Kenya – Through Parks to Equator

Hallo from Kenya

I am getting behind on my blog posts but for good reason. We are in Zanzibar!! I am a beach person. But lets start from where we entered Kenya.

We arrived at 16 July at about 16h00 in Migori. A crazy market city with motorcycle taxis everywhere. We went to Migori Mission – a church with houses and a big grass area under trees and located inside fenced area with security guard. We were welcomed by a guy and his son. Very friendly and showed us around. Even brought us 2 charcoal pieces and corncobs to make fire with. They were very interested in our trip and where we are from. It was getting dark and we experienced our first light rain in Africa. Don’t like it. As we braai our pork strips and chicken under the tent, we had some interesting conversations with the guy and his son. We agreed that they will take us to the market the next day to show us around as well as buying groceries and SIM cards. We went to bed witout showering due to the standards of their African shower. The next morning we made some coffee and took a cold shower.

We got a taxi and were off to the market.

The 2 hours in town was crazy. People everywhere with something to sell. We realized that the best way to experience a town is by foot. With a car its easy to miss the interesting places without noticing. Everyone was friendly and shaking our hand. Was a great experience but my head was starting to spin and felt like going back.

So we left town, back to the camping ground. Unfortunately, the payment afterwards did not go as smooth. We were asked 5000ksh pp (R650) for camping and got confused with tanzanian conversion factor. I think they saw how well equipped we were and tried their luck with overcharging us. They did succeed and we felt that we were being cheated since we also gave them 1000ksh each to contribute to the missionary’s work. We are therefore disappointed in them. We left Migori at 11:30 and arrived at about 13h30 at Mara West camp. You go South from Migori and turn left not far from town, on bad gravel road.

The camp is just a few kilometers before the Oloololo Gate (Western Triangle) of Maasai Mara with a beautiful view. Everything is handled very professionally with excellent ablutions. We had to negotiate a bit with the price but at the end agreed with what they charged us for the 2 nights camping (2000ks pp per night), safari drive ($250 for full day + $15pp lunch box), spa ($35 for 2) and breakfast the last morning ($15pp). We felt that we need to spoil us after all the bush camping and rough roads. When we arrived at our camping spot, we were struck by some rain again and had to take shelter before unpacking.

When the rain stopped we went to the restaurant and ordered the usual gin and tonic. We did not feel to prepare any food and ordered the starter that consist of soup with bread rolls (1000ksh). At first we were only allowed to order the three course meal but the waitress felt sorry for us (“you can’t go to bed hungry”) and gave us the starter at a good price. I was very impressed at how well prepared it was.

The next morning we were ready for the game drive at six in our Maasai clothes. Due to a communication problem we left later at 7h00. However, the friendly game ranger assured us that we will still see the Big Five.

It was a fully packed day with an amazing landscape and animals.

Seeing the migration of black wildebeest was spectacular. You see black spots everywhere on the horizon. Grass fields that were there a week ago remained as dust. A lot of them are still on there way from the Serengeti to give a total number of about 1.5-2 million. Impressive for such a small park like the Maasai Mara!!

Many of them don’t make it when crossing from east to west through the Mara river. When the crocs don’t get them, the river get’s them.

The crossing on its own can take time and people park there for hours in the hope of photographing these crossings. It only takes one animal leader for the rest to follow through the river. But when there is crocodiles in the picture it can take some patience. We were unlucky seeing the big crossing and only saw a few wildebeests crossing from west to east. The whole area looked like a parking area of a shopping mall in holiday season – safari vehicles everywhere.

We left Mara West camp the next morning (19/07) at 10h00 after we had our breakfast and my well deserved massage. The oil did wonders for my rhino skin.

We arrived at Ewaso Ngiro (small village) and drove further (30km) on pothole rode to the city of Narok. Had to refuel and I bought a really delicious cappuccino. We felt a bit unsafe here. Very crowded and we decided to go back to Ewaso Ngiro. We camped at OSIM lodge (500ksh pp)(rooms available and used as conference center and wedding function). A lot of people stay here on there way to Maasai Mara. Camping was in parking lot and we could get electricity from the conference center to recharge our batteries. Bathroom was in a poor condition with no warm water. We therefore did not feel like showering there.  We used our gas stove that night to make some pasta – needed some energy from all the driving. Very cold night and some sort of karaoke that went on until late with cars coming in and out. Felt safe and warm in our home (tent) as usual.

We left half past 9 the next morning from OSIM camp. It was 190 km to Lake Nakuru national park. About 150km outside beautiful farm land (first sighting of farming on global scale). We drove through the city of Naivasha all along Lake Naivasha. A beautiful town and many green trees. We could tell that we are close to Nairobe – more civilized with even a mall. I have read that the area around Naivasha was the first to be settled by wazungus (whites) and is now one of the largest remaining expat communities in Kenya. Indeed, we saw a few British people there. We stopped 12h30 at Buffalo Mall and ate lunch at the Spur (last Spur was in Lusaka, Zambia). A fairly new mordern mall with security gates in front.

We arrived 20 July at Punda Milias campsite not too late (15h00). It is just a few kilometers before the city of Nakuru. The campsite is between a conservancy and Lake Nakuru National Park. So, campsite is outside of the park. We wanted to avoid paying extra park fees from camping inside. Our plan was to go early the next morning into the park and do our own game drive before heading to the equator. The campsite was nothing special. Camping on grass and we had our own shelter area for making food. Also, a restaurant that serves delicious food. However, this place can get busy with overland trucks. When we arrived there was already one overland truck with the tour operators busy preparing food. They occupied two of the shelters.

When we saw another minibus with tourists arriving, we decided it’s best to run for the showers and get cleaning done. It was raining heavily and I did not have to open the cold water tap in the open air shower. When we walked back, our shelter was used by the guys from the minibus. We weren’t too happy about it since they invaded our privacy by moving our gear to the side without asking. My father requested them to move and we went to the restaurant while waiting for them to pack up. Its obvious that we were not the favorites in the camp that day. We ordered a pizza and gin, had a conversation with a tour operator about our route to the equator and went to bed early.

The next morning we woke up at 05h00 and were on the rode at 06h30 (05h30 RSA time). A very cold morning as indicated by the thermometer (16 degrees). Our plan was to go to the park as early as possible for seeing leopard and rhino. Again, the park fee was not cheap as we suspected. It cost $60 pp and about 300ksh for the vehicle. Lake Nakuru National Park cover an area of 188 square meters and well know for it’s thousands and sometimes millions of flamingos that are attracted by the algae in the lake. The park also host a sanctuary for rhinos. We were disappointed since we did not spot any of those animals. We guessed that the number of animals declined significantly due too poor maintenance of the park. The water level was very high when we were there and washed a lot of roads away. The roads at the western side close to the lake was completely gone and we had to go around the eastern side. Also, the main entrance was damaged by the water and nothing was done to rebuild it. Everything was left as is. However the view from baboon cliff over Lake Nakuru did not disappoint!

From the park we went into the city of Nakuru on our way to Nanyuki. A crazy city with people and taxis everywhere. Did not like it and wanted to get out as soon as possible. We knew that we will be going soon to Nairobi. We therefore have to get use to it. We left Nakura 12h00 on Nairobe road turn-off to C83, then C69, then C77 to Nyahururu, then B5, then C76 (74km gravel). Overall, the road to Nunyuki was not pleasant and some mudy conditions made it even worse. It is common for Kenya to get rain this time of year. We arrived 16h00 in Nunyuki and went shopping at the mall. Nunyuki is a bustling mountain town with vibrant markets and hectic traffic. It is also the main airbase of the kenyan airforce and British military base that gives training to the kenyans. Indeed, we saw many british and wondered how easy it is to make a real living in this strange town. We also spotted a KFC (last a KFC in Luanda, Angola). It was a long day on the road and we were very hungry. When we left for our camping it started to rain heavily.

We arrived 18h00 at our camp spot (800ksh pp). We camped at the back of the Comfort Hotel. However, not comfortable for us since everything was wet and not facilities included that was of good standard.

They opened a room for us to shower. We did not use the shower. This just shows how hotel standard looks like in Africa. Luckily we are use to it and know how to use everything to our advantage.

The next day went to the equator in Nunyuki. According to my GPS not exactly spot on.

It was a busy spot with many tourists taking pictures (on the main road). Also, shops with everyone trying to convince you that they have the ornaments you need to buy as presents. It took so good negotiation to get away from the persistent salesman.

Next on our list was Ol Pejeta conservancy. The park boasts the largest black rhino sanctuary in East Africa and also keep the last three remaining northern white rhinos in the world (Sudan, the 44 year old male and the two females Najin and Fatu). The park are now trying to recover this rhino through stem cell research since neither of the females are capable of natural reproduction. They are protected around-the-clock by armed guards.

We also met Baraka, the blind black rhino. It was a real privilege to have met and feed him. Wishing him all the best ?

We also passed the equator mark in the park. This mark was spot on!

We left the sanctuary at 15h00 and were out of Nanyuki at 16h00. But not before we came across the third equator marking just off the main road. Also, shops around but no one really bothered us there. The owner from the shop approached us and we confronted him that his shop is next to a marking that is not exactly on the equator. His words: “it is almost” ??.

From there we were on our way of 150km to Castle forest lodge at Mount Kenya National Park. Mount Kenya is the second highest mountain in Africa (elevation of 5199m). We drove on the A2 that leads to Nairobi but luckily turned to C74 before we could reach Nairobi, turn left to kagumo-kangaita road and right to the town of Kangaita then left to kiandieri-Gakoigo road then left to Mugumo-Kangaita road and the left to the town of Kimunye (tar).. The road up the mountain was  very beautiful with tea plantations everywhere. The clouds started to come together and heavy rain poured down.

We arrived at 18h15 with the heavy rain at Castle Forest Lodge. It rained for about a hour and stopped. A nice camping spot next to the ablutions. Unfortunately it was very wet and it drizzled throughout the night. It was a real struggle to keep the fire going. We had to keep our fire real close to the tent under the canopy. Not a great idea since the smoke filtered through our whole tent. The next morning the rain stopped but very foggy. We were unable to get a view of Mount Kenya. Should maybe do the hiking in the near future.

We left at Sunday morning at 10h00 Castle forest Lodge in the fog. It was 325km to our next camp at Amboseli and we followed the quickest way to Nairobi. We drove on the Rukenya-Kimunye Rd, D458, C73 and A2. When in Nairobi, we followed the Outer Ring Road (around Nairobi to airport). We quickly learned that this doesn’t mean better with less traffic. Also, Sunday is not peaceful in Tanzania. So many trucks and busses on the road.

This is this most confusing city I have been. Here, you can drive how you feel like. When you think you are on a double lane highway, cars are coming against the traffic and form a new opposite direction. We were on the highway to the airport and suddenly the road came to a dead end with no signs indicating. We were forced to take a back alley road to another highway. Not even a GPS or google maps was accurate here. Luckily we survived and were out of Nairobi at half past 2. We learned that it will be elections the 8th of August. We can’t imagine how chaotic it will be. Also, our previous president (RSA), Thabo Mbeki was here to help with the preparations for the election. Luckily he did not see us, otherwise it would have been a late night involving a few shooters ??

We wasted 30 min on really hectic traffic caused by the road construction. We then turned left on Mombasa road (good tar) – lots of trucks, then right on C102 (good tar) and then right on C103 (bad corrugated gravel) to Amboseli National Park. Arrived 18h00 at Kimana Campsite (1400ksh pp). The firewood (600ksh) was really welcomed after all the rain we had in Kenya. It was basically the size of trees and burned for 3h. The camp is outside the park and used by overland trucks. Very basic with basin in the open. Very dusty place but we enjoyed sitting in front of the fire. We did not braai anything and ate some leftover from the previous night.

We left 08h00 Kimana campsite and wanted to drive through Amboseli Park to Namanga main border crossing. In Maasai Mara it was possible to get a transit pass through the park. However, here it was not possible and had to pay the full amount. Don’t know why since there is not much to see in this park. So, we had to turn back on the corrugated road to a small border into Tanzania. We went through Oloitokitok and to Laset and then 4km to border of Tanzania. At first we passed Laset and almost went to a much further border. Luckily the locals showed us the way in their “best” English. The border crossing (24 July) was not difficult but took some African time. It was 403km to our next camping spot in Maasai land – World View Camp in Tanzania (Recommendation from Johan in Malawi). Not sure if we would make it before dark…