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

David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust

Another site very near to our house worth visiting is the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. This is a haven for abandoned elephants and rhinos. This charitable organization rescues orphaned elephants and rhinoceros, and raises them until an age where they can be released back into the wild.  The elephants are brought in groups based on their age into a "pen", to chew on branches, drink water and if it's hot out, play in the mud to keep cool.  The "pen", consists of a rope, loosely strung between fence posts about knee height.  Some of the elephants were really playful and would come over to the crowd of people and want to be pet.  One young one kept leaning over onto a few people, nearly knocking them to the ground, it was quite entertaining.  The staff then give a brief bio of each of the elephants, including where they were rescued from and how long they have been at the Wildlife Trust.  The elephants remain at the Wildlife Trust until they are 3+ years, and then are reintroduced into the wild.

 While the elephants were being introduced and the Wildlife Trust was being explained to us, some warthogs wondered up behind us and were foraging for food.  Apparently they are not that scared of humans as they were within a couple feet of us and didn't seem to even notice.  At one point I felt someone pushing me aside, rude tourists right?  Trying to get a better view of the elephants?  Nope, one of the warthogs pushed into my leg and pushed me aside so it could get into the elephant "pen".  Rude.

After we had met all three groups of elephants and they had all be introduced, we had the opportunity to 'foster' one of the elephants.  The Wildlife Trust relies on both the admission charges as well as donations to operate, the admission is actually quite cheap, so a significant amount of the necessary funds come from donations.  We decided to 'foster' one of the elephants, and with our donation, we were able to take advantage of some additional perks.  Those that have fostered an elephant are able to come back to the Wildlife Trust in the evening to see the elephants fed and put to sleep.  Baby elephants generally sleep curled up next to their mother as they require the heat from their mother to stay warm at night.  So at the Trust, they have large blankets hung in the elephants pens, which the baby elephants will cuddle up to as if it is their mother, and they wrap blankets around the elephants to ensure they stay warm at night.  So we went back to the Trust that evening and got to watch our baby elephant be fed it's milk from a bottle and watch him get his blankets wrapped on.  We could the n pet him a bit before he finally was too tuckered out and flopped down onto the ground, curled up and went to sleep.  It was incredible.  As they got the elephants ready for bed in several groups based on their age, we were able to also see a bunch more of the older elephants being fed, and got to pet a number of them.  We were petting one female elephant, and as it turns out she was somewhat of a troublemaker.  She kept slowly sneaking her trunk over the edge of the gate to her pen and then trying to grab my face with it.  At one point, she grabbed a bucket that was hanging from a chain on the outside of the pen and tried to hit me with it.  It was pretty funny, it was really interesting to see the very different personalities of the elephants.

At the Trust, they also had two black rhinos that had been rescued.  One of them had been there a while and was quite large already, nearly fully grown.  She came over to the gate at one point and seemed to want our attention.  Joce tentatively touched her horn as she was sticking it trough the gate, she seemed to love it. As soon as Joce stopped petting her horn, she would move it over closer to another person for them to pet it.  Bizarre.  Petting a 2+ ton rhino is a anxious experience to say the least, one neither Joce or I ever thought we would have in our lives, but one we will never forget.

-steve

Giraffe Centre

While our house isn’t really located close to the city, there are several interesting things to see right nearby.  The first of these that we explored was the Giraffe Centre.  Only about a 10 minute walk from our place, the Giraffe Centre is both an educational centre to teach people about conservation, and preservation of the natural habitat’s of animals such as giraffe’s, and is a breeding centre where they are working to breed the endangered Rothschild giraffe.  That all sounded great when Joce was reading the description to me, but wait…we get to pet and kiss the giraffes?  What are we waiting for? 

What a beautiful animal.  We arrived and were given a couple handfuls of ‘giraffe treats’ and up the stairs to the feeding platform we went.  Two of the younger giraffes were already hanging out there, trying to snag as many treats as possible.  If you have treats, the giraffes are your friends.  Put one in your mouth, and they will give you a nice wet kiss while they take it with their impossibly long tongues.  They are very gentle social animals, a lot of fun to feed.  We went on a short hike through the preserve area with a guide from the centre.  Then it was back to the feeding platform as Hellen, the matriarch of the herd, had come over to visit.  Hellen is the most social giraffe at the centre, and very pregnant.  She is due to deliver her calf this month or next.  Hellen was much bigger than the other two giraffes we were previously feeding, but very calm and friendly. 

Hellen has lived at the centre all her life, and will remain there as part of the breeding program.  The calves however spend about 3 years at the centre and then are released into the wild in an attempt to revitalize the population of this, the only endangered species of giraffe.

-steve

Travel to Africa

My trip to Africa started with a lesson that I imagine will be valuable throughout the trip; do not expect things to go exactly as planned.  My flight out of Winnipeg was delayed by nearly 2 hours, ensuring the fact that I would be missing my connecting flight in Chicago.  I did finally arrive in Chicago, and expectedly, my flight to Brussels had already left nearly an hour prior.  I went to the United Airlines desk and they set to work trying to get me to Nairobi as quickly as possible.  A new route was found and I was off to London no more than 2 hours later.  This new flight plan was eliminating one of my connections, and would be taking me directly from London to Nairobi, however, it meant an 8 hour layover in London.  After arriving in London, I was able to get online and send Joce an update on my arrival time.  A driver was going to be picking me up at the airport, and they would need to know that I wouldn’t be arriving as initially scheduled.  After hours spent trying in vain to catch up on some needed sleep, I boarded the second red-eye of the trip, bound for Nairobi.  Seemingly all ready to go, our plane didn’t seem to budge from the gate, several minutes later we were greeted by some fantastic news from the captain; the computers in air traffic control were down, no flights were leaving at present, there is no eta.  30 minutes later the computers were back up, we were in the queue, waiting to be directed to take off, still no eta.  60 minutes later we had reached the front of the queue and were off, this time however, there was no way to alert anyone of the additional delay.    Thankfully, when I arrived in Nairobi, all my luggage showed up, and my driver was still there waiting for me.  We made the 20 minute drive back to our house, through Nairobi morning rush hour in only 90 minutes, and I had finally arrived.  Safe and sound.   I escaped the 36 hour adventure mostly unscathed, now it was time to sleep.

-steve