Nairobi National Park

 What better way to spend a sunny afternoon than driving through the Nairobi National Park on a mini safari. The Nairobi National Park is only minutes away from our house, so we jumped in the RAV4 with Rachel (another intern from Winnipeg that is also staying at our house), and Hamisi, our driver. We cruised down to the National Park and went to pay. Cost per person for Joce, Rachel and myself: $40, price for Hamisi (Kenyan Citizen) and the car: $6 Would it be worth it? What type of animals would we all see? Let's find out!

Tree Hyrax

The National Park is basically a large area of land that has been protected from development to prevent the natural habitat from being destroyed. There is a very rough grid of 'roads' (4x4 highly recommended), running through the plains to allow you to drive around looking for animals. The day started a bit slow, we saw one or two impalas, and a lone tree hyrax. The sun was beating down and I was beginning to think this was going to be a boring uncomfortable afternoon stuck sitting in a vehicle, bouncing around not seeing anything.

Shortly thereafter, however, things began to change. We continued on further into the park and as we peered across the plains we began to see some larger groups of animals. At first there were a smaller group of more impalas, then, a slightly larger group of gazelles. Then wait! What's that in the distance? Giraffes! A whole bunch of them! From this point on there was an almost steady stream of animals outside the windows of our vehicle as we drove on. Hundreds of what we generally just referred to as 'deer'(impalas, gazelles, hartebeest), more giraffes, rhinos, African buffalo, ostriches, maybe THOUSANDS of zebras, even some vultures circling around in the sky.

At one point we found a group of giraffes that were quite near to the road. So we drove up close to them and they didn't really seem to be that worried about us being only a few metres away. We were trying to get a good picture of the giraffe nearest to us, but he wouldn't look over. I thought, maybe if I yell his name out the window he may look. So I stuck my head out the window and yelled..."Geoffrey!", sure enough, he turned right over and *click* the movement was captured.

Momma

As we drove, we started getting greedy though, we were no longer satisfied with the animals we had already seen. We wanted to see the big one, the one everyone wants to see more than any others. We wanted to find a lion. At every fork in the road there was a sign that pointed down each arm of the road and indicated what area you were heading for and how far it was. So we began to head in whatever direction indicated there may be some lions nearby. As we drove, we saw, well, nothing. We continued on, over some serious terrain, taking full advantage of the extra ground clearance of the SUV, at times driving through knee deep water, and came to a low area with trees towering over the road. As we drove under the branches we looked up and saw about a dozen baboons, sitting in the tree, paying us no attention. Shortly thereafter we reached what seemed like the end of the road. There is a little hut, a porta-potty, and what appeared to be a walking path with a sign, "Do not proceed past this point without a guide.". So we get out of the vehicle and out from the hut comes a guy dressed in camouflage fatigues carrying a rifle. He motions to the path and says, follow me, and stay close. So we start off down the path, not exactly sure what we are heading for. A short distance down the path we see just off the path a relatively new buffalo carcass, the guide nonchalantly says, "lion killed 'em", we all look at each other and are thinking the same thing...Lion? I don't think that gun is big enough! So we continue on, and come to a river running alongside us. Our guide stops and points to some brush across the river, says to look under the branches. We peer across and can see just the tail...just the 5ft long tail of a croc. We decide not to stick around too long and keep on going down the path. All of a sudden our guide turns around and says, from here on, no more talking. The three of us once again exchange concerned glances and continue on. Then, we stop. On the bank of the river, at an enlarged bend. Our guide first puts his finger to his lips, motioning for us to be silent, then uses the same finger to point to water on the far side of the bend. We look over, and there, just above the surface of the water, two round ears, two eyes and two nostrils....hippopotamus. Now we are certain the gun isn't big enough. He motions a bit to the side and we see the same 6 features popping out of the water right nearby, only smaller. Perfect. A momma, and her baby hippo. After some quick pictures, our guide suggests we not stick around to long and we head off, back to the vehicle.

Simba and Nala?

After the hippo sighting we are all pretty pumped up again, and on top of that, the guide says he knows where the lions are. He tries to explain to Hamisi how to get to where the lions are supposed to be, and sketches a rough map and we head out. It becomes apparently quite quickly that the map isn't quite up to modern cartographic standards. The forks in the road we are supposed to count are non-existent, and the numbers on the signs didn't match the numbers on the map. We head one direction, but it doesn't feel right, we turn around and head another direction, at one point we nearly drove all the way out of the park before turning around and heading back. It's hopeless, this map is useless. The sun is starting to set and we need to start heading back. So we decide to continue on the road we are on and head back towards the main gate at the next fork in the road. Through a herd of zebra, blocking the road, over a couple rises and we all of a sudden see a row of vehicles stopped at the side of the road, all seemingly focused on one side of the road. We pull up and stare out in to the plains. As the sun sinks we scan the field. Grass. More grass. Still more grass. Then we see them. Yes. THEM! Two lions, laying down, barely visible in the swaying grass. A male, of reasonable age judging from the mane, and a female. We sat and watched, and waited. Hoping to see some movement, hoping they will at least stand so we can get a better photo. We waited, and were rewarded for our patience. Both lions stood, stretched, and yawned. What happened next was, well, quite unexpected. And for the sake of keeping this, well, G rated, I'll just say we witnessed an 'adult situation'... I can honestly say that never in a million years would I have ever thought that this would be something I would witness in real life. They then lay back down in the grass as the sun continued to set, stunned, we head off on our way out of the park and back home.

Certainly we have now seen it all. As we are heading back though we pull up behind a stopped vehicle, they are staring again out the side window. We see them motion to our left and we are looking all over to find what they are seeing. One of the guys in the vehicle ahead sticks his head out the sunroof, so I stick my head out of my window and he whispers, "right beside you!" I look down, and not more than 3 metres away from my open window lay another lion. This male looked much older than the other lions we saw. His mane was thinning and his body looked withered, but I had no doubt that one swipe of his paw, and I would have wished that the window was closed. We snapped a few pics and continued on out of the park and headed home.

What a day. It absolutely exceed any expectations I had when we began the safari. Just another ordinary day in Kenya, which is proving to be an extraordinary place.

-steve