Kenya, a Day by Day Log ...
Kenya, a Day by Day Log ...
Written by Tuesday, 10 July 2012 02:47
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| Kenya, a Day by Day Log ... |
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I thought I would share with you my notes, not necessarily serious, taken during our Dec 2011 trip to Kenya. I hope you enjoy reading them.
03.12.11: Have not been to Kenya for twelve years. During this time we went to different places, had other adventures, other worries. We waited for Leonardo to get to an age at which he could take and enjoy the trip. And now was the time .. we are going back. I would even dare to say we are going back home!
Take off from Fiumicino (Rome airport); there was a little delay but then … HERE WE GO! HERE WE GO!! HERE WE GO!!!
During days immediately prior to departure I had the tricky, unpleasant, feeling that passing time was “slowing down”. That may be an unexpected unplesant event could result in us cancelling our trip. Thankfully no such thing happened and eventually today (December 3rd 2011) after waiting for twelve years … Kenya we are coming back!
KARIBU KENYA
We are still in Rome time; It’s lunch time, the food is good but why on earth is “pasta” being served cold, with meat in a sort of “creamy” form? It is Africa, don't you know? Under the plane (we are up to something like 13.000 feet of altitude) there is the desert. We are crossing the Nile, on the display in front of me the map shows we Addis Ababa is nearby on our left and Nairobi is close by too.
WATAKI HADI MISHWO WA SAFARI: 1.22 pm
Leonardo is about to cross the equator for the fourth time. There is less than forty minutes to arrival; time to fill our tourist visa forms. We are in the “shaker” (lot of turbulence).
The dinner was not bad at all; in Kenya the beer is great. The evening is rainy but not cold. Before the end of the meal Leonardo eventually falls asleep and Stefania has to fight her usual headache. Tomorrow we are meant to go to Masai Mara (in local speech Maasai Mara). The game is about to begin!
04.12.11: First mistake: we forgot to set our watches to the local time (two hours ahead) hence we were delayed from the word 'go'. To get to Masai Mara we cross the Rift Valley (remarkably different form the one we saw in Malawi). The closer we get to the park the higher the number of wild animals we see (mainly zebras, antelopes and wildebeests). We are moving across an area ruled by the Masai tribe, one of the most important amongst the fourty one different tribes in Kenya. Kenya is very much a tribal society. It is constantly raining, non-stop. When we arrive at the Masai Mara National Park our van gets literally surrounded by souvenir sellers. Stefania buys 'everything'.
The path to our destination, the Mara Sopa Lodge is awful even for 4x4 cars. Our driver manages to get us there happily and safely. It is still raining heavily.
To my surprise cell phones work perfectly; we never lost the signal in any of the parks or areas we visited. I cannot refrain from thinking that sometimes in Rome I lose the signal driving from our place to my mother's house …
In the afternoon it eventually stops raining but the sun is rather weak and will remain so for the rest of the day. We go out for the 'game drive'. The roof of the van lifts to allow passengers to take photos comfortably and safely. But we have to be very careful. Getting out of the car is strictly forbidden: there are 'big cats' around here.
Leonardo seems to be powered by the usual 'nuclear' battery and proves himself unstoppable. As for myself I would like to note the precious feeling I had sliding out through the open roof of the car when with the sun was going down over the horizon and the wind from the valley was gently spraying all over my face the smell of Africa. What a feeling …
Tomorrow we will go on a full day's game drive. Let us hope the weather will be on owr side. I am sitting in the Mara Sopa Lodge’s hall enjoying my 'Elephant Charge', a dynamite-like Kenya cocktail, and taking it easy …
Ladies and Gentlemen this is a special treat. We were to watch, this evening at 10.00 p.m, Hyena’s Dinner. The cook of the Lodge, in order to keep the garbage bin clean, has the habit of feeding Hyenas that climb, from the bush, to the large terrace on the back of the Lodge. We have to see this!
I was waiting for a mess while, on the contrary, everything was simple and quiet. The hierarchy amongst hyenas is strong and every animal respected his/her position (including the last of the five, who ended up having nothing at all to eat!) The only animal that did not care at all about hierarchy was the cat of the Lodge; it bravely rocketed in the middle of the group of hyeans, grabbed a good morsel and quickly run away. Amazing!
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