A Trip to Remember

Kenyan Safari

In October 1996 we set out on our long awaited Safari to Kenya. This trip had been planned in meticulous detail to ensure that we had the best chance of photographing the wildlife. We went with a small Company that specialises in small group tours (no more than 6 persons) and started at Nairobi Airport on a sunny morning at 9am...........

After a cup of Kenyan coffee, it was all aboard the Land Rovers that would be our means of transport for the next 15 days. Travel was bumpy at first, but once the roads ran out.......!

The trip from Nairobi to the Masai Mara was on tarmac roads for the first 50 miles, at this point the roads started to be infested by potholes (the roads were built by the Italians in the early 1950’s and had not been maintained by the Kenyans since). After another 25-30 miles it could be argued that a sign ‘Potholes Merge’ would be appropriate as it became easier (and more comfortable) to drive beside the road. Once onto the dirt-tracks, the journey became a bit smoother. The last bit of ‘civilisation’ was Narok, a small town with rundown shops and two petrol stations. Here we filled up with fuel and beers and crisps. After 175 miles we arrived at the Mara at 5pm. At the camp which has 4 guest tents and a mess tent, we were shown to our tent, 25’ long and 10’ wide, subdivided into bedroom area, luggage/wardrobe area and in a separate section at the back the bathroom (including shower!)

Meals were served to us by ‘Jon’, the mess boy and were prepared by the camp cook who is 75. He did all the cooking on / in a steel box that had charcoal placed under / over as required. A sight to be seen! The meals were excellent, all 3 courses and plenty of wine too. Breakfast was just as impressive and certainly supplied you with the energy to go all day. While out on a drive we would stop under an acacia tree to have tea, coffee & homemade sponge cakes or donuts. Yes, out of the vehicles!

After spending 3 long days in the Mara having seen lion, elephant (Bill saw them closer than most of us), giraffe, hippo, zebra, many types of gazelle, wildebeest etc. we headed for our second camp at Lake Elementeita, some 200 miles. From here we visited Lakes Bogoria and Nakuru (where we saw our first leopard 60 feet up in a tree) and thousands of flamingos.

Then came the drive to Samburu, through an ever changing countryside as we travelled north around Mount Kenya (crossing the equator three times in one day!). At the outpost town of Isiolo, during a rainstorm, we had to report to the police post to record our leaving of ‘safe’ Kenya and travelling north into disputed lands. The drive took us onto the ‘corrugated road’ where the ruts are across the road. The choice is to go slow, or fast enough so that the Land Rovers tyres just touch the tops of the ruts!

At Samburu, the best Reserve in our opinion, we saw Grevy’s Zebra, Reticulated Giraffe, Gerenuk & Oryx, all peculiar to Samburu. Our camp was next to the Ewaso Nyeru river which has crocodiles in it, these can be seen at night, using a torch close to your eye to create a reflection in the animals eyes, as they lie in the river next to our camp fire.

After Samburu we drove 275 miles to a ranch about 35 miles south of Nairobi. It was during this trip that our Discovery broke down leaving us stranded beside the road to Mombasa with about 25 miles to go! However, we finally arrived at the ranch about 8pm (a journey time of 14 hours). From the ranch we had a day trip to Amboseli and here we saw Mount Kilimanjaro and amazing ‘dust devils’ (small tornadoes). This was a very dusty day, which included a drive along a dust track that was 26 miles dead straight. If you wish to read about a typical day on safari please follow this link A Day on Safari