Exploring the Kenyan Countryside

After several days in and around Nairobi, we have headed out to the countryside and had some wonderful adventures. It is hard to overstate how terrible and debilitating the traffic is in the capital, and hence the relief we collectively felt as we got out of the city and started exploring the abundant natural wonders on offer in this country.

A few highlights include;

Longonot Volcano

Two days ago, we hiked a big volcano, Longonot, which erupted last about two hundred years ago to form a perfect, steep and arresting crater at about 9,000 feet. It looks out on both sides of the Rift Valley escarpment, and the interior sides of the crater boast sheer cliffs hundreds of feet tall at places. It is 7.2 kms around the rim, which came as a bit of a surprise because it seemed like a short little jaunt on initial view. Thankfully, it was not to be, as the track is amazing, a knife's edge throughout with one turn of the head yielding this verdant green crater and the other the immensity of the Rift Valley.

Lake Nakuru

The next day, we had a peak experience in the famed Lake Nakuru National Park. This park boasts a stunning array of birds and animals, one of the highest in Kenya and Africa generally. This was my first time self driving on the game drive, and we used seemingly every kilometer of the park's roads seeing animals. Highlights included leopards lounging in an acacia tree, a white rhino mom and kid gracing the savanna, lions resting under a tree, 7 distinct species of raptors, and flamingos and pink backed pelicans along the lake's edge. Wow, what at a day. I enjoyed the driving part as well, putting the 4x4 to good use. At one point I had to pop it into 4x4 low and emulate the taxi brousse in Madagascar to get through a particularly troublesome stretch of road --a wet, muddy hole.

We, of course, wanted to soak up every last minute of daylight, and so sunset found us a worryingly long way from the park gates, which are supposed to close at dark. It can be hard to pull yourself from watching lions, after all. This meant a frantic drive all the way north in the park, made longer by a barely marked detour that added a handful of unwanted kilometers. I was pushing the 4x4 as fast as I thought prudent, mixing and matching between 2nd and 3rd gear. As darkness really descended, we came across hundreds of massive buffalo in a line, stretching a quarter of a mile across the road. These beasts are some of the biggest and baddest on the savanna so I edged slowly through the pack. My heart skipped a beat when a couple big males got a little spooked and unpredictable. Then, a few minutes later, Mu shouted out, 'look out for the rhinos!' and sure enough there were 5 big white rhinos and one juvie on the side of the road, emerging as ghosts from the twilight and backdropped by the still lake. We could not linger, as the gate might already be closed and the rhinos did not seem all that comfy with our rig. A few k's later, we pulled through the gate, no fine for arriving at dark, and oh so thankful for an amazing day.

Masai Mara

We then headed several hours drive down the expansive countryside to the famed Masai Mara National Park, which combines with the Serengeti in Tanzania to form a HUGE contiguous protected area. We are here for a few nights and will be exploring the park from a very comfy home base a stone's throw across the Mara river from the park. Game driving, both self drive and with guides, is sort of similar to skiing (care to guess where my mind has wandering a few times lately?). You are doing it for quite a few hours, with a rhythm unto itself. In both, there is a bit of sticker shock at first, but then you are on the savannah or the slopes and it all seems entirely reasonable and worthwhile. Also, once you do a per hour cost, that initial sticker shock fades away. We have found it is about on par with the hourly rate for a movie nowadays.

Our first morning, we woke up before the sunrise, and headed into the park with capable Tom as our Masai driver and guide. Soon, the sun broke the horizon and brought some much appreciated warmth and light to the start of the day. We ambled in the LandCruiser through the savannah, seeing buffalo, giraffe, gazelle, and the "blue-jeaned" antelope -- topi. Then, we stopped at a big tree and enjoyed the sheer size and grace of a tawny eagle.

After a few minutes, Tom said almost under his breadth - 'I think there is a cheetah over there, about half a kilometer away, should we go?'

'YES!'

Off we tore through the savannah, about 500 meters to where there slowly became visible a solitary cheetah. In its mouth, a very dead thompson's gazelle. The cheetah had taken it down this morning, probably about 30 minutes ago and was getting its fill (5-7 kilos of meat) before ceding the carcass to the scavengers, most likely hyenas, lions and jackals. Cheetahs are actually one of the only predators on the savannah that will only eat what they kill, refusing to scavenge for their caloric needs. That is a work and food ethic I can certainly appreciate. An adult will average 2 kills a week, and this one sure looked to be enjoying its well earned feast.

We stood transfixed, about 20 feet away, and heard the ripping and tearing of the muscles and bones in the powerful cat's jaws. Amazingly, there was zero blood on the cheetah's mouth or luscious coat. The bright red of the gazelle contrasted powerfully with the unmistakable spots of this cat, which can reach up to 60 mph on the open grassland. We were so lucky to be here, sharing in this essential aspect of the overall ecosystem. We were even luckier to be the only truck at the kill for minutes, as the stillness and calmness allowed Mu, my parents and me to fully absorb this special moment.

Now this is what I imagined I would expierence on safari in Africa!