Out of Africa - part four (Nne): Kenya
After 10 days in Tanzania we were now on our own in a country we had never been to and our only contact was a nice couple I had met earlier this summer in Rome that work for the US Consulate. Due to a little mix-up we did not have visas for Kenya, so when we landed late that night, I wasn’t sure we would even be able to stay in the country! Luckily, the process was simple and $100 USD later, we had them (money talks!)
The taxi ride to our hotel was a nerve-rattling experience. We drove through the worst neighborhoods of Nairobi and the poverty and chaos were simply indescribable. Our taxi driver had told us to lock our doors, and we gladly did. There were thousands of people roaming the streets, police with AK-47's at multiple roadblocks, open fires burning, trucks speeding at us head-on and narrowly missing slamming right into us, and simply bedlam everywhere.
Needless to say, our first impressions of Kenya were not the best, but it quickly improved. The hotel was on the outskirts of town and pretty nice, but we were just happy to have a safe place to rest our heads! In the morning we had another issue we had to deal with. Turns out, our hotel reservations in Mombassa (the coastal town we were flying to in a few hours) had fallen through. Because we had had very limited internet access, we were stuck! The concierge at our Nairobi hotel made a few calls and set us up. He literally saved our trip!
Our taxi driver wanted more business from us, so we had arranged for him to pick us up. He was two hours early, which turned out to be fantastic, because on the way we visited the Giraffe Center in Nairobi, which is a run by a non-profit organization to save the endangered Rothschild Giraffe. At the center you can hand feed the giraffes, which was so amazing! They are so gentile and being that close to them was one of the coolest things I have ever experienced.
We landed in Mombassa and soon we were whisked off to the Travelers Beach Hotel. The hotel was beautiful! We finally had a couple days to relax. That evening we went on a dinner cruise on a traditional dhow boat in the Indian Ocean. The food was delicious and despite the brief rain shower (the band was playing Toto's "I felt the Rains Down in Africa") the evening was magical.
The next day we were off to Tsavo East for a day safari. This is the place of the famed man-eating lions of Tsavo (remember the 1996 movie, The Ghost and the Darkness?) and it's also known for "red" elephants, made that way because of the red soil. We left at 5am, since it's a three hour drive to the southern gate. Our driver, Kim, showed up in a converted safari mini-van (not quite the Landrover we had gotten used to). On the way we stopped at a craft shop near the Tsavo gate. We bought a couple of things, and then the shop owner showed interest in Gary's baseball cap. We ended up trading it away for a statue & a traditional mask, which may have been a scam, but we felt like we have so much, why not share?
We had a wonderful day at Tsavo, although we never did see any lions, man-eaters or not. Tsavo is huge and very arid since it sits on the edge of the Taru Desert. The dirt is very red and dusty. We actually didn’t see much of anything for the entire morning, it seems that all the animals were in hiding. After lunch we saw quite a bit more. The two animals we liked the best were the red elephants and these gazelles called gerenuks, which have very long legs and stand straight up on their back legs to eat. The highlight of the day was when we stumbled upon a secretary bird stomping on a snake and then eating it whole! It was quite a sight. The drive back to Mombassa was long and we passed through some places of unbelievable poverty. It really makes you think about all we have and how lucky we are. It’s a big reality check to see mothers scooping dirty rain water from the side of the road for the children they carry on their backs.
The next day we decided to take it easy at our hotel. We swam in the Indian Ocean, sailed in a traditional outrigger boat, relaxed by the beach, and laid out by the pool (yes, we BOTH did!) We flew back to Nairobi that evening, very relaxed and well rested. This time we stayed right downtown at the Hilton Nairobi (complete with metal detectors in the lobby). Somehow, they seemed to have misplaced our reservation! There were two huge conferences in town that week, so hotel rooms were scarce, but they scrambled and we actually ended up in an upgraded room… not too bad.
On our last full day in Africa we decided to take a day trip to Lake Nakuru National Park. They are famous for the millions of flamingoes that migrate through the park every year. The drive from Nairobi was also three hours, but this time we were traveling through the Great Rift Valley. It was a beautiful drive. We finally arrived and saw a lot of animals right away (unlike at Tsavo). The population of flamingoes was only about 25% of what it normally is (wrong time of year for them), but it still seemed like a lot to me! The lake and surrounding park was beautiful. We were lucky to see white rhinos and the endangered Rothschild giraffe (in the wild!) It was so neat.
We got back very late and we were exhausted. We had to get up early for our flight back to Amsterdam the next morning, so we stayed local for dinner and just took it easy. Our taxi driver from the first day was there to take us to the airport in the morning and soon it was time to say goodbye to Africa.
Even though we had some misadventures in Kenya, we absolutely loved the country and the people. We want to return, but next time for more than just 4 days!
At the Giraffe Center in Nairobi
On the dhow dinner boat
The Travelers Beach Hotel in Mombassa
The plains of Tsavo East
Gerenuks, gazelle-like animals that stand on their back legs to eat out of the trees
Red elephants of Tsavo
Secretary bird with snake at Tsavo East
Our guide for Tsavo East
G sunbathing
The Indian Ocean
Camels on the beach
Sailing the Indian Ocean
Our outrigger & crew
Welcome to Lake Nakuru
Flamingoes of Lake Nakuru
Our minivan safari truck
The endangered Rothschild giraffe
White rhino
With our Lake Nakuru guide
Back in Nairobi... a view of Friday rush hour from our hotel
Waiting for our flight at the Nairobi airport
The taxi ride to our hotel was a nerve-rattling experience. We drove through the worst neighborhoods of Nairobi and the poverty and chaos were simply indescribable. Our taxi driver had told us to lock our doors, and we gladly did. There were thousands of people roaming the streets, police with AK-47's at multiple roadblocks, open fires burning, trucks speeding at us head-on and narrowly missing slamming right into us, and simply bedlam everywhere.
Needless to say, our first impressions of Kenya were not the best, but it quickly improved. The hotel was on the outskirts of town and pretty nice, but we were just happy to have a safe place to rest our heads! In the morning we had another issue we had to deal with. Turns out, our hotel reservations in Mombassa (the coastal town we were flying to in a few hours) had fallen through. Because we had had very limited internet access, we were stuck! The concierge at our Nairobi hotel made a few calls and set us up. He literally saved our trip!
Our taxi driver wanted more business from us, so we had arranged for him to pick us up. He was two hours early, which turned out to be fantastic, because on the way we visited the Giraffe Center in Nairobi, which is a run by a non-profit organization to save the endangered Rothschild Giraffe. At the center you can hand feed the giraffes, which was so amazing! They are so gentile and being that close to them was one of the coolest things I have ever experienced.
We landed in Mombassa and soon we were whisked off to the Travelers Beach Hotel. The hotel was beautiful! We finally had a couple days to relax. That evening we went on a dinner cruise on a traditional dhow boat in the Indian Ocean. The food was delicious and despite the brief rain shower (the band was playing Toto's "I felt the Rains Down in Africa") the evening was magical.
The next day we were off to Tsavo East for a day safari. This is the place of the famed man-eating lions of Tsavo (remember the 1996 movie, The Ghost and the Darkness?) and it's also known for "red" elephants, made that way because of the red soil. We left at 5am, since it's a three hour drive to the southern gate. Our driver, Kim, showed up in a converted safari mini-van (not quite the Landrover we had gotten used to). On the way we stopped at a craft shop near the Tsavo gate. We bought a couple of things, and then the shop owner showed interest in Gary's baseball cap. We ended up trading it away for a statue & a traditional mask, which may have been a scam, but we felt like we have so much, why not share?
We had a wonderful day at Tsavo, although we never did see any lions, man-eaters or not. Tsavo is huge and very arid since it sits on the edge of the Taru Desert. The dirt is very red and dusty. We actually didn’t see much of anything for the entire morning, it seems that all the animals were in hiding. After lunch we saw quite a bit more. The two animals we liked the best were the red elephants and these gazelles called gerenuks, which have very long legs and stand straight up on their back legs to eat. The highlight of the day was when we stumbled upon a secretary bird stomping on a snake and then eating it whole! It was quite a sight. The drive back to Mombassa was long and we passed through some places of unbelievable poverty. It really makes you think about all we have and how lucky we are. It’s a big reality check to see mothers scooping dirty rain water from the side of the road for the children they carry on their backs.
The next day we decided to take it easy at our hotel. We swam in the Indian Ocean, sailed in a traditional outrigger boat, relaxed by the beach, and laid out by the pool (yes, we BOTH did!) We flew back to Nairobi that evening, very relaxed and well rested. This time we stayed right downtown at the Hilton Nairobi (complete with metal detectors in the lobby). Somehow, they seemed to have misplaced our reservation! There were two huge conferences in town that week, so hotel rooms were scarce, but they scrambled and we actually ended up in an upgraded room… not too bad.
On our last full day in Africa we decided to take a day trip to Lake Nakuru National Park. They are famous for the millions of flamingoes that migrate through the park every year. The drive from Nairobi was also three hours, but this time we were traveling through the Great Rift Valley. It was a beautiful drive. We finally arrived and saw a lot of animals right away (unlike at Tsavo). The population of flamingoes was only about 25% of what it normally is (wrong time of year for them), but it still seemed like a lot to me! The lake and surrounding park was beautiful. We were lucky to see white rhinos and the endangered Rothschild giraffe (in the wild!) It was so neat.
We got back very late and we were exhausted. We had to get up early for our flight back to Amsterdam the next morning, so we stayed local for dinner and just took it easy. Our taxi driver from the first day was there to take us to the airport in the morning and soon it was time to say goodbye to Africa.
Even though we had some misadventures in Kenya, we absolutely loved the country and the people. We want to return, but next time for more than just 4 days!
At the Giraffe Center in Nairobi
On the dhow dinner boat
The Travelers Beach Hotel in Mombassa
The plains of Tsavo East
Gerenuks, gazelle-like animals that stand on their back legs to eat out of the trees
Red elephants of Tsavo
Secretary bird with snake at Tsavo East
Our guide for Tsavo East
G sunbathing
The Indian Ocean
Camels on the beach
Sailing the Indian Ocean
Our outrigger & crew
Welcome to Lake Nakuru
Flamingoes of Lake Nakuru
Our minivan safari truck
The endangered Rothschild giraffe
White rhino
With our Lake Nakuru guide
Back in Nairobi... a view of Friday rush hour from our hotel
Waiting for our flight at the Nairobi airport
posted by Swiss Miss | 14:44
2 Comments:
And so the brave couple exits the dark continent.
Now how about some cousins for the b girls.
Debbie, wonderful photos!!! You should work for National Geographic, seriously, they look so professional. It looks like you had a wonderful, once-in-a-lifetime adventure, so jealous!!! :)
Enregistrer un commentaire
<< Home