KENYA!!!

April 19th , 2010 – Day 1 of our 71 day Overlander.

We arrived at the Nairobi Airport at 4am and all of the sites and surroundings were all a little too familiar to us – neither Jeremy nor I had any good feelings about this place. We took a 20 minute taxi from the airport straight to our hotel – no detouring! We contemplated buying a room for the 4 hours but because the hotel would not give us any form of discount, we figured we would try and wait it out. Within an hour I got really sleepy - I went to a corner of the lobby, pulled out my sleeping mat and then proceeded to wrap myself in my sleeping bag.


At about 6 am, the manager came over and very politely asked Jeremy if I wanted to wake up. Jeremy was confused and told him that he wanted me to sleep. The manager very timidly told him that it was unprofessional to have a girl sleeping on the floor in the corner of their hotel – haha...oops!


From there we waited until the kitchen opened for breakfast. We then started to meet all of our travel buddies. We were wondering how many people would be delayed due to the volcano in Europe and soon found out that there were 5 stranded (we felt very bad for them).


After filling out some paper work and handing over our portion of the group's kitty fund (fund that pays for the groups food and gas etc.) we checked out our new home. We made the fatal mistake of calling it a bus and were quickly informed that it was not a bus but a truck...big difference! Our truck was awesome and what excited us all the more was that it had loads of books on it (Jeremy and I had killed our backs in Egypt stalking up on books for this trip).


After getting settled on the truck, we met our driver, Robert, and our guide, Kanyo, who we immediately knew would be awesome. After giving us the low down on how the truck works, we packed up and got ready for our first visit in the TRUCK.


First stop for the day was a Giraffe Sanctuary. A lot of the members on our group had never seen a giraffe so they were so excited! Although we had seen them countless times in our previous experiences, this was a little different because we got to feed the giraffes with our mouth. It might sound a little disgusting, and in truth it felt quite gross, but we were told that their saliva was like an antiseptic...not sure that really changed anything because it was still gross. To feed the giraffes we put a little piece of food in between our lips and then let the giraffe come close and pull the food out with his mouth or tongue...their preference. Each giraffe was a little different but most of the adults preferred to get a lot of tongue in there...I mean a lot of tongue!!! After everyone was kissed by the adult giraffes we had a chance to do the same with the younger giraffes which were much more delicate. We soon figured out that if you pulled slowly away from the giraffes as they came to grab the food from your mouth, they would stick out their tongue and try to get it that way. It made for some great pictures!!


After the giraffe park we headed to the Elephant and Rhino sanctuary where we got to see the cutest little elephants feeding and playing together. All of the animals had been rescued in the wild – majority of the mothers were killed because of poaching (one had fallen in a manhole and was basically left for dead). Everyone was so excited to take pictures of the little guys but we were all lucky not to get sprayed with elephant shit. One of the little ones had decided that he wanted to play a gag on everyone and came over to the viewing area for what we thought was ample picture taking. But then, he turned around and sprayed very liquidy green shit everywhere. We never did get to see any baby rhinos but plenty of cute elephants (some as young as 2 months old). From the elephant sanctuary we headed to our first campsite which was a couple of hours away in ____.


When we arrived at our campsite we helped to organize the massive amounts of groceries we had purchased from the kitty funds. There are lots of things to remember about the truck as it has so many nooks and crannies and to avoid losing things everything has to be put away in a certain place and everyone is given a job to help keep things running smoothly – we call these things CHORES! Because we were all 'newbies' and the custom in Africa is to welcome your guests and not immediately put them to work, we were given a few days grace. But...because we were such an ambitious group, we helped anyway (excluding supper) and found all of the perishables and cans a home. Next, we were given instructions as to how to set up our tents. This was followed by instructions as to how to properly sanitize our hands and dishes so as not to spread germs between everyone (something we both were very grateful over). We couldn't believe how thorough it was in comparison to our previous trips where things were either just rinsed in water or scrubbed in the sand.


That night we just chilled and got accustomed to each other. We had had a chance to talk on the drive but now we had a chance to learn a bit about what everyone was doing and what their plans were. Our group consisted of Aussies (Glenn and Rhinianon – very cool couple who were jumping off the truck after 25 days in Arusha), Kiwis (Christine – a doll who reminds me of Diana who is trekking the full 71 days to Cape Town) and Pom's (Mike, Mary, and Claire whom 2 are going all the way to Cape Town). Some had been here on volunteer work and many were here just like us to travel and see Africa.


The second day (Day 2) after packing up all of our gear, which we soon knew was going to be a royal pain in the butt, we headed to the Massai Mara National Park (famous for its annual migration which peaks in June and July). We arrived in time for an afternoon game drive. The truck (aka our home) is by far the best vehicle for game viewing compared to any others we have been in because it is so big! We tower over everything so we can just lazily sit back and watch...and to top things off, the windows roll up so it is like being at a nature movie theatre – completely unobstructed and a 360 degree view!!! We saw tons of animals and although we were not as camera happy as the others, we still admired the beauty of each animal. We stumbled upon a small pride of lions (we love our CATS!) but sadly enough, we spotted them just when mother nature felt the urge to give us a downpour – so...needless to say, we had to roll down the windows and our complete unobstructed view became a little more obstructed.


Our second night was spent at a local camp-site immediately outside the park. Because there are no fences around the perimeter of the park, there is nothing keeping the wild animals from making their way to us...especially at night when we are half out of it and are making our ways to the toilets. We were actually encouraged by Kanyo to mark our territory right next to our tent in the middle of the night so as to avoid this. But, because we were at such an awesome campsite, we had some local security guards who kept watch over us during the night (and they carried poison dipped arrows for weapons – crazy, crazy, crazy!). We were also spoiled that night as the camp-site had permanent tents with BEDS set up for us so we did not even have to pitch the tents that night which would have been in the dark.



The following morning (Day 3) we woke up at 5 am, packed up our belongings and scarfed down some breakfast. This allowed us to get an early start on our morning game drive at the Masai Mara. BUT...even with only nine people on the bus it still took us forever to get going (and keep in mind we did not have to take down our tents)...I can't imagine what it is going to be like when our group reaches its maximum capacity of 27 people on the truck.


The morning game drive was very successful. We got some beautiful sunrise pics and the thing that I really noticed about Kenya was the amazing clouds that appeared to grow from the ground and spread upwards like roots. The terrain of the Masai Mara is flat open ground...so it was really nice to have nothing blocking our 360 degree view. We were even lucky enough to not only see two lions hanging out near the road - 5 meters from us - but we got to witness these two lions having sex!!! It wasn't exactly what I had pictured. Actually it seemed more of a chore than anything pleasurable as the lions just growled and snarled at each other while they were doing it. Turns out the male lions penis is corkscrew in shape so it hurts the lioness as it goes in and out. But it didn't matter too much as it was over for both in about twenty seconds or less. We waited patiently to see if they would do it again as they supposedly have sex every fifteen minutes when they are mating, which is only for ten days of the year.


We figured the lions didn't mind us hanging around until the male started to stare at us and set up to pounce (reminded me of the Lion King when Mustafa teaches Simba to pounce and he practices on Zazu). Although, we were super high off of the ground, everyone began to get a little worried that the lion was actually going to pounce the truck and jump right in – Christine was the most scared and actually backed right up to the opposite side of the truck and got down low – lol. . We must have pissed him off, ruined the mood, or they had some stage fright because the second time the male attempted to start up again, the female told him off and they headed towards the bush (haha...damn right ladies!). It was here that Kanyo informed us that the movie starring Micheal Douglas called “The Ghost and the Darkness” was filmed inside this park. The movie is based on a true story about a pride of lions that stalked and killed a group of men working on a rail line. We were also told that when and if a lion gets a taste of human flesh, they will continue to hunt humans...so they are tracked and the entire pride is killed.


We headed down the road to see if we could spot any leopards or anything else cool but when trying to head through the swamp area we got stuck – boo! It took us nearly two hours to get our big beast of a truck out of the mud but thankfully, Robert and Kanyo saved the day. We were instructed not to help because we were after all in the middle of a national park and I think they were both worried about potential litigation issues (i.e. man eaten by lion while pushing vehicle out of mud). This was easier said then done because it was not long before some of us had to pee. Christine was the first to go and I soon followed quickly behind her. We went in front of the vehicle and told the boys not to look. When we were both squatting, I looked over at her and asked if she had some stage fright as I was just letting mine go...she was all red and laughing and it turned out that she had to do more than just number one! We both started laughing hysterically and I told her I would leave ASAP!...which I did (I mean, talk about getting close to your neighbour huh???...and on Day 3 too!) She was so embarrassed afterwards and was afraid that Robert would step right into it when he walked around the front of the vehicle to get behind the wheel (she had covered it up with some mud - haha). I came to her rescue and informed Robert to walk a healthy distance away from the front of the truck otherwise he would get some 'dirt' on him. He laughed and knew exactly what was going on. Just when he was about to pass the front, he noticed a set of lion prints in the mud...this caused quite the commotion on the truck and everyone was wanting a picture of them...which made Christine all the more uneasy. Luckily enough, no one spotted the pile of 'dirt' and she later told the whole truck and we both kept pissing ourselves with laughter.


After the game drive we were taken to a local Masai village where we were greeted with a welcome dance by both the men and the women. To give you a bit of a mental picture as to how the men dance, rent the movie “The Air Up There” with Kevin Bacon, if you haven't already seen it. The really awesome basketball player in the video is a Masai warrior and the dance they do in the movie is exactly what we were shown. They jump up and down in a circle while chanting and then break apart and continue to jump about 6 inches from your face (a little bit close at times!). They also showed us a traditional dance they use to court a women. The courting dance, or show off dance, is essentially all the boys jumping up and down. The higher they jump the more attractive they are to a women. Mike and I were invited to join in the dance but I think with my performance I was probably lucky to keep Katie. The dance performed by the women was much less dramatic and there were much fewer women dancing...I guess they don't all have to show off for their men.


Back in the day a Masai man would show their power by the amount of women each had, so this dance was important. However, now in their words “As we become educated we have realized that more than one women is just difficult, so we prefer only one”.


We also got to see some post war wounds on an older man who was attacked by a lion. Another practice from back in the day (which has since been banned by the Kenya Government) was to kill a lion before marriage (so... you can imagine how many lions would have died back in the day when one man would marry five wives...he would, with the help of his tribesmen, have to kill five lions on five separate occasions...and that was assuming he was not killed in the act).


We were taken in to their homes, learnt about their construction techniques, learnt how they kept their animals and the most strange of all their diet – meat and cow blood mixed with milk which they ate for breakfast and supper (they only have two meals a day). Luckily enough, they did not offer us any to try...phew!!!


Our next stop after the Masai village was Navaisha. When we arrived there we were all excited to ditch our tents and personally upgrade to a nice double room. After everyone agreed on the price, paid and moved their things into their rooms, we were informed that we had not paid enough - ??? We were supposed to pay the cost of the room minus the cost of camping as the camping was already covered in our kitty funds. Turns out that the woman had already deducted the camping fees without our knowledge (and without even knowing we were upgrading - ??? smells fishy to me). We have encountered this on multiple occasions on our trip where we are originally quoted with a price but later, having been judged up and down (and determined our wealth) are informed of a new and higher amount - ??? It is very frustrating but there is really not much to do about it.
But back to our story...despite the completely vacant and large amount of rooms the place had, the manager would not honor what we had paid and made us vacate our rooms. So...we were back to tenting.


The day was pretty chill and that afternoon we received another recruit of Aussie's (Bilsey, Laura, Fysh and Janelle). We were now at 13 and happy!


Our second day in Navaisha (Day 4) was spent at Hell's Gate National Park. Rather than drive the park, we were all given bicycles. It wasn't a very difficult bike ride and at times the pace was a little slow. However, we were all pretty exhausted shortly after it began due to the heat and the fact that some of the bikes were in pretty rough shape. At the end of the first leg of the bike ride, we walked down the hills and into the gorge to see the natural hot springs. It turns out this is where the Tomb Raider film was recorded.


I can't speak for everyone else but on the way back I was ready to turn in my bike and just sleep on the side of the road in some shade. I almost wished I could have walked the way back and I think I wasn't the only one who was thinking the same thing because when Christine's bike chain snapped and she had to walk back everyone kept asking if she wanted to trade and they would walk and she could ride. When she refused, Katie volunteered to walk back with her and I said I would pull her bike beside me. Glen started it out for me because he was much better at it. Once we reached what we though was flat ground he let me take over. I was able to get it around the first turn only by actually lifting the front of the bike off of the ground. At the end of the first turn I lost control and tried to jump off my bike but landed crotch first on the bike frame – Ouch! Fysh rescued me until we met back up with Katie and Christine, at which point she walked the bike home.


Overall, the whole experience was pretty cool and it is something amazing to think that we were biking along with the Gazelles, Zebra's and Giraffe's. We were informed there were no lions, buffalo or rhino's...but there were a family of leopards that we had to watch out for. We figured we were safe because there were more warthogs ('ugliness perfected' according to our tour guide) than there were humans – their fav snack! At one point, we had to stop for a Zebra crossing...only in Africa!


After the bike ride we headed back to the campsite to meet our next recruit, a Kiwi named Anna, which brought our toll to 14. That night we headed to the night club to find only two other people in the entire place. It was quite the place. You weren't allowed to take pictures or even show your camera and the walls of the entire place were covered in pillow like sound proofing...what goes on in here when it is not a nightclub??? We also laughed because only in Africa can you enter a bar with 'outside' alcohol and walk out of a bar with 'inside' alcohol.


Kanyo had also heavily warned us to steer clear of the hippos at night when they graze. Although they are fenced in and there are copious amounts of warning signs, they had a group in the previous year that had gotten drunk at the bar and thought it would be 'funny' to jump the fence and go looking for the hippos. One girl had made the fatal mistake of crossing paths of a baby hippo and the mother and was killed – the others safely made it across the fence. Hippo's actually are the number one animal killers in Africa...they beat out lions, crocodiles and even the unpredictable water buffalo.


The next day (Day 5) we headed to Lake Nakuru for another game drive!!! Just before the game drive we had stopped in the city for lunch and we desperately looked for a lens for a camera (the lens we currently had was only 5x optical zoom...not nearly adequate for the game drives). After seeing all of the other people on the trip with great zoom lenses we were supremely jealous and wanted to be able to get good close ups of all of the animals. After trying a dozen shops we realized it was a pointless search.


Kanyo informed us that we would have to eat our lunch before we entered the park because the monkeys would surely try to steal it from us. However, even though we ate our lunch before we got in, while we were waiting for fire wood the monkeys cornered our truck. We tried desperately to keep them away but someone on the truck tried to offer them chips (what a dumbass) and that just caused them to go crazy. Even despite our efforts to swat them away with broom sticks they managed to, in a split second, jump into the truck and out with a bag of our bread.


Lake Nakuru was much like Lake Manyare (in Tanzania) with towering trees and dense bush...Leopard Country but unfortunately we ended the day with no sightings of Leopards. We did get close to the water where we spotted white and black Rhino, flamingos, water buffalo and the coolest jumping birds. It was neat to look out into the distant long grass and see scattered tiny black birds jumping straight into the air and then again disappearing into the long grass.


That night we stayed in the park and when we arrived at the camp site we were greeted by what seemed like hundreds of baboons. Thankfully it was night time because shortly after we arrived they ventured off into the trees to sleep. We barely had time to set up the tent and the dinner equipment before it began to pour on us. The truck was equipped with a tarp to cover us but the last time it had had maintenance work done on it, it had been put back incorrectly and so there was a huge hole and water was coming down on us from every angle. We managed to finish dinner but we were drenched by the time we had finished dishes. Everyone figured that it would be better to just head to bed rather than stay out in the pouring rain and so we all retired early.


Jeremy was up early the next morning (Day 6) with the other wallah's to get things going for breakfast. By now we all had jobs and Jeremy's was to be a wallah – fire starter, cooking equipment prep and general truck 'bitch'. Jeremy thinks it is a pretty good job but I disagree, especially on the days when we have to get up early for game drives because he has to have the fires started by the time everyone wakes up. I rotate jobs with everyone else which includes cooking, dish washing and truck cleaning.


Our early morning game drive was much more eventful than the previous afternoon game drive and we were lucky enough to see an entire pride of lions hanging out on the side of a hill no more than 30 feet from our truck. When they finally departed we headed to the nearby resort to take Claire to the bathroom. We had already had numerous sick people on the truck. The day earlier Mike had visited the doctors because he hadn't really eaten in about a weeks time. He seemed better after his medication took hold but now Claire was getting sick and she wasn't so smart about getting her diagnosis and catching the rest she needed. That day we took her to the doctor and when she went in she didn't bother to get a blood test, as recommended, and just accepted a pile of medication for Malaria. I don't think she got actually diagnosed but rather convinced the doctor that she had Malaria and so he just agreed.


We spent the night at this really nice place in a town called Eldoret supposedly where Bill Gates has once stayed. It was a cool place with tunnels and a bar that was built down into the ground with a fire place as its focal point. The owner was a bit psychotic but we all were pretty happy to stay in warm and dry dorm beds for the night.


The next morning (Day 7) was our last day in Kenya and we began the long drive to Uganda.


One last thing to mention about Kenya are the amazing kids who would come running from the villages and nearby fields screaming at the top of their longs, “HOW ARE YOU? HOW ARE YOU?” They are taught this at a very young age and they only understand the response as “FINE”and not “GOOD”. They usually do not even wait for the response though, they keep screaming this at us and then I would say ~a decent percent of them will quickly change their smiling expressions into stern faces with their hands out begging for money. We all laugh at this because it is not every day when a truck full of Mzungu's (white people) drive by.