Best Kenya & Tanzania Day 5
Best Kenya & Tanzania
Day 05 - Saturday, September 19, 2009 – Lake Naivasha/ Lake Nakuru National Park
We were awake and showered before our 6:00 wake up call came at 6:05. It was a knock on the door by a porter going around to each of our rooms.
Because we are only 20 miles from the Equator, there are 12 hours of sun and 12 hours of darkness. As it began to get light we could see a herd of water bucks sleeping right outside of our porch.
Hodada Ibis squawked a greeting as we walked around to take a few photos before the breakfast room opened at 6:30.
We had a sunny but cool morning with 59º and 79% humidity. This is a typical dress-in-layers day as we knew it will be hot by noon.
At 7:45 everyone had made it to the parking lot and we were able to start for our game drive. We rotated trucks and today we rode with Barakiel.
We drove North West through Naivasha again and then out into the African Bush where we saw herds of zebra and impala. There were also a few baboons begging for food from the truck drivers along the busy highway.
The land is very barren with short brush and grass that has been nibbled down to the roots. In the distance we saw many tented refugee camps from the election conflict of 2007 which was a stark reminder of the past political unrest.
Passing through Nakuru, the third largest city in Kenya, we saw more affluent sections of the city and then drove on for a close up look at the urban poor.
We drove right to Lake Nakuru National Park, which was very busy as they were preparing for the annual Ride with the Rhino bike race this morning.
The park is officially designated as a bird sanctuary and we were told that the park hosts about 450 different species of birds. It is most known for the large flamingo population that numbers into the thousands.
We were very surprised at the number of vehicles in the park and out into the wildlife areas. Barakiel told Gennie that there is no limit to the number of safari trucks and private vehicles that enter the park each day.
However, conservationists are lobbying the government to put some restrictions on the 188 sq kilometers park because of the impact to the wildlife. We could see the paths of off-road vehicles and the damage to the dry grazing lands.
We made frequent stops and Barakiel would turn off the engines so there would be no vibrations for our telephoto shots. We were able to get very close to the animals and our first discovery was a hippo that was out of the water grazing along the shore.
Hippos have very delicate pink skin and the sun is damaging if they are not submerged in the water as they usually are. This was a very rare and a perfect omen for a great day of game sighting!
At the edge of the salt flats we were able to get out of the trucks and walk very close to the water to photograph the two species of flamingos. The greater flamingo is taller and the lesser is pinker in color.
Baraki took us to the top of the over look where we had an excellent panoramic view of the valley below. Our drive took us full circle around the park. The temperature had risen to 84º and the humidity had gone down to 50%.
Just as we were in awe of these majestic animals, around the next bend we came across another new species. This was a truly unforgettable experience to see the animals so close and so free.
The crash of extremely rare and endangered white rhinos was by far the most exciting sighting. Everyone agreed that the mother and her very small month old baby took the prize as the morning highlight.
At 1:30 we had lunch at the Sarova Lion Hill Game Lodge. We had a very nice buffet as have been all of our meals thus far.
It makes so much sense to take what you want but eat what you take. There is so much poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa; it is a shame for us to waste food.
It was 2:30 when we left the Lodge and went out of the park. The skies darkened and it began to rain, a very welcome gift for the parched earth.
We made a stop in Nakuru to allow Beth to use the ATM machine and then we arrived back at our Nashiva Simba Lodge. I posted the journal from yesterday and Gennie started to type our journal for today.
Below is a list of the animals we saw on our first Game Drive.
Zebra, Cape buffalo, impala, black faced vervet monkey, jackal, warthog, hippo, Thompson’s gazelle, water buck, agana lizard, rock hyrax, olive baboon, white rhino, black and white colombus monkey, marabou stork, African fish eagle, black winged stilt, flamingo, cattle egret, pelican, ox picker, Egyptian geese, sacred ibis, superb starling, and village weavers.
Baraki talked to us about tomorrow’s drive before our dinner at 7:30. We had showered before dinner so we were ready to pack our bags and get to sleep a little earlier tonight.
From now on communication will be intermittent at best. We will continue to write each day’s events but might not be able to post them until we can have access to all of you through the internet.
Accommodations: Lake Naivasha Simba Lodge - - - Meal: B, L, D
If you wish to travel with OAT Click Here.
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Comments
White Rhinos! WOW! I loved that lizard too! Have fun you two, can't wait to hear about the rest of the trip!
Great animal pictures! You are so lucky to see all these special things in your travels!
Great pictures; interesting text, as usual.
Post a Comment!It sounds like you are having a great time!
Lake Nukuru National Park (1:22)
Hippo
Greater Flamingo
Agana Lizard
Olive Baboon
White Rhino
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