So! After I updated last Thursday it was rush rush to Nairobi to make it for a meeting Sarah and Dr. W. had arranged with ANAW (Africa Network for Animal Welfare). We met and had lunch and… I met my first vegetarian here—one of the main guys of the organization. Apparently a vegan works there too! Wow. Anyway, we had a late lunch and conducted our meeting. The purpose of the meeting was to establish links with SPEA for an internship program next summer that Sarah and Dr. W. have been constructing. I think it went well, and ANAW seemed super cool. They do a lot of different activities ranging from lobbying to educating kids to desnaring and freeing trapped animals. They have actually employed former poachers to make wire statues of animals with the cut snares and sell them. Pretty cool stuff. Also they gave us t-shirts, haha. Then we met with someone from Shannon’s internship at Aqua Clara, which works on community water projects. I think all of the meetings went well. I was mostly a bystander, but it was cool to learn about these different organizations and I hope their collaboration with SPEA is successful.
After the meetings, Sarah and I were brought to Kifaru House, which is ANAW’s guesthouse. It is located in Karen, which is one of the very rich parts of Nairobi. I hadn’t been that deep into Karen before, actually, which is basically huge house after huge house with large hedges surrounding the property. The area is very green though, which is nice, especially compared with the rest of Nairobi. Sadly we got to the guesthouse after dark, so we couldn’t explore the walking trails they have. But no matter—we’ll be back! Anyway, we were fed and left to putz for the night. It is a very pleasant place. It is also home to a hyper dog named Kaka (haha).
The next morning Sarah and I were brought to Wilson airport, which is the domestic airport in Nairobi. We still hadn’t booked a place for our stay at the Mara—we’ve both traveled a fair amount and are used to not planning everything ahead of time. However, though this strategy may work in some places, it is not the best when it comes to the Maasai Mara. Sarah had a contact at a travel agency that she called while we were still waiting on our flight at Wilson and he said he would get back to us. Well, we started our journey in a very small plane which landed at two airstrips before arriving at our final destination, which also consisted of a single, dirt airstrip and one small pavilion. It was not an airport, we were in the middle of the Mara (we saw elephants and other animals flying in), had no ride and no place to stay. Hmm hmm! The guy at the tiny ticketing booth called the nearest hotel (and the only one around) to give us a ride. We arrived at the swankiest hotel I have ever been to—we were greeted by staff with damp towels so we could wipe away the plane dust and then were served juice. Super luckily, Sarah’s travel contact works for this branch of hotels and after about an hour of waiting, we found out he was able to get a room for us at a much lower-than-usual rate (which is very high), even though they were overbooked. Crisis averted! Not only that, but we were at a nice place.
Sarah, as we awaited our verdict.
View of the Mara from the lodge.
After settling, Sarah and I opted to take a guided walk around the lodge’s fenced in area. It is fenced in to keep away lions, buffalos, and other dangerous creatures that lurk around. The guide told us about the different plants and animals there and we saw tons of rock hyraxes running around. Kenyon folks: hyraxes are real, not just graffiti! Not only were they running around the wooded area surrounding the lodge, but they would also scamper around the pool and everywhere else! Silly little things.
A hyrax!
Sarah at the lodge, now happy because we had a room! Spy the weird looking rooms behind her.
That night, just after dark, we went out on a night safari. We were joined by two older British guys who have apparently been to Kenya something like ten times and have been to all of the national parks. They were pretty nice, but I suspect they’ve been to the national parks and that’s it, which makes me feel a little uneasy. I love the national parks—visits to them have been some of the highlights of my time here—but the national parks aren’t Kenya. This hotel wasn’t Kenya. It was full of white people; I saw maybe a couple Africans there who weren’t staff members. Stuff like this is the tourist, cliché version of Kenya. Fun, certainly, but I would feel guilty in a way if that’s the only Kenya I ever knew, especially if I had been multiple times. The contrast between this and just walking around Nairobi, or especially Nderi and Muguga, is astounding.
But that aside, the night drive was really cool. We had a spotter who would shine a spotlight on animals so we could see—we almost always spotted their eyes glowing first. Right away we saw some female lions snacking on a kill they had made earlier in the day. We also saw tons of hippos wandering around since they feed on grass after dark. Wildebeests (and their buddies, the zebras) were also everywhere, since the Great Migration just started. Also spotted: many hares, water buffalo, hyenas, topi, Thomson’s gazelles, bat-eared foxes, impala, and even night twiga/giraffes! It was really cool to see all of these creatures at night, especially since some of them are hard to find during the day.
A dead water buffalo.
Scary - a hyena feasting.
After our night safari we made it back to the lodge for dinner. One word about the food there: delicious! They had a huge buffet with tons of vegetarian options and almost everything was super tasty. They had Kenyan food, Indian food, British-ish food, nice cheeses, fruits galore, desserts… Nom. For once, my trouble wasn’t finding a vegetarian option but having too many delicious ones around.
The next morning we had a morning safari drive at 6:30am. Animals are a lot more active in the morning because it is cooler out. This time Sarah and I had a vehicle to ourselves. Again, we saw tons of animals. We also drove down to the river, which smelled like death because it was full of it. Apparently tons of wildebeests die when they try to ford the river because it was absolutely filled with bodies. And it stank.
Bodies, vultures, river, sunrise...
On we drove, and our driver got word that there was a lion nearby hunting. Off we went to catch that. Indeed, there was a female lion stalking some waterbuck. We watched her until all of a sudden there was a commotion on the other side of the vehicle. Unbeknownst to us, there was a different lion over there and she sprang up and chased the waterbuck! It only lasted a minute, and the waterbuck got away. So did we—it’s probably not smart to station yourself between two hunting lionesses. We saw plenty of other animals on the way to and from the lion hunt, including many we saw the night before.
A typical Mara scene - zebras and wildebeests.
Zebra friends (Sarah's favorites).
A hyena!
A topi. They stand on (often termite) mounds for better visibility of their surroundings.
The drive continued to be awesome, because after that we saw my two favorite animals here—elephants and giraffes! First, we came across a herd of ellies munching and putzing near the road. We watched them for a while until they crossed in front of us and meandered on their way. After that, it was time to head back to the lodge for breakfast but on the way we ran into some twiga so I got some photos of them too!
Me and ellies!
Leah na twiga, tis true.
The rest of the day Sarah and I lounged around, reading and chatting by the pool. I even swam a bit but it was cold! After lunch we also moved rooms. Because of our unexpected appearance we had to be put in a room that I think was actually supposed to be staff housing. The room was very nice and actually a bunch of rooms—one with two small beds, one with a very large bed, a changing room, and a bathroom. We were curious what the normal rooms were like though, so we packed up and relocated. This room was super nice too. It was a lot smaller but very nicely decorated. Its main advantage was that it had a small balcony that looked right over the Mara. From our window we could see giraffes moving in the distance, as well as the ever present varieties of antelope a bit closer. I also saw a warthog dart under the fence into the lodge’s grounds. Later, as Sarah and I were leaving, perhaps the same warthog scampered across our path. Eek!
Our new room; self-portrait I suppose.
Since Sarah and I hadn’t planned very well, we had to book our return flight (no one buys one-way tickets to the Mara except us…) on Saturday for the next morning. On Sunday we got up, enjoyed a lovely breakfast (which included very delicious avocado juice), and then were brought to the airport. We met some pretty high-rolling people (surprise surprise) on the flight, including a lady who works for CNN and does some reporting on environmental issues. When we arrived back in Nariobi, Sarah and I were met by her travel contact and his colleague, who helped us arrange for our shuttle to Arusha, Tanzania that afternoon. But first we had to find a place in Nairobi that took traveler’s checks on Sunday so Sarah could get some cash (by the way, never use those in Kenya; they’re a pain). Then we had some juice and afterward Sarah and I were suddenly off to Tanzania. Once again, we had booked nothing before our arrival… Next update: regarding Arusha.
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