Kenya Day 5 - to Ol Pejeta Conservancy

 We started off the morning with a short game drive, and a new companion in our vehicle. Erin had missed her flight, and thus joined us on the trail.  The drive from Samburu to the Ol Pejeta Conservancy was relatively short as these things go.

Once we arrived, we started off well by seeing two types of animals we hadn't yet: African buffalo and white rhino.   There were many herds of animals, and we enjoyed seeing them on the plains.

We arrived early for lunch, so before heading to the Sweetwater Camp, we got to see Baraka, a blind black rhino who is being cared for at the conservancy. The best part of this is that tourists are allowed to feed and interact with him. Normally black rhinos are somewhat hostile to humans (and who could blame them, really?), but Baraka seems to understand the quid pro quo relationship. We feed him, and as he eats, we can pet him, and marvel at the feel of his tough hide. I have a suspicion he neither notices the contact, nor would care about it if we did.

After a brief tour of the people suck exhibit information centre,  it was time to head to the camp to check in. On the way, we paused at the equator for pictures.

The camp is nice, although our tent turned out to be almost as far as possible from the main facilities. It had good amenities, though, although there was no room safe, and I had to check my valuables at the front desk (accommodations at tented camps do not always lock).

After getting settled, and a tasty buffet lunch with soup service (it was a bit chilly), we headed out to the chimpanzee sanctuary before our evening game drive. They don't let you feed or touch the chimps, which is probably a good idea.  And we are separated from them by electrified fences. 

After a tour through the next people suck exhibit information centre, it was time to head off on our next game drive. Oddly, they didn't take donations at Baraka's enclosure; they tell you to do it here.

It was starting to rain, and we were on our way back to camp when we finally saw the animal Andrew had been yearning to see. Unfortunately, they are shy and it was dark, so we didn't get very good pictures.

We also managed to see a few more magnificent animals, pretty much as we mentioned we would like to see them. Thus was the legend of the magic hat born.

 After we returned to camp and had a pleasant dinner, and some truly wonderful Irish coffee, we headed back to our tent to retire. On the way, we saw a rather interesting fellow the rain had brought out. I know it's hard to tell the scale, but that slug was about 6 inches.

 And on that high note, we went to bed, and discovered they had been kind enough to include hot water bottles in the turndown service. Since it was damp and chilly, this was very welcome.

Day 4 - Samburu

We really enjoyed this camp. The climate was ideal, and the food was great. We also saw many fantastic animals and enjoyed fairly sincere amounts of Tusker - the local beer.

Interesting thing we noticed: in Kenya, everywhere we went, women were served beer in fluty glasses, whereas men had chunkier glasses. We asked, and it is deliberate.

The lounge at the Ashnil Samburu overlooked a watering hole, and we did see many visitors to both it, and the camp.

Out on the savannah, there were lots of different animals to see, as well.

Not  a  rock, a leopard turtle

Cheetah

Reticulated Giraffe

This lioness led us down the road for more than a half an hour.

And the sunsets in Kenya are breathtaking.

Day 3 - To Samburu

We were up before dawn to get organized. The camp's animals were on the job, and I had a cat in my lap through breakfast, which was delicious, if rushed. One of the camp dogs, had a different notion of hospitality, and christened our luggage.  One should probably be vigilant...

Then, we were on the road for seven hours to get to the Samburu. We stopped once for the necessaries, and were subjected to a bit of a hard sell, but nothing like we have seen.

That said, when stopped at a public road block, we were swarmed by vendors, and adopted the principle that one should never leave the windows open when the truck is not in motion, and on a street

The Samburu Reserve is an amazing plateau full of all sorts of animals, including some fairly unique to the reserve, including Grevy's zebras.

Upon arrival, we were greeted with cool moist towels, and asked to sit. We were brought fruit juice, and filled out our check in forms on the sofa.

The tent is bigger than most hotel rooms we have stayed in. It is luxurious, features a veranda overlooking the reserve. As we were arriving at our tent, some vervet monkeys decided to have an "interlude" on the lawn. No, there are no pictures of that.

The camp is gorgeous. And the food is very good. After a delicious lunch, we had some leisure time to relax before the evening game drive.

 There are lots of animals in the Samburu reserve. We especially enjoyed the lions and baboons.

Kenya - Days 1 & 2 Travel Days

Well, we had an incredible time and made it back. It is, sadly, taking me some time to go through all the pictures and video, but I wanted to get started on this update.

We flew Air France from Toronto to Paris, and then Kenyan Airways from Paris to Nairobi (I love to say "Nairobi". Try it, go ahead.). The first pleasant surprise was the Air France person offering to let us use the VIP line and take advantage of the lounge for a paltry sum. Naturally, we took her up on it. Lines? What lines?

...And the lounge. With its tasty snacks and serve yourself bar. A dangerous place, but we survived somehow. Interesting side note: if you are in the VIP lounge, they tell you they will call you when your plane is boarding, but they wait until last call so you don't have to stand in the line.

We tried to sleep on the flight with mixed success, but at least the food was good (the bread! I could snarf down a whole basket of that bread), and we had exit row seats with tons of leg room.

Charles De Gaulle was the airport we made our connection in, and, in the spirit of full disclosure, I would recommend transferring somewhere else. When you get off your plane, they make you go through security, taking any bottles of water, or duty free liquids you may have purchased inside your previous airport's secure zone, or even on the plane itself. Not impressive. Equally unimpressive was the obscene prices they were charging. 4.50€ for a small bottle of pineapple juice.. 13€ for a "continental breakfast". 

We weren't here long on the journey out, however; and soon we were on Kenya Airways for the final leg of our journey. Again, good food, good service, and the added bonus of being on the final leg of our journey.

Getting Close

Arrival at Jomo Kenyatta Airport saw us finding our way to Passport Control to get our visas. I must say, I liked the fact that they paste the visa into your passport. It makes a fun souvenir. it also didn't take that long. Then baggage, and through the double doors, as described, to find our Odyssey Safari representatives who would take us to our first hotel.

There was traffic on the way, and a small road closure misadventure, so it was late when we arrived at the Wildebeest Eco Camp. All we really wanted to do was relax with a beer and go to bed. So that is what we did.

Our Ensuite Bath

Our King Size Bed

In Our Tent

Countdown to Kenya

In a couple of weeks, we are going on safari with this company. This came about almost by chance. A friend is a member of Team Buy, and she saw a purse she thought I might be interested in and sent me a link.

The purse wasn't quite my style, but I saw a link for travel deals. Dear Reader, one thing this blog should tell you about me is that I will always click that link. I am constitutionally incapable of *not* clicking that link. Under the deals was an air-included safari for a price substantially lower than I had thought was possible. Since the plan had been to go 2 years later anyway (when I will turn *gasp* 50), I spoke to the World's Greatest Husband, and he agreed now was as good a time as any.

One of the animals we hope to see

If you are not familiar with Team Buy or Groupon, the way it works is something is offered for sale at a low price if x number of people buy it. Basically, strangers on the internet band together to get group discounts. The number of buyers necessary for this deal wasn't specified, and it said that the deal would expire in 4 days. I signed up, honestly believing that there was no way enough people would sign up for something so extravagant.

It will be nice to see hippos, but not too close

So, feeling virtuous about all the money we would save not going on safari, I started planning our consolation trip to New Orleans. I hadn't quite decided which hotel to stay at before I got an email saying our safari purchase had gone through. Apparently we were the minimum number of buyers. I was very surprised and said to TWGH in a quiet voice, "Apparently, we are going to Kenya."

It was only a couple of days later, when the shock wore off, that it occurred to me to find out exactly what it was we had bought. Curious? Stay tuned.

Housekeeping: The pictures are from our trip to Disney's Animal Kingdom in 2010. Not sure if I had mentioned it, but I will happily respond to questions and comments.