Week 27 - Kenya

The weekend was similar to last week in regards to school in the morning and swim in the afternoon, but we got into a much better beach routine in the evenings. The beach boys have pretty much given up on us, which makes it much more pleasant. S has a huge sand kingdom he keeps adding to, sometimes with C's help, sometimes on his own. Monday just S and I went, after some sand time we walked down by the water to look for shells, and we didn't see a single bluebottle! He thinks when we get back he might try swimming in the ocean again.

Early Tuesday morning we left for our safari. It was an amazing day. We drove, with our guide, through the countryside to Tsavo East nature preserve. As you travel inland, the coastal ecosystem changes to lovely green hills and hardwood forests, then just as suddenly it changes again to what one pictures when one thinks of the African savannah. We saw many small communities, and while basic, they seem to hold generally happy and healthy people. I saw women doing their breakfast dishes outside the house, for example, but not anyone begging or appearing desperate in any way. In fact, dishes and other chores seem to get done with companionship and enjoyment. A couple of people have told me they think the US is wonderful, and it's true, there are many opportunities there, but folks here smile much more. 

We saw baboons and other primates the entire trip, but as soon as we entered the park we saw everything. Believe it or not, I was actually the first to spot large animals — zebras — then we all saw many more zebras, impalas, hartebeests, waterbuck, oryxes, buffalo, lots of elephants, many kinds of birds, and even lions.

The lodge is deep in the park and near a watering hole, so lots of what we saw was near there. As we approached I said another thing I didn't think I'd be saying as a parent: "Sit down, you'll be able to see those elephants even better from the hotel!" And it was true. After we were greeted with cold orange juice, checked in, and had lunch, S wanted to swim. We could see zebras, impalas, and elephants from the pool area. I asked him how much time he would need to get back to the room, and he answered, "Enough to watch the lizards on the way," True, there are little lizards all over the place!

After swimming, for S and me, and resting for C and J, we were ready for another game drive. We saw the same animals, but often heart-stoppingly close.

I don't think any of us will ever want to go to a zoo again. I already kind of hated them, even though many do have strong conservation programs, but seeing these guys in the wild is so emotional I think it would break my heart to see them caged after this. It was definitely a day to remember forever. Even if we were pretty wiped by the end.

We had a huge dinner back at the lodge, the kids did their journaling, and we crashed. I knew S was too tired to practice reading so I told him reading the signs at the lodge counts. He read "gift shop" and "swimming pool" without being asked. We did more than enough today! 

Wednesday was even more amazing. We left very early and drove through Tsavo East park. We saw many more zebras, elephants, and impalas, and an adorable little antelope called a dik dik that I'd never heard of before.

We also saw gerenuk, giraffes, and a huge herd of water buffalo.

We left Tsavo East and entered Tsavo West where we saw hippos and more elephants and giraffes. Tsavo West is very different, it's higher, wetter, and cooler, with much denser vegetation. This makes it easier for animals to hide, but we saw more different shy animals and more moms with babies, probably because they prefer the cover.

Our lodge is near a watering hole frequented by elephant families.

Our room and deck are right above the patio so after lunch, rather than swim, the kids just wanted to watch elephants.

We saw three different family groups, including some young babies. On our late afternoon drive we saw even more. Sean had most wanted to see elephants and had gotten his wish and then some. Collin really wanted to see spotted cats. We were lucky enough to see a leopard.

I was satisfied that both kids had gotten their wishes, but this park has a special secure reserve for black rhinos, so we went looking. We waited awhile at a beautiful spot hoping to see one, no luck but there was lots else to see.

The above is an eland. The rhino section is only open until 6:00 and we had to leave. Then we saw another jeep heading back, the ranger had called to say the rhino was there.

That evening back at the lodge they hung up meat in a stand lit with a floodlight so that a leopard would come and eat while everyone watched. The kids both agreed that it was much more special to see the leopard on the game drive, not being influenced by humans. I was pretty pleased that they made the distinction.

Wednesday was cooler and overcast.

As we drove out of Tsavo West we saw warthogs, jackals…

…more dik diks, zebras, giraffes…

…and elephants.

We got stuck getting pictures of this falcon —

— and had a bit of an adventure using rocks to create a solid path out. We ended up having to take a different route, but that was just part of the adventure. 

We went to a place called Mzima Spring which is the water supply for Mombasa. We saw the spring at its origin and got to walk around on a trail, guided by an armed park ranger.

We saw a crocodile and several hippos.

S's favorite thing was a submerged metal tank with glass windows that you can climb down in to see the fish, kind of like an aquarium, but in the wild. I'm trying to think of a way to make something similar for our creek at home.

We drove by lava fields —

— then out of the park and onto our lodge adjacent to, though not actually in, Amboseli National Park.

I'd heard of glamping, so I guess this was it. It was comfortable, which was good, because game drives are surprisingly exhausting. The roads are rough and so you're constantly bouncing around hard, then scrambling up and down to look at animals. J and I were pretty much wrecked by the end of each day, so I'm glad the guide found us comfortable sleeping places. Power, water, and internet were all limited to some degree at each place, but there was enough to be comfortable and it was predictable, we knew the generator shut off at midnight, for example, and were way to tired to want lights after that anyway. The kids really needed to burn energy after all the car time, so the pools were appreciated. The entire safari, guide, transportation, park fees, three nights accommodation and food was expensive, but it was worth every penny and we really couldn't have done it ourselves. Kenya's economy really depends on tourism and has obviously taken a hit, so I'm glad we did this.

After lunch and swimming we were off on another game drive through Amboseli. We saw a lot of wildebeests…

…and waterbuck.

Giraffes…

…and a very close up view of a male lion.

Amboseli is close enough to the Tanzanian border that you can see Kilimanjaro.

The run off from its snow-capped peaks creates a wetland, so we saw a lot of water birds.

Again, an amazing day.

Friday we woke up early again and went to a Masai village. It was a clear day so we could really see Kilimanjaro.

The village was interesting. They clearly regularly receive tourists and benefit from the income. We benefited from seeing their way of life. The chief greeted us, the villagers danced for us, the children sang songs and recited poems.

Most of these pictures were actually taken for us by the chief, so I feel ok about sharing them. We were shown inside a house and their way of life was explained. The chief is also the doctor and showed us different plants he uses to treat various illnesses. They showed us how to make fire and we bought souvenirs, and left a donation, since they're wanting to build a school. We'd been holding out to buy directly from them and got some nice things and some medicine to help J's aching back. S had a great time climbing all their trees and they seemed to enjoy watching him.

I was a little unsure about the ethics at first, after all they are people and not existing for our entertainment, but they did seem to want to share information about their lives and traditions. There are other villages that do not accept tourist visits, so it's a choice these folks have made. 

The rest of the day was spent in the car save for a few rest stops and a break for lunch. We finally got back to Diani Beach at around 7:00. The day staff had left, but the night watchmen and host were there to greet us, the little bit of laundry I had left was clean and folded, we had clean sheets and the house was spotless. It was so nice to come back to such comfort. I made a quick supper, unpacked and got the kids ready for bed. Everyone was exhausted and looking forward to a good night's sleep. 

Saturday was a catch up day. I did the laundry we bought back, went grocery shopping and got organized for next week. We're back to our Diani Beach routine, lessons and chores in the morning, swimming in the afternoon and beach in the evening. We're planning a couple day trips for next week, so stay tuned.