx antelope, buffalo, wildebeest, zebra, gazelle and a profusion of birdlife. Lions are rare.. but we saw a female guarding her ‘kill’, with 3 hyenas prowling around her, waiting to pounce on the remains if she got distracted. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were disappointed that we didn’t get a clear morning view of Mt Kilimanjaro – but happy that there was at least a hint of the mountain through the haze.

We checked into our beautiful Sopa Lodge on the Mau escarpment, offering spectacular views over the Rift Valley, Lake Nakuru and surrounding National Park.

After lunch, an afternoon game drive through woods and grasslands, seeing giraffe, baboons, a zebra crossing (haha), some pink flamingos, and a leopard perched on a branch in the distant forest twilight. 

 

 

We would have liked to stay one day longer to try out the beautiful infinity pool, sipping cocktails, looking out over the speccy valley – but it was not in the program! Onwards to Amboseli National Park.

 

The Maasai Mara is Kenya’s premium reserve and is famous for its exceptional game viewing.  We headed down the Rift Escarpment on a road built by WWII Italian prisoners of war. A cheetah strolled past our jeep as we watching a herd of elephants with their babies. A pride of lions were cooling themselves off in the branches of a sausage tree, with the male lying at the base eyeing his ‘harem’, and occasionally calling for attention.

5 of our group got up at 4.30 the next morning to do a hot air balloon ride (balloonsafaris.com). As we travelled to the hot air balloon site, we saw impressive lightning happening over the Serengeti in Tanzania, just over the border.  That was awesome! We saw our balloon being inflated in preparation for the launch. We were ‘flat packed’ into the basket, lying on our backs, (as it was lying sideways), quite a relief when it stands up and starts rising, floating in whatever direction the winds of the day are taking. We flew at different altitudes and really enjoyed the hours flight. A special champagne breakfast awaited us under an acacia tree. Linen, bone china, Sheffield cutlery and freshly prepared eggs, bacon, bread, tomatoes made a memorable finale to the morning’s adventure. 

We visited a local village – Maasai means “people who speak Maa”. Cows come before anything else for the Maasai. Men take great pride in herding these prized possessions…the more the better. Maasai are polygamous and semi nomadic –  moving on a seasonal rotation basis. They now hunt lions in groups (worrying about their dwindling nos). The young kids are prized if they know how to herd cattle/goats.  

The Maasai villages lack a supply of electricity and water – people have to walk some kms to get bore water that they carry back to the village; they cook with wood; mobiles are charged at a central point in town; the Massai shop daily and sup on meat, milk and blood from cattle, supplementing with maize meal, rice, potatoes, and cabbage. The village headman pointed to 4 of the adolescent males, who had been circumcised in the week as part of their journey into manhood.

One of the famous dances done by the Maasai is the “Morani” dance – standing in a line or circle, doing a ‘jump’. Simultaneously, others are swaying their bodies back and forth.  As soon as the warrior tires, typically after one or two leaps, another warrior takes his place.