A Wake Up Call today at our Thatch Hut gets us up at 5 AM. We pack up out bag and go up for breakfast at Simba Lodge. The same hoard of bugs greet us as they did last night. So the challenge is to eat before the bugs do! There is an omelette chef there and I take advantage of him.
With breakfast in us, the sun rises as the safari vans roll in. Once loaded, we head out on the Kenyan Savannah to see what we can find. It isn’t long before we come across elephants. It is interesting that in South Africa, elephants are grey. But here in Kenya, elephants are reddish brown. It might have something to do with the color of the ground here. In South Africa, the ground is normal brown colored sand. Here the ground reminds me of Red Georgia Clay. And after last nights rain, the air is fresh and clean and you can, ‘smell’ Africa. It is not an unpleasant smell at all!
We proceed and come across sleeping lions, Reeboks (a type of antelope) that the guide calls ‘Water Bucks’. Our guide, Ali, is a very good driver and he moves us throughout the savannah effortlessly. We find more elephants, Water Buffalo off in the distance, and a Congress of Baboons. Yes, a group of baboons is called a ‘Congress’! Does that tell you anything?
Moving on, we end the safari and then it is 2.5 hours back to Mombasa. We stop for restrooms and trinkets in a large store. We see spiders in the trees and their bodies are almost 3 inches long! The owner of the Tour Company shows up and wants final payment. We all tell him we will pay when we get back to the ship, a normal procedure for tours. He has no choice but let us do that. When in a foreign country, that is the procedure. Never pay the guide until you are delivered back!
Many sights assault our camera lenses on the return, sights of sheer poverty. It is another eye opener as to how some people in the world live. We finally arrive back to the ship after being delayed by a traffic accident involving a tractor trailer jackknifed in the highway. We pay Ali and give him a generous tip and hobble back to the ship on tired legs.
Immediate showers are in order and we feel quite refreshed! A cold drink in the pub and all is well! A Mango Colada for me!
Kenya Day 1, Part 2, Wednesday, Mar 27, 2024, Afternoon
We drive away and head for the gates to enter the Safari Park. Upon arrival at the gate, the lady who has been delaying us leaves the van and finds the person who organized the tour. We don’t know what transpires, all we know is another person comes to join our van and we hear a story of how it was an amical agreement to swap people. We are thrilled as we don’t have to deal with her again.
We start our first Safari and quickly encounter an eagle in a tree. Then the first elephant of the day appears! We see many more animals including some kind of duck, more elephants, termite mounds and bats nests in the trees! A rain runoff watering hole! One thing is interesting, the ground is such a deep red color and the animals all have a resemblance to that color! In my memory, elephants are grey! Aren’t they? Well, they are a deep shade of red here, like the ground!
I used to think that the African scenery was somewhat ugly and plain. But after being on several Safaris, both in South Africa and now here in Kenya, I have come to see an absolute beauty in the African landscape. It is stark, a little bit barren and yet a magical and beautiful place. We next come across Springbok, a kind of antelope with distinctive coloration and markings. More elephants and then Impalas, another kind of antelope and then more elephants!
The Safari over, at least for the moment, we arrive at our Lodge where we’ll spend the night. We are shown to our room, which is an “A Frame” hut with two beds, a sink, bathroom and shower. There is even a porch in front for sitting outside to look for animals. We walk up to the main lodge and watch some interesting birds in a tree. They are “Weaver Birds” that resemble canaries yet they weave little nests of sticks in the branches!
Now it is finally time for lunch! I also indulge in a local African beer! It is a “Tusker” Lager so I’ll have to wait until I get home probably to get a good IPA! As a friend back home would say, it’s “Beer Thirty”! Cheers Tom D! Lunch is a buffet and is just so so. Quite edible but so so flavor. And the meal is served on an open porch location and there are bugs here. So it’s take a bite, swat a bug. Repeat.
After lunch, my camera is enamored with the Weaver Birds! I try and try to get a good shot of them, but they are fast movers! Wait, I was a high speed action photographer in my career! This should not be difficult! But the camera I have chosen for this excursion is not the best for action. So I burn images and work at it and finally get some fun shots, even one of them looking right at me! Their nests are another thing of beauty!
All of a sudden, rain starts. We have enough time to pull back on the covered porch and watch as a powerful African rainstorm sets in! The rain is literally blowing sideways! I’m not sure I’ve ever seen rain this powerful. The Lodge workers are actually squeegeeing the water out of the restaurant and reception areas! The song starts in my head, “I Bless the Rains Down in Africa, Gonna Take Some Time to do the Things We Never Had” Sorry, I can’t help it but the song implants itself in my head…. Here are the lyrics written by David Paich of Toto…
… I hear the drums echoing tonight But she hears only whispers of some quiet conversation She’s coming in, 12:30 flight The moonlit wings reflect the stars that guide me towards salvation
… I stopped an old man along the way Hoping to find some old forgotten words or ancient melodies He turned to me as if to say, “Hurry boy, it’s waiting there for you”
… It’s gonna take a lot to drag me away from you There’s nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do I bless the rains down in Africa Gonna take some time to do the things we never had
… The wild dogs cry out in the night As they grow restless, longing for some solitary company I know that I must do what’s right As sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti I seek to cure what’s deep inside Frightened of this thing that I’ve become
… It’s gonna take a lot to drag me away from you There’s nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do I bless the rains down in Africa Gonna take some time to do the things we never had
… Hurry boy, she’s waiting there for you
… It’s gonna take a lot to drag me away from you There’s nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do I bless the rains down in Africa I bless the rains down in Africa (I bless the rain) I bless the rains down in Africa (I bless the rain)
… I bless the rains down in Africa I bless the rains down in Africa (gonna take the time) Gonna take some time to do the things we never had…
You’ll want your sound on for this!
The rain only lasts 20 minutes or so. We load back into the vans for an evening Safari. This tour just keeps getting better! But only a couple miles into the Safari, we encounter a traffic jam of 40-50 vans! It seems the front vans have found a pair of lions. But it becomes patently obvious that they are selfish as they don’t get photos and drive on. They were here first so they get to commandeer the road! We can see vans up front sideways across the road so no one can move through. Other Safaris that we have been on are more courteous and keep the traffic moving. It is very frustrating to say the least! 30-40 minutes later we get to move up and finally get a glimpse of the pair of lions. Not as spectacular as I have seen before but still, they are lions!
The driver hears on the radio that giraffes have been spotted and he turns around and navigates his way back through the traffic jam which is better now. This becomes our downfall.
I thought the evening Safari would last longer but a van in the crowd sees us and flags us down. It seems the rude lady who is always late left her bag in our van. She swaps back into our van and we are forced to end our Safari and go back to our Lodge. On the way back to Simba Lodge, we get to see some Duk Duks, another kind of antelope, actually the smallest antelope in Africa being only 2 feet tall! We all unload and then the van takes her back to the lodge they placed her at.
We go back to our lodge to call our Safaris for the day over. Let’s hope tomorrow has less glitches! Everything is soaking wet but we make our way to our hut. Sitting on the porch tonight is out of the question because the seat pads are soaked!
We go to dinner in the Lodge and it is a buffet again. This time, the bugs are fiercer. Eat. Swat bug. Eat. Swat bug. Repeat. This sure is an adventure! At dinner we meet a fun young French couple staying here and chat happily away! I got their names but now I find my notes program has truncated my info! I have their names as “Cibo” and (this is where my notes shut off)! So, Cibo, if you see this, comment on your partners name and I will correct this! While we are at dinner, the staff goes to all the huts and sprays them for bugs and also spreads out the mosquito netting that has been pre-installed!
Safely tucked inside our mosquito net, we bid you Adieu! We’ll be arising around 4AM for the real Safaris tomorrow!
We wake early this morning, have breakfast and grab our overnight bags that we packed last night and we are off the ship by 7AM. We walked into the port and most of a mile later we find our set of vans to take us on Safaris for two days! Kenya awaits!
We get in our van and there is one seat empty. The van doesn’t leave and we are told there is one person left to join us. It is before 8AM and the temp is already over 30 degrees Celsius (86 F). We wait and wait in the hot van and finally, almost an hour later, a lady shows up saying she couldn’t find us. Well, we had a wee bit of trouble finding the vans also, so we are just relieved to be able to get going. Our cameras start to capture roadside sights in this third world country.
We are told it is approximately a two hour ride to where our Tour will start. So our cameras are content for the time being capturing images along the side of the road. We stop for souvenirs and restrooms halfway there. When reloading the van, there is a person missing. 20 minutes later, here she comes, the same lady that was late earlier. Hmmm, we hope this is not starting a trend! I can only wonder how much it costs to stay in some of these roadside hotels. Anyone want to stay in one?
We drive on and arrive at a ‘Masai’ village. Who has heard of the ‘Masai’? What a fun treat! They come out and dance for us. Soon they start ‘jumping’! If you’ve never witnessed Masai Warriors jump, you’re missing out! They dance and jump for 30 minutes or more! I’m tired just watching them!
After they dance and jump for us, we are invited into their village to see their houses and how they live. It is fascinating to see more of their culture. Their houses are constructed of elephant and other animal dung. No, that is not a typo. Animal dung! The ground here is bright red, reminding me of red Georgia Clay. And that color is carried through the walls of their homes! Small scraps of fabric are used to make decoration for the walls! Inside the houses, the sleeping areas are very rustic and covered with animal skins. Likewise, the roofs are made of animal skins also, stretched over frames of sticks. There are no real forests in Kenya so wood is not a common commodity. They also show us how they start a fire using just a stick that they spin in their hands. Brings me back to my Boy Scout days! They effortlessly start their fires in minutes! Their children seem no different than all children (which we are always fascinated with) around the world. Their cooking utensils are hammered out of steel, probably supplied by the large steel mill we passed on the road. The tribe is very welcoming of our cameras, which I thought would be more of an issue!
We leave the village and watch as all the Safari vans drive away. Oh yeah, we have a person missing. Can you guess who? You’re correct, the same lady who has been last at every step. So all the occupants of the van discussed it and when she finally arrived, she was informed that if she delays us again, we will leave her behind!
Here we will leave you and finish this day in Part 2 of this Blog Post as it has already gotten quite long!
Approaching Kenya, we are in Somali waters for two days and the crew keeps a lookout for pirates. None are ever spotted and the days are peaceful. A number of specific cabins are instructed to keep their windows closed for the two days, I guess those would be the ones that are easier places to climb the side of the ship? We go through our usual At Sea routines of fun and games, meals and entertainment.
A fun Crew Talent Show on Tuesday evening after the threat of Somali pirates is over. Unfortunately I took no photos. I let the cameras take a couple days off.
Coming into port today, we have all the indications of a Tender Port (No, not a soft and gentle port, LOL) A “Tender” Port is where you dock in the harbor (like we did in the Maldives) and the ship’s ‘Tenders’ (aka, lifeboats) bring you to shore. But then, as we get closer, we see we will be pulling up to a dock. This is our preferred way to come in as we don’t have that added chore of riding the Tender to port, but can walk right off the ship onto dry land!
Today we meet friends in the Purple Turtle (haven’t you been paying attention?) at 9AM. There are 5 of us, a perfect amount to hire a van. We first ask about going to the Botanical Garden and are told it is a 5 minute walk. Next we ask for a tour of the island that MUST include seeing Land Tortoises and Beaches.
The driver wants $250 for the day. Um, too much. I offer him $150. He balks. I tell him to split the difference to $200. He balks again. Not going to do this. I look at our friends and we walk away. I approach another van and the first guy chases us down and agrees to the $200. That’s $40 each. Acceptable (although I think I could have done better).
So we agree to tour the island with the above provisions. Oh, and it must include a lunch stop and we have to be back on the ship by 3PM. We head out. I take the front seat with my camera. Everybody is happy. We head out and the tour starts. We drive along the shore heading north. This island is called “Mahe”. There are 115 islands in the Seychelles. This one is tropical and fun to see. “Nelson”, our driver, stops several times for photos and knows all the ‘Kodak’ spots! Our cameras are all in their happy place as we go along. We stop at this one spectacular beach (maybe the most beautiful beach I have ever seen!). There is one house right there overlooking the beach and I ask Nelson what that house would cost. Nelson thinks about it and says, “Approximately 2.5 million Seychelle Rupees!” I do the math and that translates it to about $200,000 dollars! Wow! I look at Elee and say, “Want to move to the Seychelles?” LOL
What a place this would be to retire to! But the one overlying factor is the 90% humidity that lasts year round! Maybe we could get used to it! The economy is definitely something we could likely handle! And they speak English, French and Creole. Not a bad way to go! But it is time to move on. So Nelson takes us further and there is civilization a short distance ahead.
Then we turn at the top of the island and drive approximately 70 kilometers south to the bottom of the island and visit land tortoises at a plantation along with a short tour of the plantation. The beaches are beautiful!
More gorgeous beaches and then it is off to lunch at “La Gaulette” where the food was good but a bit pricey ($40 per person for a meal and a drink). One person with us lucked out and got a fabulous seafood meal. I ordered their ‘Special’ which turned out to be a run of the mill fried prawns and fish basket with chips (fries, for you Americans). Not bad, but there would be a learning curve to order food here, for sure!
Then it is off to go back to the ship via the road over the mountain. Fun ride up the mountain and back down the other side. There were some views but a bit of miscommunication stopped us from getting photos.
All in all, a good day! We got back to the ship in time and even played some shipboard games before dinner! Then off to the Purple Turtle (have you payed attention yet?) for a fun music trivia game before bed!
Around the World in 80 Trips (Or Less) 