Nairobi

Sunday 24th June 2007
Today we thought of going to the Kenyan National Museum, so set out on foot. The streets of Nairobi are clean, the buildings modern and of interesting architecture, and we were pleasantly surprised by the city beautiful roundabouts full of gardens and fountains made the place very attractive. We caught a taxi to the museum which was closed for extensive renovations, so walked around town, had a greasy lunch at a Wimpy and….. went to a MOVIE!!! Pirates of the Caribean 3, lots of fun and laughter, and caught a taxi back to the campsite. Nairobi doesn’t have water for much of the day and the electricity goes off periodically, as I the rest of Africa, sigh.

Saturday 23rd June 2007 Beach n Bush Adventures camp site, Nairobi
Nev and Brian went to Landrover in Nairobi to get a quote for fixing Brian’s clutch Thrust bearing, and to get his cab reinforced. The struts on either side of the windscreen were cracked, probably due to the weight on the roof-rack, but Brian attributed it to the forces of the wires he has connected from the roof-rack to the bull bar. The quote to service our Landy was too high so today was spent skoffling (me) and servicing our Landy, changing oil, greasing axils and bearings (Nev). All the stuff I haven’t used since we started is irritating me, but I don’t really want to throw it away, like cosmetics!!!! No not make up, but face wash, creams, lotions etc that I would happily be using at home, but are just too much bother to use while camping. The more streamlined the better. As soon as all the shampoo and soaps are used up I am going to use the LCD products for everything. I regret not having brought the strong soap powder along, as I can see how good it is at getting filth out of clothing.


Friday 22nd June 2007 Beach n Bush Adventures camp site, Nairobi
Although we didn’t pay for today in the park, we are allowed until 12 noon to transit to the Sekenani gate. So we packed up at leisure and started our trip to Magadi Lake, south east of Nairobi. Brian’s Landy’s struts have cracked, and after trying to do some repairs in Narok in vain, he was happy to wait until we get to Nairobi to have them fixed. We took a road which we thought was a short cut to Magadi, because we wanted to by-pass Nairobi at all costs. And, yes, you guessed it. It turned out to be a terrible, bumpy wrong road, and when Brian’s Landy started to make clutch bearing noises, we decided to turn round and head for Nairobi. The Maasai were not helpful regarding camping there for the night. The alluvial soil here in this part of Rift Valley near Nairobi is very friable and there are massive dongas and wash-aways as if the seasonal rain torrents down and washes the top soil into Lake Victoria hundreds of Kilometers away. On the plains the solitary red-cloaked figures of the Maasai herd their groups of cattle, goats and sheep. Their livestock are amazingly obedient, as they do not break from the herd. Ours would keep running in all directions and our calves would never stay in an ordered group by themselves like those of the Maasai do. They do, however, beat them mercilessly with knobkierries if they misbehave, so no wonder they have learned so well. We followed Brian’s Landy with our front bumber virtually stuck to his back spare tyres, under Maureen’s excellent navigational directions, in the dark, to the campsite of Martin Gathogo called Beach n Bush Adventures, not in either Bradt nor Lonley Planet, but better than the one recommended in both books, and just around the corner from it.

Thursday 21st June 2007 Crocodile campsite, Talec gate Masai Mara
Another early morning, and another good day in the reserve. We went to different places today, along a huge plain where there used to be many trees, but the elephants have devastated most of them, and the remaining trees had tall stems with a little tuft of leaves at the top, cropped just up to giraffe height. One giraffe was reaching, reaching, stretching up high, and nearly had to jump to reach the leaves. We saw the crossing points for the herds, but there were only hippo and a few crocs there at the time. We timed it correctly so that we could get back to the camp just before the reserve closed, but were stopped by a group of armed Maasai who wanted $40 each for us to pass through the community area. We didn’t have the money, and objected to this iniquity, so turned round and raced back the way we had come, passing large herds of animals, two baby hyenas in a culvert and a python on the way, and then came across a10-tonne lorry stuck in the ‘black cotton’ mud, and blocking the way. Eventually we pulled it out with our little Landy, and got back to the camp just as it was getting dark.

Wednesday 20th June 2007 Crocodile campsite,Talec gate Masai Mara
We paid our $40 each and R80 for the car (per day) and we had the most wonderful day spotting all the main game, and lots of it. We didn’t see the wildebeest and zebra doing their jumping over the croc-infested Mara River though, as that happens in July, peak season. As it was there were 22 viewing vehicles around the lion kill. In July there would be more like 300. We ended the day on a high, having seen two leopards together, 12 lions at a buffalo kill, cheetah kill, lots of elephant, topi, gazelle and many more, and lots of birds. Edward Lion, a Maasai welcomed us to the crocodile camp site right outside the reserve.


Tuesday 19th June 2007 Oldarpoi Maasai Safari, Sekenani Gate, Masai Mara
The trip from Gavin to Narok was interesting but chaotic. Brian got stuck four times and had to be pulled out, and once he had to use his winch. The potholes in the dirt road had filled with water, and on several occasions Nev waded into the water to feel which the better line was to take through the mud. He sank thigh deep into some holes before finding a line. He had to dig the mud out of the way with our trusty spade at most places. On one occasion I drove and he directed me slowly slowly, balancing on slippery tyre-width dykes (having dug shallow tracks to keep me on line) with deep mud holes on either side, giving his subtle hand signals of come, left, right, stop etc. When I put on the brakes he would make an ugly face and I knew I had done something wrong. You know how he likes a challenge and wants to try for himself first, before resorting to being pushed by spectators, especially when the want R200 for pushing. When I got through, though, the spectators on either side would cheer and applaud and one even congratulated me on getting through, but it was the team work and communication between Nev and me that got us through. Also Nev first looks carefully, assesses the situation, decides, and then acts. We got past four really bad situations, and then came across the worst.
There were already four vehicles stuck in the mud at all angles in the section that we still had to get through. Our hearts sank and we thought we would have to go back 200Km but we helped the others get out by lending them our rope, on condition they waited to help us until we through. Our Landy managed it miraculously, but Brian got stuck and we were able to pull him out. Shoo!!!!!
The rest of the road was fine (for Kenyan standards) and we got to Narok, and proceeded to Masai Mara on a terrible road and slept at a Maasai community campsite outside the gate.


Monday 18th June 2007 Gavin & Sabrena Mouritzen Mau Escarpment
Left the wonderful pressure cooker with the steam emerging out the ground straight up into the cool, still morning air and made our way towards Nakuru. The road took us through the middle of fields of commercial sisal plantations with the workers cutting the branches from the bottom. Brian did a spectacular jump off a ledge diagonally into a mud puddle and squashed his… exhaustpipe a bit.
In Nakuru we topped up our fuel and bought DRC and Rwandan flag stickers from a vendor who really went out of his way to find them for us. Dave and Beryl didn’t want to go to Masai Mara so they and Willy and Ingrid headed for the coast while Brian, Maureen and we headed south west to the 3000m high Mau Escarpment to find Gavin Mauritzen who went to school with Brandon. The road was good, tar until the last 10Km and the rain had made the well-cambered road slippery, and fun. The escarpment was a mixture of commercial and subsistence farms. Commercial is all wheat and the farms are enough to make us drool. The fertile gently sloping deep soiled lands are magnificent. Gavin manages 2500Ha of undulating wheat for a politician. Had quite a bit of rain lately and the planting is a bit late. They soil doesn’t change colour for two meters deep, but they do lime at 2tonnes a Ha every couple of years, do have to fertilize similar to us, and can achieve 6tonnes of wheat with no irrigation. They get R2500 a tonne with wheat import levy protection of 35%.
Sebrena made us a magnificent meal and they welcomed us with open arms. Their little 2 year old daughter Ella had her party yesterday. Louise and Dave Rose also entertained us and advised us where is Kenya to visit. The temp dropped to 4.3 deg, (and they do get frost) but we were snug in our tent. Brandon, Gavin says you must come up here and go trout fishing with him in the streams and rivers!!!