Kenyan Kaleidoscope

Jambo (Kenyan for Hello) 39 hours after leaving our front door we arrived at the door of our hotel in Nairobi, Kenya's capital. The journey itself went according to schedule - 3 flights and 2 stopovers (Perth &Johannesburg ) and was relatively uneventful except for the sighting of Mt Kilimanjaro as we flew over - well we saw the snow capped peak peeping out if the clouds! Our arrival into Nairobi however was not quite "according to schedule" Despite having booked an airport transfer with the hotel we failed to find "KRAFT" among the myriad of placards held by eager drivers. A kind lady (bearing some official-looking ID) offered assistance and phoned the hotel who assured us he was on the way. "Bad traffic" he apologises..... We soon see what he means as we crawl our way into Nairobi CBD - the 20km journey takes THREE hours!!! Next morning we joined a walking tour in the CBD (run by a children's charity organisation as a way of raising funds) which gave us a bit of a feel for the place and some history. Finished with a trip to the top of the KICC tower giving views over the Nairobi area. We hope to explore more when we return here after our tour. Friday morning saw the start of our tour. 17 people from Aus, UK, NZ, Canada, Bahamas & Belgium make us a varied bunch. We are spread between three vehicles (Toyota Landcruisers ) travelling more or less in convoy - meeting up at each point of interest or destination. 7 are only doing the Kenya sector so will leave us tomorrow when we cross over into Tanzania. Apart from the obvious - seeing the classic African animals - I don't think I came with any preconceived ideas of what to expect so the sights sounds and smells are continually fresh experiences and surprises. Nairobi is at an altitude of 1650m and the surrounding area very fertile so shouldn't be surprised to find tea plantations and market gardens right on the edge of the city. (Haven't found the Kenyan coffee plantations yet! ) As we cross the countryside we go up and down a lot. Most notably the descent through the Great Rift Valley, traversing varying types of vegetation and varying degrees of lushness. Much is open "woodlands" or low bush and often seeing the classic African umbrella tree and large cactus bushes. But it was a surprise to see extensive areas of wheat growing - crops our Aussie farmers would be very happy to be able to see in their paddocks! Unlike some other areas, in this they seen to be "up with the times" using familiar machinery. (e.g. New Holland harvester!) We even saw a John Deere dealership! However traditional donkey cart transport is still abundant amongst locals in the rural areas and donkeys are a frequent sight both in use and roaming loose on the roadside and in the villages. Joining them are countless goats. These are tended on the roadside by a traditional goatherd, often a child. Similarly cattle (less common than goats) are also grazing freely tended by one or two herdsmen(often wearing traditional Masai clothing). The animals are corralled at night in structures creatively made from local vegetation or occasionally a wired fence! We had the privilege of visiting a Masai village to see how they still live - amazingly basic especially the housing which is still traditional mud huts! We were also treated to some singing and a demonstration of the famous Masai jumping men! It probably is not surprising that traffic and roads become talking points. There is a high degree of tolerance and patience (very little horn honking) and a high degree of RISK taking! Vehicles (including ours) frequently overtake others (mostly trucks and often multiple at a time) in "blind" spots - rises, bends - and should a vehicle come the other way either IT brakes or moves out of the way or your vehicle pushes back in. Fortunately this is usually happening at slow enough speed to be manageable. And no-one seems to be abusive! The road leading to and descending into the Rift Valley, follows the edge of the escarpment and lets just say there's not a whole lot of protection to stop vehicles going over the edge. So together with the local driving style it made for an interesting trip and a few heart-stopping moments! Roads themselves vary in standard. To say I was surprised would be an understatement, at the roads on the approach to and in the Masai Mara Game Park. Tourism Australia would certainly not be happy to have such poor roads leading to a prime sightseeing location! It took driving to a new level, either extreme corrugation, deep potholes, roads hacked up by other vehicles when wet then dried out with deep ruts, or washed away by rains, sometimes to be ensured for a coupe of hours at a tine. However having said that it took on a 4WD feel and became part of the adventure and we enjoyed our "free massages" as the driver referred to it. We have visited three parks in Kenya so far. Masai Mara, Lake Nakuru and Amboseli. I am pleased to report we ticked off the Big Five in the first two days! Officially that's elephant, lion, leopard, rhino and buffalo. Of courses we've seen heaps of others as well - zebras, giraffes, wildebeest (thousands! cos they are migrating through) warthogs, cheetahs, jackals, hippos, crocodiles, baboons, various antelope (including eland, gazelle & impala) and birds (including ostriches and vultures) We are currently in Amboseli at the base of Mt Kilimanjaro which sadly has remained covered in clouds all day However our time in the park today has been simply amazing as we had a couple of very close encounters with the elephants - literally just a few metres from us. And we saw the flamingos gathered en masse on a lake then take off in flight (although at a distance it was still awesome!) The park itself was surprisingly diverse with some areas arid and barren but also lakes and swamps and even some palm trees! Tomorrow we cross over into Tanzania and look forward to seeing the Great Serengeti Jenny and David (very happy nomads!)