kenya

Kenya

Sunday 27th July 2008:

We left Uganda and drove to the Kenyan Immigration and Customs booths. We needed to ask where to go, as they are not signposted or labeled at all. In fact they were just one of the many doors in a long block building. We got our passports stamped with a month's Kenyan visa for free, thanks to our South African passports. From there we proceeded to the Customs office to have our carnet stamped. This was done quickly and just as the offical was about to tear off the part of the carnet they keep, he said we needed to pay a 200KSh (Kenyan shillings) Overtime Fee!!! We were both very suspicious of this and insisted on seeing documentation stating that tourists needed to pay this, seeing as overtime is usually paid by the employer. Everyone else was paying varying amounts, but we'd never heard of it before. Eventually we found an official letter stuck up on the wall, specifying what we wanted to see, so changed some US$ for Kenyan Shillings, as this fee needs to be paid in KSh only. We checked in the newspaper to find out the rate, $1 = KSh66 or €1 = KSh107, but the money boys at the border obviously change at a much lower rate, so we only changed a little. After paying the required fee, we got an official receipt, were given back our carnet and entered Kenya, our 22nd African country.

We couldn't see Mt Elgon as it was too cloudy, and decided to take the road to the Kakamega Forest Reserve, which Ragna and Amiram had said was so beautiful. Sadly we must have somehow missed the Kakamega Forest turn-off enroute and ended up driving on this rather horrendously potholed road, all the way to Kisumu. Kisumu is a big town on Lake Victoria, where we drove around from place to place trying to change more money, to be able to fill up with diesel. Being a Sunday, all the banks and bureau de changes were closed. We went to numerous hotels and casino's, with no joy. We did see our first glimpses of Maasai though, wearing purple and red clothes and carrying spears. Eventually we found a Kobil garage that would allow us to pay for fuel in US$. Full of fuel, we headed out of Kisumu and on to Kisii, on another horribly bumpy road.

It started to rain really hard and the horrible roads didn't improve, in fact at one stage it was hard to imagine we were actually driving on a road. The road was just wide enough for a single vehicle, having steeply eroded drop-offs on each side. The further we drove along the track, the more we both hoped we wouldn't reach the Mara concrete bridge, only to find it washed away and us needing to do a river crossing in the dark. Luckily this didn't happen and the bridge was all intact. Along the road, through the black of night, we saw many eyes of all different animals - impala, hyaenas, elephant and others. There were parts we were temped to bush camp in, but were unsure of the human safety element and which land was Maasai land. No villages or huts were visible, but we assumed they were there. It was a pity to do this drive in the dark as there seemed to be so much game around and we were sure the scenery would've been really beautiful.

We eventually arrived at the Masai Mara's Oloololo Gate around 11pm. What a LONG day's drive!!! Both totally exhausted we approached a friendly ranger, who said we could camp next to the gate for the night and he'd try and waiver the $10p/p camping fee for the night, as we'd arrived so late. Very relieved, we parked Duzi2 outside the gate and popped open the tent, before climbing straight up to bed, to the sound of hyaenas whooping in the distance.

Monday 28th July 2008: Oloololo Gate, Masai Mara, Kenya

GPS Info: S01° 15' 29.5" E34° 59' 51.5"

Miles Today: 69 Total Miles: 30 146

Looking out of our tent in the morning, we had the most stunning views over the flat, open, yellow savannah of the Masai Mara. Neither of us could actually believe we were here, in the Masai Mara, the place we've grown up watching wildlife documentaries about!!! We could see game moving around wherever we looked - impala, zebra, wildebeest, warthog and even a beautiful baby eland called Baati (meaning Lucky in Maasai). Baati is 2months old and had been adopted and hand reared by the rangers at this gate after her mom was killed by lion. She is wild and roams free, but getting 6litres of milk from the rangers, a few times a day. She is so gentle, fluffy and soft and loves hanging around with the rangers. As soon as we were up, we packed away the tent and had breakfast, so as not to draw attention to ourselves being parked alongside the park's entrance gate. Six young children came over to pet Baati, and we thought they were so lucky to have this area as their garden to explore and grow up in, only to hear later that they were from Balgowan and Kloof, in South Africa. They were all such lovely children and told us they had been camping in the campsite, just down the bank. Their two families are travelling for 3 months and have been through Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Tanzania and are all having such a ball. They told us they had seen so much in the Mara already and were hoping to see a crossing today. Shortly after meeting the children, we met their dads, Barry and Kim. We chatted briefly with them before they headed off on a drive and we went into the offfice to make payments. Barry and Kim both highly recommended the campsite, which is open, sunny and has clean ablution facilities.

In the office we met Julius, who told us a bit about the park, their various fees and that he was our first real Maasai. It cost us $40p/p/day park fees, which we paid in dollars, and only KSh300 p/vehicle/day. KSh300p/day in the Masai Mara compared to $40p/day in Ugandan parks for a vehicle is a HUGE difference. He told us the way to tell if people are true Maasai is if they are missing their two lower front teeth. The Maasai use the gap in their teeth to allow a feed of milk or other liquid when they are ill and can't open their mouths. He also told us that they used to only eat meat, blood and milk, with no veggies at all, but now due to having less land and smaller herds, they mostly eat veggies too. Maasai wealth is measured by the size of their cattle and goat herds. The Maasai also don't intermarry with other tribal women as the Maasai women and men are circumcised, and it's against their culture to marry an uncircumcised woman. Eina!!! Julius was such a lovely guy and so interesting to talk to. He was telling us that even though the Maasai are now educated, their culture and traditions are still very alive and strong.

After a lovely chat with Julius, and having paid our park fees and camping fees ($10p/p/night camping), we entered the famous Masai Mara Game Reserve and were so spoilt with the huge numbers of game everywhere. We saw hundreds of zebra, Thompsons gazelle, topi and some waterbuck-looking antelope, various kinds of vultures and thousands of wildebeest. We also saw a number of ellies, giraffe, warthog and 4 lion. There was just so much game everywhere, real wall-to-wall game! We drove past an airstrip, trying to find the Mara river and then stumbled across two private camps by accident. We had a tour of the first camp, Riverside Camp, which is right on the banks of the Mara River, and is where some photographers and film crew from National Geographic were staying to film the migration. Next we stumbled upon Little Governor's Camp, from where they also do hot air balloon rides, costing around $500p/person.

We drove along further and eventually found our way back onto the main road. Our GPS seems to have lost all finer detail, so a lot of our driving today was guesswork, as there are so many little roads and tracks going off in different directions. It would've been handy still having the T4A tracks visible on it. To make our guess work a little easier, we decided to splash out and buy the Masai Mara mapbook, which has maps of the park and other info about the Maasai and different animals found in the park, but still it's very expensive at $15. We saw more ellies, wildebeest, zebra, Thompson's gazelle, topi (tsesebe), ostrich and a type of buck which looked like a roan crossed with a waterbuck, and is apparently a strain of waterbuck, without the ring around their bums, known as a Defassa Waterbuck.

We were told the topi always stand on top of the little termite mounds to look out and it's true. They are so funny to watch, as they make themselves so visible from miles away. They each like to stand on their own mound and look like mountain goats. We passed many bones and half eaten kills, a clear sign that the animals, at all levels of the foodchain, are so spoilt for choice at the moment. There were also lots of different types of vulture in the air, on the ground and in the trees, together with huge, ugly marabou storks, which made even the lappet-faced vultures look small.

We headed towards Serena, in the middle of the park, where Julius told us there are crossings happening regularly at the moment. We decided to drive along the road leading to the Serengeti in Tanzania for a bit, to see what the Serengeti looks like. Along this road we looked out onto the endlessly flat savannah plains of the Serengeti, broken by flat-topped inselbergs. There were hundreds of thousands of wildebeest and zebra along this stretch. As far as your eye could see, were black dots and they weren't rocks, but wildebeest milling around and grazing or walking or galloping in long rows. It was amazing to see so much game. We were both so grateful for arriving here now, as we were witnessing an incredible wildlife spectacle and one of the wonders of the world, the great wildebeest migration. Our timing for arriving in the Mara couldn't have been better. On our return back to the main road and on to the crossing points over the Mara river, we spotted a huge healthy male lion walking purposefully through all the game, which didn't seem to flinch at all. He was striding back to a kill he had made earlier and on arriving back at the now vulture-crowded kill, he was particularly annoyed at the vultures invading his meal, while he had obviously gone away for a drink. We then noticed another male had joined him and together they ate their wildebeest calf kill. We popped into Serena Camp on the way back and were very grateful we knew about Oloololo Gate's open campsite, as Serena is in a woodland area on a hillside and has no view.

From the campsite, we pulled into the various crossing points along the river, driving through masses of wildebeest, zebra and gazelle. We stopped and waited, looking at the famous Mara River. The banks at the various crossing points were high, but also had well worn paths down them which must have been used again and again for many years. We were a bit confused at first, as to which way the animals would cross, as there were animals on both sides of the river. The crocs at each point were enormous as they sprawled out lazily on the sand banks. We had thought the crocs in South Luangwa were big, but these are huge and so fat! At the crossing points we met up with Kim & Barbs and their 2 girls and with Barry & Paula and their 3 girls and little boy. We also met a Dutch couple and saw a few photographers and film crew, but nothing obvious seemed to be happening. We drove off to explore more of the park, seeing a very lazy mating pair of lion, just sleeping under a tree. It got sunny and really hot, which made the animals very lazy in the middle of the day, but they were all still visible.

Before heading back to Oloololo Gate, we stopped in at the crossing points again, hoping to see a crossing. Someone had definitely given a signal because there were suddenly quite a few vehicles parked on both banks of the Mara River and even a small plane that flew overhead. Suddenly a huge herd of wildebeest massed on the opposite bank and it looked like they were about to cross over to our side of the river, the wrong way as far as we understood. More and more of them arrived, pushing and bumping eachother. They cautiously and very nervously approached the bank trying to choose where to cross. Suddenly from across the river, on our side, we saw a constant stream of wildebeest jumping crazily into the river and swimming as hard as they could across the 10-15metres of fast flowing river to the other side. The wildebeest just kept on jumping, some plummeting about 6 or 7m down into the water. There was a lot of noise from all the grunting of the wildebeest, encouraging those wildebeest who were crossing. This crossing carried on for about 25minutes. Luckily the fat crocs seemed too full to bother with those wildebeest crossing, except if a wildebeest got separated and swept down stream. One poor wildebeest got it's leg stuck in the rocks mid-stream of a rapid and struggled to free itself. The other wildebeest on the banks seemed a bit concerned, but those in the water, just formed another line around this poor creature and clambered to climb up the steep rocky bank on the other side. It's incredible to watch this drive that is so strong it makes these animals almost go into a frenzy as they cross. Luckily we only saw two lifeless bodies float downstream, which must have been crushed or trampled as they jumped or tried to cross. The crocs didn't even seem that interested in them as they floated past. The poor wildebeest still stuck in the river continued to struggle to free itself, but was still stuck when we left. We both wished a croc would just kill it and take it out of its awful fate.

We found a quicker, more direct route back to camp, but were both buzzing with what we had just witnessed. The two families were back at the campsite before us and had set up already, with a huge welcoming fire blazing. They invited us to join them for a one-pot-wonder meal once we'd set ourselves up. They refused to let us bring anything and opened up their cirlce around the fire to include us. We then got chatting to our new friends. Barry and Paula are farmers from Balgowan and are so lovely. Kim and Barbs, from Kloof, are also such a lovely couple and made us feel welcome right away. Kim works with an old school friend of Ross's from Maritzburg College many years back. The dinner was really delicious and the meat was surprisingly tender, as they had bought it from a local butcher and were worried it wouldn't be nice. They had brought a pressure cooker along with them to cook over the fire with, which is a really clever plan. The 6 lovely, polite and very well mannered children went off to bed in their various tents, the two Kloof girls, Paula and Leigh, in their rooftop tent and the other four Balgowan children, Brit, Jody, Jackie and John into their extended rooftop tent. It was quite cool tonight and we were very grateful to have the fire to warm up around.

Soon after we had arrived back at the campsite another family, in a new white Landrover Defender 130, arrived. This was Judie and Phillip and their 2 daughters. They are travelling for 8 months, having taken their girls out of school to show them Africa. They had done a long drive from somewhere near Lake Turkana, so were relieved to finally stop, especially as they had been driving in the dark. They were very kindly invited to join in our dinner too, but declined as they had another family joining them who were a little way behind them. Judie and Phillip are a lovely couple from Cape Town and have been on the road for about 3 months already. They set up their rooftop tent and then opened up their back door, which made us all a bit green with envy as they were SO organised and totally dust free. They had asked Bushwakka Trailers in Worcester to build the back of their Landy in the same way that they fit out their 4x4 trailers. A little later, the other family arrived and they all ate around a long table, while we sat around the fire.

After a really enjoyable evening, we all climbed into our various mobile tent homes for a good night's sleep.

Tuesday 29th July 2008: Oloololo Gate, Masai Mara, Kenya

GPS Info: S01° 15' 29.5" E34° 59' 51.5"

Miles Today: 56 Total Miles: 30 202

The view this morning from the tent was so stunning. We could see 3 hot air balloons floating in the air slightly to the right of us, obviously from Little Governor's Camp. The two KwaZulu Natal families were all busy, including all the children. It was cold and a bit damp from the dew, but the sky was clear which would probably mean a hot day ahead. We made something hot to drink and sat around the stoked up fire to warm up a bit. The children were all playing together which was so cute. After breakfast and packing up, these two families left on their game drives. We chatted to Karen and Judie, swopping info we had about Uganda, etc. and getting info from them about Mozambique and the ferry crossing. Karen and Karl and their 2 boys, are also from Cape Town and are travelling for 6 months, having also taken their boys out of school for this time, to show them Africa. They left on a game drive and after much chatting to Phillip and Judie, they then left too. All 4 SA families we've met are so lovely and we wished we could spend another night chatting to all of them. The Natal families were camping at Oloololo Gate tonight, while the Cape Town families were heading to Serena Camp.

We set off on our game drive after paying our park entry fees again for the day ($40p/p/day + KSh300p/vehicle/day and $10each to camp). It remained cloudy all day, but did get quite warm, which must have had an effect on the cats. We saw lots of ellies and giraffe, as well as thousands more wildebeest and zebra, but no sign of cats or crossings at all. Right at the beginning of our drive along the Mara river, close to the campsite and airstrip, we saw a herd of about 50 plus zebra, all massing and edging towards the river, which looked like a potential crossing. There were some huge crocs lazing on the opposite bank, and one swimming up and down in the water making his presence known to the zebra. The bank along which they were all grouping had a steep drop into the water, so they weren't able to reach down and drink from the river. One brave zebra however eventually got to have a long drink, but then struggled to get back up the bank to safety. All of the zebra were very nervous and twitchy, very aware of the real dangers lurking in the water below them. We stayed and watched them for ages, but finally decided to leave as they didn't look brave enough to cross. More and more zebra arrived, but it didn't look like they would cross, or not for a while at least.

We drove on to the crossing points and saw many camera and film crews parked and waiting, but they hadn't seen crossings all day. We met up with Kim and Barbs and Barry and Paula, who had seen a small wildebeest crossing, when a Thompson's gazelle had sadly also been taken by a croc as it attempted to cross. This crossing confused them as the animals were crossing back again from the wrong side...

We drove into Serena Lodge to see about changing money, but their rate was so ridiculously low, that we decided against it. The view from the Lodge over the Masai Mara and the Mara river, looks right onto the crossing points, and is really stunning. The Lodge was busy when we got there, as it was afternoon game drive time. Leaving there we drove past more huge herds of wildebeest and zebra, seeing black dots and lines spreading out over the vast plains for as far as we could see. Once again we couldn't believe we were in the Mara at this perfect time. We met up with Karen, Karl and the boys and heard they'd decided against staying at Serena campsite, but they invited us to join them at South Gate campsite. We drove over to have a look at the campsite, which looked nice enough and also had latrines (pit loo) and a cold shower. The campsite is small and right on the road, which could get busy in the morning, as it's the most used gate.It is along the Mara river, but not where the animals congregate or cross.

It was quite late for us to drive all the way back to Oloololo Gate, so we didn't really have too much time to stop for things along the way...this is always the way and the time when you see the most. We saw many hyaenas on our return drive through the plains, some were young, fluffy and still suckling. The light got worse and then we spotted two lionesses walking together close to the road. We stopped and watched them for a bit. One lay down in the grass, while the other one carrried on walking. It didn't seem like they were on a hunt, but we decided to keep an eye on the one still walking forward. Very soon we heard the call of another lion somewhere ahead in the distance. The lioness suddenly looked very alert and crouched down just after crossing the road ahead of us. We spotted what had caught her attention and it looked like a young wildebeest. She crept up on this animal and then seemingly without too much effort, just rushed in and grabbed it by the throat, holding it for a few seconds before dropping it to the ground. Then we saw the other lion which we had heard earlier. It was a male and just ran over and picked up the lioness' kill, while she carried on walking. It all happened so quickly and with no fuss. We had just seen our first lion kill.

Unfortunately with it being so late already and the light fading rapidly, we couldn't wait any longer and drove back to the campsite with our headlights on. By the time we got there it was dark already and it looked like a storm was brewing. We parked in our same spot and started putting the tent up straight away. The two Natal families were already sitting around their campfire eating dinner. Barry suddenly walked over and gave us one of their "jiko's", filled with fresh coals from their fire. He had kindly prepared it for us, seeing that we were late in getting back and knew we still needed to cook dinner. Such a kind gesture from our amazing new friends. We started cooking right away, at the back of the vehicle, under the overhanging rooftent. Just as well because the rain suddenly started and got harder and harder. Heidi jumped into Duzi2 while Ross tried to keep the jiko out of the rain. The wind picked up strongly and made the raindrops feel like hailstones, but suddenly everything became a lot calmer. We quickly tried to finish cooking dinner, which also included braaing some steak we had. Around this time we started hearing lions roaring in the distance and they seemed to be getting closer. Not knowing how much time we had left, we opted for eating the food sooner rather than later and when it started raining again we both jumped into Duzi2 to eat our meal.

A little later we climbed up into the tent for a lovely snooze after another amazing day in the Masai Mara. We both love this place.

Happy birthday Claire. Congrats on your 30th! We hope you have a very special day, wherever you are, to celebrate it. May this year be filled with God's very best for you.

Wednesday 30th July 2008: Oloololo Gate, Masai Mara, Kenya

GPS Info: S01° 15' 29.5" E34° 59' 51.5"

Miles Today: 201 Total Miles: 30 403

We packed up and got on the road fairly early. Everything was still wet and the weather was cool and cloudy. We only saw one hot air balloon in the sky this morning. We were wondering what they would've been able to see this morning, as it was quite miserable and cloudy. Julius had told us yesterday that because we were transit'ing through the Masai Mara on our way to Nairobi, we didn't need to pay park fees for the day, but would just need to show our camping and day tickets at the gate to prove we were on our way out. We saw a lot of ellies close to the campsite, as well as buffalo, wildebeest, zebra, impala, topis, giraffe and gazelle. Due to last night's drenching rain, the roads were VERY slippery and we slid our way along to the crossing points. Barry and Paula's car had spotted 3 lion who looked like they were hunting. We decided to drive on and stopped off at the mating lion pair who looked exhausted.

It was amazing to get to the crossing points and find that there didn't seem to be as much game massed around as there had been for the last 2 days. The poor wildebeest which had become stuck in the centre of the river yesterday, was now dead and still stuck in the rocks at the top of the rapids, untouched by crocs. The fat lazy crocs were still very visible and quite content to rest in the sand until their next feed. We drove around to the next crossing point and found an enormous herd of wildebeest massing. This herd were running with a real sense of urgency towards the river and the black dots continued arriving from over the distant hills. This was one of the biggest herds we'd seen so far. Everyone drove right around the massing animals, so as not to disrupt or break-up the herd and prevent a crossing. A vehicle had done this yesterday and was now nicknamed the Migration Killer! There were 2 game drive vehicles parked on the one side of a gully area waiting along the river bank, and 4 cars parked alongside one another next to us, waiting to see where they would cross. The numbers kept increasing and the wildebeest got restless, pushing each other around. You could see the urgency building amongst them. A group started running to one bank, but then stopped and turned around. Another big group ran off in a line around the bushes, in the direction of the crossing point we'd all just come from, but they also stopped and turned around. Suddenly one of them started leading a big group towards the river bank. This hopefully meant that they were about to cross. All the cars moved to a point where we could all see and we all waited. There were some huge crocs lying in wait on the sand and in the water. An aeroplane had been flying overhead and vehicles started arriving on the opposite banks. The anticipation and excitement in all the people was obvious, as we all tried to get good views, still not too sure where they would actually cross.

Suddenly hundreds of wildebeest started sprinting into a small space in the bush, too many of them to be able to stop and turn around and it was obvious they would have to cross. With so many of them racing into such a small area, they would've pushed each other over the banks if the first animals had hesitated or decided to try and turn around. Suddenly the first brave or insane few wildebeest took the plunge, jumping straight off the high banks into the water far below. This was the start of an amazing crossing as a frenzy of hundreds of wildebeest followed the driving urge inside them, to run the gauntlet and cross the croc infested Mara water. One after the other they jumped, plunging into the water way below. The first few plummeted into the water until the herd, through shear numbers, eroded and collapsed the bank so the rest of the animals had an easier entry point. The river was flowing really quickly where the animals were crossing, so a few different lines were formed as animals got washed downstream. A frenzy of grunting gnus swam with all their might against the Mara River's current, desperately fighting to get to the other side. The numbers plummeting into the water didn't let up, but continued for ages as the black dots, from way up the hill behind us, upped their pace to a gallop all coming down to cross. The lines of crossing wildebeest broke up and reformed and some really clever ones jumped right in front of Barry & Paula's and Kim & Barbara's vehicles, giving us perfect views.

Some massive crocs awoke to the fact that their chance of food was happening and tried many times to catch the struggling gnus, as they swam their hearts out to the other side. One croc had many unsuccessful attempts at various gnus, with everyone on the bank shouting for the gnu to struggle free from the croc's jaws. It's jaw took up the entire head and most of the neck of some of these poor creatures, but all except one got away. Everyone was cheering and aahing as the crocs tried to attack the poor wildebeest. Cheers as the wildebeest got free and aahs as they didn't. The last poor wildebeest got swept downstream away from the others into deep water. In an instant the massive croc seized the opportunity. The gnu fought valiantly, before being pulled under the water and drowned by the monsterous jaws and sheer strength of the croc. After a few desperate grunts and bellows, there was silence and the crossing had ended. We all wished we could've saved this poor animal, but that is nature. We all felt so sorry for it, but at least it happened quickly.

Being SO pleased to have witnessed this spectacle before we left, our 3 cars realised we still had a lot of ground to cover in order to get to Nairobi in daylight. Our drive out through the park was filled with game, but sadly we saw no classic cheetah sitting on top of mounds, scanning for prey. We did see many topis though all standing proudly on their individual mounds. We showed our previous day's passes at the boom at the Mara River bridge and were waved through, being wished a safe onwards journey. As we crossed over the Mara river bridge we heard a pop and a loud hiss coming from one of the back tyres...another puncture. We pulled over and Kim and Barry immediately appeared with a high-lift jack and took our wheel spanner, to help Ross make the fastest tyre change. Formula One had nothing on these guys. Barbs and Paula seized the opportunity to make a lunch stop, as the children were hungry and this spot seemed perfect. There were lots of mini-bus game viewing vehicles at this crossing and we were amazed how they had all crossed and missed the sharp metal bracket that we'd managed to puncture our tyre on. We enjoyed a quick lunch together and then headed on our way in convoy through the park. The numbers of game were reduced at this side of the park, but the scenery was still amazing.

Passing through the southern gate we joined the road to Nairobi. The road is in bad condition, with badly broken tar and potholes, endless mountain-high speed bumps and fine blinding dust. We stopped to see if some cyclists at the side of the road were okay. They turned out to be the same 4 cyclists we'd just missed when we got to Chimfunshi in Zambia. They are only a week from finishing their cycle and were so covered in dust. We pitied them with all the fine dust on this road. At the end of this road we stopped off and bought a lovely Maasai blanket before driving up a steep winding pass, reaching really high and overlooking the long, flat, open plains below. The views from here must be stunning on a clear day.

As we were approaching Nairobi, we heard a pop and loud hiss and couldn't believe our eyes. A second puncture in one day, and it was the brand new tyre we'd only put on at lunchtime!!! There was a steep drop-off on the side of the road, so we didn't have a shoulder area to pull over in, and the cars were flying down the hill towards us. We got out our emergency triangle and placed it higher up in the lane, but feared it would get squashed very soon. Three people appeared out of nowhere, which put both of us on edge, especially with the horror stories you hear about Nairobi. Ross climbed onto the roof to get our second spare off. One of the guys crossed over the road, into the middle island, and began chopping branches and placed them in the lane close to us all the way up the road, forcing the traffic into one lane. They all helped us change as quickly as we could. One guy said to Ross that where we were stuck was a 'black spot', a very dangerous place, where accidents are common due to cars coming down the road far too quickly.With our second spare now on, which was the one we bought in Zambia and which isn't the same size as the other tyres, we hobbled into Nairobi trying to find our way in the dark, without a fully functioning GPS! There is so much traffic on the roads here and drivers are very unpredictable, so Heidz was very relieved Ross was driving.

We turned down a little dark side street trying to pick our way to the Jungle Junction waypoint we had. We soon realised this was the wrong way and turned around to leave. The side of the road was full of people and candle-lit market stalls. We noticed a guy with a loaded bicycle trying to get passed us, between us and the wall alongside us and then heard a hard thump against the back panel of Duz. Ross looked out to see the guy just standing there, with his bike on the floor. He repeatedly asked if he was alright, but got no response. With a crowd now forming around the vehicle, another man came up to Ross shouting, "YOU knocked him down, now he's hurt it's YOUR fault.". This was totally untrue and we both decided to head on promptly, as this could easily be turned against us, making us pay for something totally staged.

Eventually we found Jungle Junction and were greeted by very relieved friends, who were wondering what had happened to us. They were also stunned at our 2 punctures in one day! We popped up the tent, made a yummy spaghetti bolognaise for supper and chatted and laughed with Kim and Barbs, until it got late and we all headed to bed.

Thursday 31st July 2008: Jungle Junction, Nairobi, Kenya

GPS Info: S01° 17' 20.4" E36° 45' 37.3"

Miles Today: 22 Total Miles: 30 425

Awoke to a rainy grey day. We chatted to Chris, the owner of Jungle Junction, about where he recommended we go to repair our tyres. He showed us various tyre repair places on a big map of Nairobi, and also where to go to refill our gas bottles. He chatted to us about The David Sheldrick Trust, which is where the 'Elephant Diaries' ellie orphange is and about the Giraffe Centre, which he said was expensive and over-rated.

We firstly drove to Nakumatt Junction to change money at the Forex office, as their rate was higher than the bank, had a hasty look around the HUGE Nakumatt shop to see what they had, popped into the Kikoy shop next door and then went over to the industrial side of town to Kingsway Tyres. Kingsway were super efficient and very friendly. They told us fantastic news...both our tyres could be repaired, saving us the expense of having to replace all our tyres. The first one that had been punctured by the metal bracket on the Mara bridge was hot patched on both the inside and outside a number of times, and the cause of the puncture in the second tyre was a complete surprise. We had bought this tyre in Zambia, but obviously when they fitted it to the wheel, they didn't have the correct size TUBELESS valve, so they just put a tube in a tubeless tyre and thought it wouldn't matter!!! No wonder we couldn't find a fault in or on the tyre itself, as the fault lay inside the tyre! Nico, in Zambia, will be furious when he finds this out. So now in Nairobi, this repair was easy. The tyre luckily hadn't been damaged through having the puncture and all that was needed was to just fit a tubeless valve of the correct size and we were sorted. While the back wheel was off, Ross inspected Duzi2 and noticed one of the rear shocks had snapped completely in half and was dangling in two pieces. Kingsway didn't sell shocks, but directed us to an area where there were a lot of car-part shops. The whole tyre process had taken a long time, so by the time we raced over to the gas place, they were closed and so were all the car-part shops.

After hours of just sitting in the awful traffic through Nairobi, not moving at all, we decided to stop in at Nakumatt Junction again, to buy a pizza to pop in the oven for dinner. The pizzas in the shop were small and only a tiny fraction less than take-away pizzas from Pizza Inn, so we treated ourselves to take-aways instead. Returning to Jungle Junction, we enjoyed our pizzas sitting in the communal lounge with a fire raging in the fireplace. It was so lovely and warm with the fire. We sat chatting to two bikers Paul and Sam, riding down from Alexandria to Cape Town, down the east coast, in only 6 mad weeks. They had some horrendous stories to tell us of their time in Ethiopia, being stoned and beaten by kids as they rode past. Sam even had a very unfortunate incident with a little child running out onto the road in front of him, who he subsequently hit, breaking the child's leg. After a few tense and dreadful days and lots of horrific things resulting from this, Sam managed to get out of Ethiopia by paying the family US$1 800.00, for the child's negligence. Hopefully the little boy will look before running out next time, but this sounds like it's a real problem there.

After a thoroughly enjoyable evening chatting to Paul until very late, having eaten our delicious pizzas and finding a strange shaped live worm in our now empty pizza box, we popped up the tent and headed for bed. It was still drizzling and miserable.

Friday 1st August 2008: Jungle Junction, Nairobi, Kenya

GPS Info: S01° 17' 20.4" E36° 45' 37.3"

Miles Today: 50 Total Miles: 30 475

We were the only campers last night which was a bit weird. We had a busy day ahead of us, hoping to get a new rear shock, and get to The David Sheldrick Ellie and Rhino Trust by 11:00am as you can only see the orphan ellies between 11am and 12noon.Then we planned to go to the Giraffe Centre and afterwards to refill our gas bottles, while we knew of a place that was prepared to do them. Chris recommended we go to Impala Motors, on the way to the David Sheldrick Trust, for shocks and any other Landy parts we may need. Impala Motors is in the lovely Karen area of Nairobi, and they were helpful and reasonably priced. We bought three new rear shocks hoping to now have spares, as well as new rubber bushes and mounting washers. The Karen area has everything named Karen - shops, roads, hospitals, shopping centres etc, all after Karen Blixen, the author of "Out of Africa." This area is open and green with huge, smart estates and paddocks for horses and bush for wildlife. This part of Nairobi must be really lovely to live in, but must be expensive too.

To get to the David Sheldrick Ellie and Rhino Orphanage, you enter through the second gate (Staff entrance gate) of the Nairobi National Park and follow the Sheldrick signs. Neither of us could believe we were actually here and as we walked in, we recognised the trucks and wooden stables from The Elephant Diaries series, which we had watched and loved while we were in London. There were lots of cars and lots of people, but we knew we had the full hour to enjoy watching the ellie babies. Entry was cheap at KSh300p/p. The elephant orphans are with their keepers, and are separated from the crowd by a rope barrier stretched across. Various keepers were telling the various stories about these litttle orphan ellies. We recognised Edwin, the keeper in charge from Elephant Diaries, which was filmed 4years ago. There is another series that has just been screened in the UK, but wasn't available on DVD yet. There were 9 orphans ranging from 3months to 21months and some of their stories are so sad, but as the keepers kept saying, "Their stories start off sad, but they all have happy endings now." The youngest 3month old ellie, Kiamana, was tiny and had a blacket wrapped around him to keep him warm as it was cold. Sadly he only had half his trunk due to his sad, traumatic start in life, and he was so cute as he was trying to suckle on the other ellie's ears.

All of the orphans were a browny-red colour from the red dirt they'd been rolling in and spraying themselves with. Some of the ellies were real characters pushing each other around and lying on top of one another, squashing each other. One older female orphan, Shimba, has a tendency to push against and climb over the rope barrier into the crowds. She was also the last to eventually run off, after lagging way behind, when the other orphan ellies all walked off on their morning walk into Nairobi National Park, with their keepers. The keepers kept saying these babies are like naughty children and always want to do the opposite of what they are told to do. They were so gorgeous to watch as they played with stones and branches, with their trunks and with their keepers. You could see complete love, trust and devotion between the ellies and their keepers. The keepers are rotated so as not to get too attached to one ellie, and the keepers are also rotated out to Tsavo National Park, where the grown up ellie orphans are released into a bigger protected area and eventually back into the main Tsavo National Park itself. The Trust has had 38 ellie orphans successfully released back into the wild, which would otherwise have died. We both felt so priviledged to be here and see this special place with their incredibly dedicated staff. People can adopt an ellie and would then be sent details and photos of their ellie's progress. This also always you unlimited visits and the priviledge of watching the ellies being put to bed in the evening. The 9 orphans in this little herd have formed a strong family unit with the oldest ellie, who had established herself as the mini matriarch, even though she is only 21months old. We spoke to Edwin and Cedrik, two keepers, at the end of the visiting hour, commending them on their amazing work. Cedrik was the Community Development Officer, who goes into schools and communities making them aware of the effects of poaching and the need to conserve wildlife. There were lots of school groups along the rope, watching the ellies. Some of the children in uniforms were tiny tots, who were loving seeing the ellies, and were only a bit bigger than they were.

Edwin told us there are various ways they estimate the orphaned elephant's age when it first arrives. This is what we think we could remember: 0-2months they suckle milk only, 2-4months they start developing teeth and using their trunks, 4-6months they lose a soft spongy layer on the under pads of their feet, at around 2 years they start developing tusks and so it goes on. We wish we had remembered more of this as it was so interesting.

On our way back to the carpark, we saw Shima, one of the orphaned Black rhinos, who now roams freely in Nairobi National Park. Shima was rescued at 3 months old and now, being 2 years old, comes and goes as he pleases. He had come back to the orphanage this morning to enjoy some tasty branches. The keepers put up an electric wire, to keep him away from us as he came out of his pen on his way back to the wild. Maxwell is another rescued orphan black rhino, but he is completely blind, so will not be released back into the wild. He enjoys his huge pen and his delicious branches to munch on, and the love and care of the keepers.

Both having loved being with the ellies, we drove on to the Giraffe Centre, KSh700p/p. This was grossly expensive and hugely over-rated. It's basically a glorified petting zoo, where you get to stand on a raised wooden platform to feed giraffe. Supposedly all the funds go back into the giraffe breeding programme, to benefit the Rothschild Giraffes. There were lots of school groups here and very little info. Sadly, we both felt this place was a tourist trap and we'd definitely recommend a visit to the Sheldrick Trust over this, as the Sheldrick trust they are doing their work out of genuine love and not to make money. We both fed the giraffes their cubes and got photos of the greedy things contentedly devouring our first handful. We were then shown to feed them one cube at a time to be able to get photos. These giraffe are supposed to be on diet due to all this petting food, so visitors are restricted to feeding them two handfuls of cubes each. Their coat is course and they have long blackish grey tongues, which wrapped right around one little girl's hand as she fed the giraffe. Being this close to a giraffe, you can't help but notice how beautiful their eyes and long eye-lashes are. Giraffes only look directly in front of them, so if you were standing on their side, you had to be careful of being head-butted by accident.

From the Giraffe Centre we drove out past Wilson's Airport, back into the industrial part of Nairobi to refill our gas bottles. Our CampingGaz bottle is empty and we're not too sure how fast our Cadac bottle is being used, as our stove seems to be more effective and gas efficient using the CampingGaz. For peace of mind we decided to fill the CampingGaz bottle and check on the Cadak bottle too. This way we know we have more than enough gas to last us for ages. On the way to the gas shop we passed a Garmin advertising board outside a shop near the airport and thought we'd try and see if they could help with our GPS problem, which still isn't showing any detail. We couldn't get to the shop without driving through the airport toll gate so we turned around, but luckily stumbled upon an outdoor market in a shopping centre carpark nearby. Yay, Heidz could at last get some kikoys and they were a much better price than what we'd seen so far. After a stressful short market shop, we entered the traffic again to get to ChemiGas before 5pm. The men at ChemiGas were so helpful and weighed both gas bottles. They filled up our CampingGaz bottle for a minimal fee and topped up our Cadac bottle for free. With all the things we wanted to do today now being done, we joined the long, slow traffic jam back to Jungle Junction.

We weren't the only campers tonight. Debbie and Andrew (http://wheahwe.blogspot.com) in their Landy, were parked with their rooftop tent open. They are a lovely South African couple who have been driving for 3 months, down the east coast from London to here and are continuing on to Kokstad over roughly 6 months. We chatted to them and had a really lovely evening together. We made a veggie stew with rice for dinner and ate it while chatting inside around the fire. It continued to rain so we were all thankful to have somewhere warm and dry to sit, without getting rained on. Mom and Paps phoned with Mom still undecided about joining us. On the phone she decided she would go ahead and try to confirm her flight, to join us in Dar on the 9th August. Later on in the evening, we met Richard, another biker, who had just returned from climbing Mt Kenya. He showed us his photos, which were stunning!

Saturday 2nd August 2008: Jungle Junction, Nairobi, Kenya

GPS Info: S01° 17' 20.4" E36° 45' 37.3"

Miles Today: 2 Total Miles: 30 477

Woke to another drizzly wet day. We packed up the tent before it got too wet and moved Duz close to Chris's workshop to change and replace the back shocks and for Chris to weld the one rear shock mounting that had sheared off outside South Luangwa National Park in Zambia. Hopefully with new solid rear shocks, Duz will be less bouncy. After a fried egg and toast breakfast, Ross in his overall got busy with the shocks, while Heidz got busy typing up updates. We were very grateful for Chris's offer to weld our shock mounting back on for us, especially when we know the roads in Mozambique are not great.

Ross spent the whole day working on the shocks, and Chris quickly welded the mounting. We cooked lunch and ate it in the very late afternoon. Duzi2 now has 3 new rear shocks, and the other shocks have new rubber bushes, which had already worn down since Kibondo in Tanzania.

As it got dark, Ross finally finished and was totally shattered. We were a bit surprised by Chris' charge for the work he had done, especially since Ross had done so much of it himself. We felt we had been completely ripped off by his supposed friendly offer to help. We should have asked for the cost up front. Unfortunately we never got to Amboseli National Park for the night, and rather regrettedly decided to stay another night at Jungle Junction. Regrettedly, not because Jungle Junction isn't a nice place, but rather because it's a bit expensive and we really wanted to leave Nairobi and it's crazy traffic behind us. Andrew had tried to help Ross through the day and was grateful to be able to watch and learn from Ross' experiences, for various things he needs to do on their landy when they return to Nairobi in the next few days. Andrew and Debbie bought some Kenyan kikoy material, to make some curtains to stop eyes peering into their car and to stop them being constantly begged for lifts.

Although it was dark when Ross finally finished working on Duz, we should be a lot more solid while driving. We decided to go for coffee at the coffee shop in Nakumatt Junction as we'd seen they had advertised free WIFI, so we thought we could download emails and upload some updates, but sadly when we got there they were closed. So instead we went to the Java Coffee House, with Ross having a big burger while Heidz enjoyed some delicious carrot cake.

On leaving Nakumatt Junction to drive back to Jungle Junction, we turned into an entrance way before rejoining the road in the opposite direction, to avoid entering town and were promptly stopped by 2 policemen who were adamant to fine us for doing an 'illegal' U-turn and for causing an obstruction to traffic, in a road empty of all vehicles!!! There were no signs saying no U-turns, so it was not illegal. The fine for both 'offences' was apparently KSh5 000 each, which we didn't have the money for. They then said that we could pay the equivalent number in Euros (??) and we could pretend they were the same as Kenyan Shillings. They were determined to get money from us, but we refused to pay. We said we would go to the police station and pay there, but had no room in Duz to fit them in. They tried to scare us by saying if we went to the police station we would be imprisoned, have to pay KSh5 000.00 cash bail and then have to appeal in court. At one stage one of them walked to a nearby bus shelter and phoned the other policeman with us, posing as the constable in charge. The whole conversation was in English and so obviously staged it was almost laughable. This whole malarky went on for about 1 1/2 hours and it was late. We were both quite fed up, but wouldn't budge about paying them a bribe. We were contemplating opening up the tent on the side of the road and camping there, if they wouldn't just let us go with a warning. They eventually realised we weren't going to pay and suddenly said, "Just go!". Our quick trip out for a cup of coffee had ended up being a long ordeal and we were glad to be able to eventually climb into the tent to sleep, after a rather frustrating day. As we drove off, we were both a bit annoyed that we hadn't taken down their names and police numbers, which could've really worried them, as there is supposed to be a big anti-corruption drive on in Kenya at the moment.

Happy birthday Murray. We hope you have a very special day and enjoy celebrating your birthday with your friends. We can't wait to see you very soon in South Africa.

Sunday 3rd August 2008: Jungle Junction, Nairobi, Kenya

GPS Info: S01° 17' 20.4" E36° 45' 37.3"

Miles Today: 189 Total Miles: 30 666

Up to an early start we were keen to get out of Nairobi and into Amboseli, to enjoy the game. We had received texts from Kim and Barbs about which campsites to stay at and which to avoid . They also left us clues for a treasure hunt, to find their aggy (coal stove) which they had left for us, hidden in the bushes under a big acacia tree with a kite stuck in it, in one of the campsites. We got chatting to more bikers who'd driven down the east, also having had issues with Ethiopia, which was obviously not a nice place to go without a closed vehicle, and even then you still get stoned! We were also congratulated for not giving in to the corrupt policemen last night. They are known for their intimidating tactics and generally get people to buckle to their ways and demands.

Chris had told us of a short cut around Nairobi, joining the main road south to Tanzania at Kajiado which we took, but missed the one turning so headed south towards Lake Magadi. Back on track, we drove along passed dry thorny scrub. There were a lot of traditional Maasai along the road, dressed in their red or purple cotton robes, and striped or checked red or purple blankets, draped over their shoulders to keep them warm. It was cold and we were both in fleeces. The Maasai wear basic open sandals that look like they're made from motorbike tyres, with straps that make them almost look like primitive strops. They were also all carrying their spears or wooden clubs as they herded their huge cattle and goat herds.

As we got closer to Namanga, the border town between Kenya and Tanzania, we saw a high pointed mountain directly in front of us. At first we thought it was Mount Kilimanjaro, but it had the wrong shape. We eventually left this behind us at Namanga, as we turned onto the awfully corregated road to Amboseli National Park, and realised Kilimanjaro was still to come, but was totally covered in thick cloud. Driving along the awful gravel road, with corrugations so big you jumped over them no matter what speed you drove at, was sheer torture as we were dreading what this was doing to our new shocks. There are well used side roads most of the way, alongside the badly corrugated main road, but the angle you drive at along these was not great. Mom and Paps phoned us while we were tackling this unpleasant section, with the very exciting news that mom had confirmed her flight to meet us in Dar on the 9th August. It will be so lovely having her with us for the week, but a real pity Paps can't come too, due to work commitments.

We entered through Amboseli's gate at about 3.45pm and our permit cost us U$40p/p/24hrs + KSh300p/vehicle/24hrs. Luckily our permit would be valid until this time tomorrow. We were a bit unsure whether we would be staying for 1night or 2, so only paid for 1. At Amboseli you need to recharge a card, that looks like a phone card, and your money is deducted from this. Only this gate handles money and recharges these cards, so we were a bit unsure how convenient this card system will be. We were also told we needed to hand the card in on exiting, forfeiting any outstanding money still on the card. We had read about the new card system, but this was the first place we had actually encountered it. At the entrance gate there were traditionally dressed Maasai women, trying quite forcibly to sell Maasai made things - jewelllery, beadwork and blankets. They were dressed in red cotton wraps, with red and black checked or striped Maasai blankets draped around their shoulders, and had many beaded necklaces, bracelets and earings. Many of these women had facial scarring and lower teeth missing, like Julius had told us about in the Masai Mara. Much of the beadwork is very brightly coloured and many of the Maasai women had huge holes in their ears from wearing solid wooden pieces as earings.

After entering the flat, open, dry Amboseli NP, we drove for a long time over Amboseli Dam. This used to be a dam, but is now a dry, flat, open, sandy expanse of nothingness. We saw a few zebra, lone wildebeest, giraffe, impala and gazelles each sending up a dust storm as they trod across the sand flats. The giraffe were silhouetted against the shimmering mirages on the horizon, as it was hot and the mirages were deceptive. The road was horrendous with lots of tracks snaking their way ahead of us. It was hard knowing which was the correct road and which was not, especially as there are rules about NOT driving off road. The roads are very badly corrugated, with the sandy parts being a very fine powdery dust that ballooned up behind us, and very few signs to know where they were leading to.

We drove through woody areas, open grassy areas and then onto the wetland areas. We were not able to see Mount Kilimanjaro at all, as it was sadly still totally covered by clouds. We were able to vaguely make out where the broad base of it started and ended, but had no idea how high it would actually climb up to in the sky. Amboseli National Park is where you see the classic photos taken of game, especially elephant, in the foreground and the magestic snow-capped Kilimanjaro rising up high in the background. This is also where the elephants submerge themselves in the water and plants growing in the Enkongu Narok Swamps. It was so weird to see the ellies using their trunks as snorkels, with only the top of their heads and ears exposed, as they enjoyed wallowing in the water. Another weird thing we noticed in Amboseli NP was that most of the zebra have no manes and look like striped polo ponies with long, thin, shaved necks.

After a full day's game viewing, we headed to the Amboseli Community Campsite for the night, in the south of the park. We met the very friendly man at the reception office, who told us the best place for us to camp would be where our friends had camped, under the very big acacia at the edge of the campsite. His English was very good and he told us he remembered Barry's HUGE Ford bakkie, saying "it is one of the biggest trucks I have ever seen in my life." Barbs had sent us a text with clues as to where they had hidden their aggy for us when we got here. 'In the bush, next to the path at the base of the big acacia tree with the kite stuck in it." We drove over and parked Duz, then following the text message clues, found their aggy. There was another couple camping on the other side of the tree, who we went over to say Hi to. Juliette and Cerville were a French couple from Paris, who were on holiday for the first time in Africa and this was only their second night and they were camping in a rather open campsite. The man from reception came over to tell us there is an elephant who regularly visits the camp, by stepping over the fence. "She is used to people so you should be fine, if she comes in tonight," he said to us. Sadly at this campsite you are constantly pestered by the Maasai from the 3 nearby villages who want to invite you to come on a tour of their village for a fee, or buy some real Maasai jewellery. They don't seem to understand the word No, No thank you, etc, no matter how many times or ways you say it. We both got so annoyed as here you have NO privacy or peace and quiet, in the daytime or at night in the dark. Both couples felt quite awkward as you don't want to offend the Maasai, but you come to Amboseli to see game. We started our fire fairly early for some warmth and light, hoping to keep any visiting hyaenas away. Once we had hot coals we gave some to our neighbours, to help their fire along its way.

We made a delicious tuna salad for dinner, using 2-minute noodles as a base. The clouds seemed to be clearing, and we were all hoping it would be clear in the morning to catch a glimpse of Kilimanjaro. Juliette and Cerville came over to say Good Night and called us over to show us a scorpion in the sand near their fire. Shortly afterwards darkness fell over both sites as both couples headed to bed for the night.

Monday 4th August 2008: Amboseli Community Campsite, Amboseli National Park, Kenya

GPS Info: S02° 41' 22.7" E37° 13' 19.8"

Miles Today: 138 Total Miles: 30 804

We awoke quite early, hoping to be up early enough to catch a glimpse of the mountain while still clear of cloud, before the sun rose and it clouded over again. When we arrived yesterday afternoon, we were told it had been clouded over for the past 4 days and we would be REALLY lucky if we got to see it. Looking through the mozzi netting inside the tent, we could see three Maasai waiting under the tree between our two campsites, waiting to pounce on the first sign of life...Both couples rose at the same time and we were both immediately faced with trying to politely tell these first three we were not able to visit their village. These were the first three of at least ten this morning alone.

We all looked towards the mountain and tried to make out the top through the grey misty haze. Just before sunrise, we were treated to a hazy glimpse of the whole of Mount Kilimanjaro, including its snow cap, only visible from the Kenyan side. Apparently, the views of Mount Kilimanjaro are more impressive from the Kenyan side at Amboseli than from the Tanzanian side as you are not able to see the whole mountain in perspective - not sure about this, as we weren't able to have sightings from both countries to compare. We took photos, not actually believing how lucky we were. Our views weren't fantastic and certainly not like in the classic photos, but none of us were complaining. Shortly after sunrise, the clouds appeared again and the whole mountain disappeared under a white fluffy cloud cloth. Mount Kilimanjaro didn't seem as big as we had expected, but maybe if it had been clearer we would have a different opinion.

Juliette and Cerville came over to have an early morning hot drink before they set off on their game drive. We had a shower and then headed on our game drive too, having had more than enough of our Maasai visitors. We also decided to head out of Kenya and on to Tanzania and possibly Arusha this afternoon. Our park permit was still valid for most of today, so we could do a fairly long game drive before facing the horrible road back to Namanga and on into Tanzania.

We stopped off and walked up Observation Hill, which is a hill above the Enkongu Narok Swamps, which looked like the garden of Eden. This swamp is one of the many swamps owing its existence to underground seepage, from the melting of the snow and ice cap and also the rain on Mt Kilimanjaro. The ice cap is so small now and diminishing every year. Sadly this little piece of paradise probably wont be around for very long at all. From the hill we could see ellies and buffalo standing ear deep in water, if not deeper. There were also hippo, zebra, impala, ostrich, giraffe, waterbuck as well as another type of buck we couldn't identify, and all sorts of birdlife. We couldn't see any crocs and wondered if Amboseli has any. Cute and very beautiful starlings with chestnut coloured chests were fluttering around, hoping to get something from us. We could clearly hear the noises of the African bush which we've become so accustomed to and love so much - the hippo grunting their funny rumble and the fish eagle calls echoeing, as some of these magnificent birds in the trees responded to those flying above us.The view over Amboseli from here was really lovely as we could see for miles. Duzi2 was having her/his own wild experience as three big buffalo grazed closer and closer, something we needed to consider as we approached Duz again. Luckily, the three buffalo weren't too fazed by us approaching and just stared as we got in and drove away.

We drove all around the park and were very spoilt to see a cheetah walking along, casually flicking its long tail through the long clumpy yellow grass. The buck and zebra nearby knew it was there and stood alert watching it, but these are not a realistic meal for a lone cheetah. We stopped Duzi2 and just watched our private sighting of this very black cheetah. It had obviously been in the marshy area and was black from mud. It walked across the road right in front of us and carried on to a small sand mound on the top of a ridge. This was such a typical scene, of a cheetah sitting straight up on the mound scanning the land below. As it sat there it's tail was flicking, as it carefully scanned the surrounding area, until it lay down completely camouflaged. It would have been very difficult to point out it's position to someone else, who hadn't seen the cheetah walk to where it now rested. Around the swamp area/garden of Eden, we saw two spotted hyaena lying flat in the mud, only scraping enough energy together to lift their heads as we approached. We saw a few fish eagles attempting to catch fish, with one making a very successful huge catch which it devoured contentedly.

After a lovely long game drive all over the park we made our way to the exit gate, ensuring we didn't overstay our permit time. We handed back the plastic park card and headed on along the horrifically corrugated road back to Namanga. We filled up with fuel, making the most of the cheaper Kenyan diesel and using up the last of our Kenyan shillings, before parking outside the Immigration Office to get our passports stamped and then to Customs to stamp the carnet. With these formalities completed we left Kenya, but would both love to come back and explore more of this country. It is a beautiful place and we found the people lovely and friendly.