20 Sep 2014 - Into Africa

Our African adventure has ‘officially’ started! We were picked up at our hotel by Sam at 0800 and met the other 3 people who will be part of our safari group for the next 7 days.  We were soon packed up and on our way out of Nairobi and I can’t say I’m unhappy to leave. The pollution here is extreme and I find it’s actually hard to breathe. The hundreds on trucks and cars spew out black exhaust and there is a foggy haze throughout the city.

We drove….and drove....and drove….for a total of 8 hrs! Just when Corky and I were getting ready to declare our backsides officially dead and our lumbar discs beyond repair, we arrived at our destination. However, as the saying goes, it’s not about the destination but the journey, and that was definitely true in this case.

We have only been here a short time but I am already filled with so many conflicting emotions. Firstly, I am happy and thrilled to have this opportunity to spent time in such a different culture. Being here is a dream come true and the excitement of experiencing things without being in a zoo or watching National Geographic is extreme.

I’m also learning that we don’t really understand what is happening outside of our comfort zone or our own backyard.  Seeing it firsthand vice watching a 60-second bite on the news is entirely different.  The sheer size of the population is beyond belief and given that 45% of the population is unemployed makes poverty overwhelming. While we have some pretty bad examples of it in North America, it is nothing to how people live…..or rather exist…. here.  Most the drive here was through populated areas…from the worst in Nairobi to the more lush in the mountain area. Because it was Saturday, and market day, most of the small towns were filled with people buying and selling ‘stuff’.  Knowing we were going to be at our game lodge before supper, I kept wondering how the hell the animals had any room to roam.  Local people were tilling the areas beside the highway to plant gardens and there is not much land left that is not fenced or being worked.

On a happier note, we got to Samburu Game Reserve and Sam took us on a 2-hr game drive before going to our lodge. All our aches and pains immediately disappeared when we had to stop to let a herd of approximately 30 elephants cross our path.  Our game vehicle is perfect….we each have more than enough room to stand and see out the top to take photos so there was lots of clicking and whirring of cameras. There were a couple of bulls, lots of females and 4 or 5 little ones. A short  drive down the road and there was a big, beautiful  giraffe. It will be a full time job identifying all the animals we have seen so far. Sam told us the name of everything but sometimes we were so wrapped up in what we were looking at, we instantly forgot.

It was getting quite hot so we elected head for the hotel and a cool shower. This is our ‘luxury  tent’ hotel and it is amazing! We got out of our vehicle and were given cold clothes to wipe our hands and face and a cold glass of some delicious juice to wash down the fine, red dust that we’d covered ourselves in during the game drive. After showering and changing, we headed to the lodge for dinner and were once again impressed with our choices.

I don’t think there’s been a night yet that we haven’t been sound asleep by 9:30 pm and tonight won’t be any different. The generator running the electricity goes off at midnight which means no overhead fan but I suspect it will cool down enough to sleep. We have monkeys that roam the grounds and have been warned to keep our tent zippers closed and tied tightly or we may have some unwanted visitors in the night.  No problem……

I’m reading all your comments and it’s so nice to know you are taking another trip with me…thank you! Until next time, love and hugs to all. xx