6/8/19
We have a new group starting now. José will be the driver, and the new tour leader is Thomas from Amsterdam. There are 12 new people joining our current group of 5, making 17. Denford is still the cook. We're also getting a new truck, so we said goodbye to Xara. Our new truck is Florence. She's basically brand new and the newest truck on the dragoman fleet. She's bigger than Xara and has reclining seats. Florence also comes with taller and roomier tents (also brand new, never been used), which is really nice.
We had a morning meeting and then Norbert, Elisha, and I went to Nairobi National Park to the David Sheldrick elephant orphanage that houses orphaned elephants and rhinos, mostly orphaned because of poaching. They keep the elephants until the age of 3, then they take them to Tsavo NP where caretakers stay with them in the wild until they are "adopted" by wild elephants. When we visited there were 17 orphans. We had the opportunity to watch from very close proximity the babies feeding from bottles given to them by their caretakers and playing around. We stood just a foot from them, and we could pet and touch them. They are so cute!
We then ubered (uber is the best and cheapest way to go by taxi in Nairobi) to one of the fancy malls where we had an Indian lunch. We hung around the wildebeest ecocamp for the afternoon. We were supposed to go to Nairobi National Park with my friend Debs (I met her during my college field course in Kenya), but she got tied up with work. Instead we met her and her husband, Rob, in Westlands for a most delicious Indian dinner. We had an interesting uber ride home as the driver got lost.
6/9/19
We Drove to Amboseli National Park. Amboseli is famous for being one of the best places to see the giant Mount Kilimanjaro rising above the wildlife and plains, but unfortunately it was cloudy and we couldn't see it. Nevertheless, we had an amazing game drive. We saw lots of animals (hippos, wildebeest, zebra, giraffe, reedbuck, gazelles, impala, and buffalo). We also saw SO many elephants: cute families wading in the swamp and a huge old bull with giant tusks. We also saw a pride of lions at a wildebeest kill that included several lionesses, 3 or 4 cubs, and a big male. They walked pretty close to our truck. A black jackal also showed up to try and steal some food. I think we stayed at the same campsite Elisha and I had stayed at this national park several years before.
6/10/19
We were up well before sunrise to drive into the park to watch the sunrise from a small hilltop view and have breakfast. Unfortunately, Kili was still hiding behind clouds. We then went on a morning game drive. Highlights were some hyenas, some huge elephants, pink flamingos, and more.
After our game drive, we drove to Namanga to cross the border and then to Arusha in Tanzania, We stayed at a "snake park" in Arusha which houses snakes and other reptiles that locals bring in instead of killing them. We toured around looking at the various cobras, mambas, puff adders, sand snakes, and pythons. There were also lots of big bats in the area. We had a delicious bbq feast made by the campsite. Our cook Denford had been feeling sick, and he went to the hospital. Turns out he has malaria.
We have a new group starting now. José will be the driver, and the new tour leader is Thomas from Amsterdam. There are 12 new people joining our current group of 5, making 17. Denford is still the cook. We're also getting a new truck, so we said goodbye to Xara. Our new truck is Florence. She's basically brand new and the newest truck on the dragoman fleet. She's bigger than Xara and has reclining seats. Florence also comes with taller and roomier tents (also brand new, never been used), which is really nice.
We had a morning meeting and then Norbert, Elisha, and I went to Nairobi National Park to the David Sheldrick elephant orphanage that houses orphaned elephants and rhinos, mostly orphaned because of poaching. They keep the elephants until the age of 3, then they take them to Tsavo NP where caretakers stay with them in the wild until they are "adopted" by wild elephants. When we visited there were 17 orphans. We had the opportunity to watch from very close proximity the babies feeding from bottles given to them by their caretakers and playing around. We stood just a foot from them, and we could pet and touch them. They are so cute!
We then ubered (uber is the best and cheapest way to go by taxi in Nairobi) to one of the fancy malls where we had an Indian lunch. We hung around the wildebeest ecocamp for the afternoon. We were supposed to go to Nairobi National Park with my friend Debs (I met her during my college field course in Kenya), but she got tied up with work. Instead we met her and her husband, Rob, in Westlands for a most delicious Indian dinner. We had an interesting uber ride home as the driver got lost.
6/9/19
We Drove to Amboseli National Park. Amboseli is famous for being one of the best places to see the giant Mount Kilimanjaro rising above the wildlife and plains, but unfortunately it was cloudy and we couldn't see it. Nevertheless, we had an amazing game drive. We saw lots of animals (hippos, wildebeest, zebra, giraffe, reedbuck, gazelles, impala, and buffalo). We also saw SO many elephants: cute families wading in the swamp and a huge old bull with giant tusks. We also saw a pride of lions at a wildebeest kill that included several lionesses, 3 or 4 cubs, and a big male. They walked pretty close to our truck. A black jackal also showed up to try and steal some food. I think we stayed at the same campsite Elisha and I had stayed at this national park several years before.
6/10/19
We were up well before sunrise to drive into the park to watch the sunrise from a small hilltop view and have breakfast. Unfortunately, Kili was still hiding behind clouds. We then went on a morning game drive. Highlights were some hyenas, some huge elephants, pink flamingos, and more.
After our game drive, we drove to Namanga to cross the border and then to Arusha in Tanzania, We stayed at a "snake park" in Arusha which houses snakes and other reptiles that locals bring in instead of killing them. We toured around looking at the various cobras, mambas, puff adders, sand snakes, and pythons. There were also lots of big bats in the area. We had a delicious bbq feast made by the campsite. Our cook Denford had been feeling sick, and he went to the hospital. Turns out he has malaria.
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