Category: Kenya

The following is my last country-specific Behind the Wheel post and I will keep it brief because I plan to post a comprehensive Africa Behind the Wheel right after this post and want to avoid too much redundancy. So, here goes just a few of the most glaring observations of travelling in Kenya.

#1. Those damn speed bumps and police checkstations. Every country I have driven through has had their share of speed bumps and “police” check stops along the highways, but Kenya brought it to a whole new level. I couldn’t drive more than several kilometers on any tarmack road without hitting rumble tracks, speed bumps and “police” check stops of questionable legitimacy. The worse part of it was that while 90% of the speed bumps ware marked, there were those unmarked ones that drove me crazy, literally. And the check stops along the roads were ridiculous. Every settlement, and then some, had one or more check stops, and then there were some in the middle of nowhere. Most of the time they were attended by semi-official looking “officers” but often they were attended by plain clothes unofficial-looking people that I can only assume were attempting to extort money from the willing. Fortunately, I was almost always waved on through, so these stops were primarily targeting the Kenyans. Worst of all were the spiked strips laid halfway across the road without any warning signs or attendants. If I was’t focused on the road all the time I could have easily driven over one of these strips and blew out all four of my tires.

#2. Safari guides/drivers. I’m sorry, but the safari guide/drivers in Kenya were the most unfriendly, unaccommodating and at times unethical in their conduct within the Parks and Reserves of all the southern and eastern African countries I visited. The drivers/guides almost never waved and smiled unless I did so first and even then they often didn’t return the courtesy. I got the feeling that many of them resent the self-drivers and pay them (i.e., me) no respect. I got the feeling that the Kenyan safari industry has a very protectionist attitude. This was in stark contrast to the other countries I visited. And outside the Parks and Reserves, the drivers of all types of vehicles (e.g., semi-trucks, matatus, etc.) were ruthless and often careless in overtaking and passing. I suppose once you get accustomed to the chaotic driving patterns, it isn’t so alarming (this, according to Mark), but for a new-comer to the country it was maddening.

#3. Modern Kenya. I’ll finish on a positive note. Kenya is clearly a more modern country than all of the others I visited with the exception of South Africa. The landscape outside the Parks and Reserves is carved up into farms and pastures that look relatively modern and the housing for the vast majority of the people is a huge step up from that in the other countries, again with the exception of South Africa outside of the shanty townships. I saw relatively little poverty-striken areas or people on my travels. Granted, I only experienced a small part of the country, but what I did see generally impressed me relative to the other countries, excepting South Africa. Note, however, the Nairobi is said to have Africa’s largest single slum, housing over a million people. I also spoke with many workers in the Parks and Reserves, ranging from maintenance staff to gun-carrying rangers, and many camplained about their low salaries and lack of job advancement opportunities. Of course, this was often an attempt to earn my sympathy and a few dollars, which I often obliged, so it is hard to say how universal this is. Nevertheless, the Kenyans clearly have a much higher standard of living than then other countries visited, excepting South Africa outside the shanty townships.

OK, I said I would keep this one brief, so that’s it.

Sadly, my journey through the inland of south and east Africa this year has come to an end in Nairobi. Happily, it ended with a visit to Mark and Kirsten’s house and school. Most of my time in Nairobi was spent getting the vehicle cleaned and detailed inside and out in a brave attempt to wipe away 4 months of dust and grime, meeting with mechanical, electrical and body shops to arrange for a thorough maintenance of the fuel, drive, suspension and electrical systems, and arranging for insurance and a foreign vehicle permit that will allow the Green Dragon to stay in Kenya for several months.

Not all my time was spent with these necessary chores, however. I managed to get in a couple of sessions of tennis with Mark and friends, only to realize that 45 years without swinging a racket is a long time.

There will be a couple of follow-up posts, a brief one on Kenya Behind the Wheel and a final comprehensive one on Africa Behind the Wheel that will provide a synthesis and summary of my observations and opinions of Africa from this year’s journey.

In closing, I would like to thank all of you that stayed with me on this journey and especially those that contributed to the blog with comments, as it gave me some confirmation that someone was actually listening/watching and, more importantly, motivatied me to keep on posting. It was fun to do this travel blog for multiple reasons. In part, in helped to keep me engaged and thinking about the places I was visiting. But more importantly, it allowed me to share my adventure and enthusiasm with you and give you a chance to experience it with me, even if only virtually. I hope you all learned something about Africa – because life is an educational journey – and enjoyed seeing and hearing the landscapes, wildlife and people as much as I did. Hopefully, I will see you all again next year as I (along with Nancy for part or most of the time) journey throughout the rest of Kenya and then down the east coast of Africa back to Cape Town.

My last destination before heading to Nairobi was Mount Suswa Conservancy, located roughly 30 miles west of Nairobi and just south of Mount Longonot National Park on the map above (but not shown). The Mount Suswa Conservancy is entirely run by the Maasai community that lives inside the conservancy lands. Mount Suswa is a dormant shield volcano rising from the floor of the Great Rift Valley to a height of 7,730 ft. Note, shield volcanoes are the product of gentle effusive eruptions of highly fluid lavas that produce, over time, a broad, gently sloped “shield”, in contrast to the classic steep-sided, conical form of stratovolcanoes like Mount Longonot. Mount Suswa has a unique double crater formed by multiple eruptions and collapses with an expansive outer caldera and a moat-like inner crater surrounding a tilted block of rock.

The mountain is also known for its network of lava caves on the east side of the mountain and, interestingly, some of these caves are inhabited by olive baboons – yes, that’s right, baboons. The Maasai have named one of these caverns, the “Baboon Parliament”, which is the night time roost of a local troop of Olive baboons. The baboons enter the cave at twilight and roost high up on the cave walls (rather than their typical treetop roost) to escape from their greatest nocturnal predator – leopards. Apparently, the Mount Suswa caves are the only known place in the world where olive baboons roost in cave.

The caves also host huge numbers of threatened large-eared free-tailed bats.

I was joined at Mount Suswa by Mark and Kirsten and 6 of their coworker friends from the International School of Kenya. It was great to spend more time with Mark and Kirsten and fun to meet and interact with some of their teacher friends. Not surprisingly, given that Mark and Kirsten organized the expedition, we did not suffer from lack of good food and drink. In fact, we ate like royalty for the two days we were there. Most of us went caving in the system of lava tubes and caverns created during the last eruption, including a visit to the Baboon Parliament. On day two, most of us did a 4.5 hour hike out and back to the summit of Mount Suswa and for the siestas we engaged in intensive card games and board games. The latter, in particular, involved the men versus women in a game of cognative skills and, more importantly, concensus-building. Can you guess who won that game?! The women of course, because we, the men, spent most of our time arguing different opinions and debating every decision and usually had to go with the majority opinion. The women, in contrast, discussed the options and then quickly came to concensus on their decisions. More proof that women should be politicians.

OK, that’s pretty much it for Mount Suswa. Here is a short video of sunrise over the inner crater (very cool), the caldera from just above our campsite and from the peak of Mount Suswa, along with a brief excursion to the Baboon Parliament cave:

Mount Suswa composite video (8 minute)

Photo Gallery:

After my brief and muddy stay at SoySambu Conservancy, I headed south to Mount Longonot National Park (59 sq. mi.), established in 1983. As the name suggests, the Park is centered on Mount Longonot, which is a stratovolcano rising from the floor of the Great Rift Valley to a height of 9,108 ft. For the non-geologists among us, stratovolcanoes have relatively steep sides and are more cone-shaped than shield volcanoes. They are formed from viscous, sticky lava that does not flow easily. The lava therefore builds up around the vent forming a volcano with steep sides. Mount Longonot contains a large caldera formed by major eruptions some 21,000 years ago. Apparently, the volcano is still geologically active – yikes, with the last minor eruption occurring in the 1860s.

My campsite was the only public campsite in the Park, but I had it to myself. It was a decent spot at the base of the mountain and it had running water and a toilet, albeit trashy but functional. Here’s my campsite .

This Park was solely about hiking the mountain and caldera, but rather than describe the 9 mile hike up the mountain and around the rim of the caldera, let me take you on a musical slide show journey:

Mount Longonot hike (4 minutes)

On to my last stop, Mount Suswa Conservancy!

After Lake Nakuru National Park I moved next door to the SoySambu Conservancy which abutts Nakuru via a narrow corridor of land. The Conservancy is relatively new, having been established in 2007, and is relatively small at 48,000 acres. The focal point of this Conservancy is Lake Elementeita, another Rift Valley alkaline lake and, like the others, hosts a “flamboyance” of flamingos, numbering over a million at times and nearly covering the surface of the lake. The bulk of the flamingos left Elementeita about a month ago and, as we witnessed, have relocated to Lake Bogoria for the time being. However, the Lake still hosts thousands of flamingos and probably an equal number of pelicans, along with a variety of other water birds.

The uplands are a mosaic of grassland plains on rolling hills, acacia woodlands along the lakeshore and streams, and some rocky hills and ridges. Overall, it is a nice mosaic of habitats but due to its small size and insular nature it doesn’t support a lot of the megafauna found in the larger parks and reserves. The dominant large mammal is plains zebra – they are everywhere here – but there is a smattering of several other species as well such as buffalo and eland. Like other Conservancies, SoySambu is a “working” landscape. They have several cattle herds, a mining operation, and tourism as sources of revenue and employ many of the local natives. Here are few photos of the landscape:

My special campsite was called Lakeview and, as the name implies, it was on the lakeshore with a nice view of one of the bays. One nice feature of this campsite was that the Conservancy set up a water tank, pit toilet and bucket shower for my stay, so I had everything I needed. Here are some photos:

The only exciting thing to report about my brief two-night stay here was the driving adventure brought on by the intensive rainstorm on my first night. It rained hard for a couple of hours, amounting to a couple of inches based on my wash basin, as it has been doing most evenings for the past 2 weeks. I headed out for my usual morning drive to see the landscape and wildlife and I chose a section of the Conservancy that looked interesting based on the terrain. To get to this section I had to pass through a manned gate and the ranger at the gate advised on a route through the hills and valleys. Trust the ranger, right? Well, after I had driven some distance and was commited to this route, I ended up driving through a muddy mess and almost got stuck twice. It was too late to turn around. Once I even slid into a deep water hole with the front end of the Green Dragon because the wheels were caked up with mud and I was slipping and sliding all over the place giving me very little control of the vehicle. Check out this photo of what the “Green” Dragon looked like after this little adventure.

Now I know what this guy below feels like every time he takes a mud bath, only he loves it:

After getting through this mud bath I was able to reflect back on the experience and admire how well the Green Dragon handled the soft mud and water. I was really glad I was in a Land Cruiser Troopie; otherwise, I might still be there right now!

I also had some nice encounters with some of the Conservancy locals, as shown in these two photos:

I’m off to Mount Longonot National Park to hike the rim of a volcanic caldera. See you there.

After my unplanned visit to Ol Pejeta Conservancy I headed back west to Lake Nakuru National Park. In the map above you’ll find the Park due south of Lake Bogoria National Reserve. Lake Nakuru National Park (73 sq. mi.), established in 1961 and located on the floor of the Great Rift Valley roughly 93 miles northwest of Nairobi, is similar in its landscape setting to Lake Bogoria. Like Lake Bogoria, Lake Nakuru was best known for its thousands, sometimes millions of flamingos nesting (but see below) along the shores and feeding in the shallow warm alkaline waters. Indeed, they claimed that at times the surface of the shallow lake was often hardly recognizable due to the continually shifting mass of pink – must have been a sight to see, although I can’t imagine how it could top what I saw at Lake Bogoria!

The number of flamingos on the Lake is strongly affected by the alkalinity of the lake, in that when the alkaline levels are high the blue-green algae blooms and the flamingos remain, which in turn is affected by the fluctuating water levels. Apparently, in recent years the water levels have fluctuated dramatically between the wet and dry seasons, and it is suspected that this is caused by the increased watershed land conversion to intensive crop production and urbanization, both of which reduce the capacity of soils to absorb water and recharge ground water thereby resulting in increased seasonal flooding during the wet season and starving the lake of water input during the dry season. In addition, like all the other Great Rift Valley lakes, the lake basin has been receiving more precipitation during the past several years which has caused the lake level to rise significantly, resulting in the inundation of lakeside roads and campsites and the death of thousands of trees (“ghost trees”) on the lake fringe. According to one ranger I spoke with at length, the rising lake level has also prevented flamingos from nesting at Lake Nakuru for many years now. Whether this displacement of nesting birds is solely due to the loss of nesting areas along the shoreline – flamingos build mud platform nests on the ground – or changes in the algae food base of the lake due to change in the water chemistry, or both, is unknown. Today, the lake supports far more pelicans than flamingos. Here are some photos of what the lake and shoreline look like today:

The Park has a spectacular setting and a diversity of habitats, along with a surprisingly rich variety of wildife species. The lake sits in a confined basin (i.e., no outlets) with high escarpments on the east and west sides of the valley that create some awesome cliffs and rock outcrops and are covered with a mosaic of grasslands and dense scrub. The valley bottom includes some large grassland plains along with extensive acacia woodlands dominated by a very distinctive acacia tree (Acacia xanthophloea) that has smooth, lemon to greenish yellow bark that gives the woodland a distinctive yellow-green appearance. The common names for this tree are fever tree and yellow-barked acacia . Here are a few photos of the landscape:

My “special” campsite (i.e., private site without facilities) was called Rhino campsite. It was situated in the middle of an extensive acacia woodland close to the grassland plains. It had some large yellow-barked acacia trees, but given their sparse canopy, it didn’t have too much shade to offer, so I spent my siestas at other locations in the Park. The one exciting thing about this campsite was the sound that woke me up at 2:30 am the first night:

It may not sound like it in this recording but this guy was on the edge of my campsite! It turns out that this guy also spent the day resting in the shade in my campsite while I was gone based on the report of a guide I met the following day who had driven to my campsite on his wildlife drive. I guess I should have come back to camp for my siesta! Here are photos of my campsite and siesta site:

Here’s an anecdote that saddened my heart. My first evening in the Park I happened upon a couple of safari vehicles watching something of interest. It turned out to be a beautiful male leopard walking through the tall grass parallel to the road. Eureka! I had only seen leopards once on this trip, so needlesstosay I was excited. I managed to watch the leopard for about 20 seconds but then he moved too far out of sight so I decided to move farther up the road in the direction he was walking. At that very moment, ~50 safari vehicles – you know, the kind with a driver/guide and paying customers – came screaming into the road from all directions. It was total choas and absolutedly maddening. I had heard bad stories about the safari vehicles in Kenya, but this was beyond my worse expectation. There was no consideration for others, just a mad scramble to get into position to see the leopard. The rudeness and unethical behavior on display was unbelievable. I was cut off by a vehicle that drove up the bank on the side of the track and then cut in front of me while I was waiting to move forward. I tried to leave the pack and escape the frenzy but the vehicles were 2 lanes thick as far as I could see ahead and behind. I was literally trapped in place without any view but the side of a vehicle for ~40 minutes. No one moved on after 10 minutes of watching and photographing to allow others a turn as they were suppose to based on the general rules of conduct for safari vehicles. It was the worse wildlife experience I have ever had. As a follow up, two things. First, I ran into the assistant director of the Park the following day and his top administrative assistant and relayed the story. They were very sympathetic and apologetic and vowed to try to rectify the situation – good luck. Second, the next night I passed by the same spot to see if the leopard was around but I didn’t see him and started to move on slowly. As I moved on, dozens of safari vehicles started racing past me to get to the site I had just left. Clearly, the leopard had been seen again and the word went out on radio/phone to the safari guides in the Park who were once again in a mad scramble to give their paying customers their money’s worth. I kept driving as fast as I could in the opposite direction to get as far away from that site as possible.

For the remainder of my time in the Park I tried to stay off the main roads as much as possible and ended up seeing lots of wildlife, including quite a few white rhinos, lions and all the other megafauna. Here’s a composite video of my observations:

Lake Nakuru National Park composite video (22 minutes)

From the Wildside:

Photo Gallery:

First order of business, the log structure hanging from the tree along the road at Lake Bogoria was a beehive carved out of log cut in half. They placed beehives at regular frequent intervals (~50 m) along the main road presumably as a living “fence” to deter elephants – and also for the production of honey as a byproduct. Mark figured this one out immediately and actually he was the only one to submit a guess (perhaps nobody else viewed the post?).

After leaving the flamingo spectacle at Lake Bogoria I headed east to the Ol Pejeta Conservancy for two main reasons. First, I had a few days to kill before resuming my original schedule so that I can meet Mark and Kirsten at Mount Suswa Conservancy on the 16th. Second, this conservancy has both species of rhino (black and white) as well as cheetah (and the other cats), both of which are on my bucket list to see on this trip. I don’t have a map to show my route and destination because this was unplanned, so I included the map above for an indirect reference. On the map above, Ol Pejeta is labeled as a National Reserve (which it is not) and it is located east-southeast of Lake Bogoria and northwest of Mount Kenya.

Ol Pejeta is a “Conservancy”, which basically means that it is a private entity administered and managed in cooperation with the local communities for the benefit of people and wildlife. Ol Pajeta supports a staff of ~600 locals and, like most if not all conservancies, does allow some grazing of domestic livestock, but presumably under close scrutiny so as to not diminish the habitat quality for wildlife. Ol Pejeta claims (but I’m not sure it is true) to have the second highest density of “wildlife” in Kenya, after the Maasai Mara, and supports populations of all the big predators, including 6 lion prides,~15 cheetah, ~20 leopards, and at least at one time had 2 packs of wild dogs. The landscape is comprised of gently rolling hills with grassland plains on the hills and scrub woodland in the valleys. Mount Kenya is visible to the southeast which provides a nice backdrop when the clouds don’t obscure the view. Here are a couple of photos:

My exclusive campsite for the first two nights was called Ol Lerai and then I moved to nearby Ewaso. Both are located along the major seasonal river through the Conservancy, the Ewaso Ng’iro River and, interestingly, are a stones throw from the equator. Basically that means that the temperatures don’t change that much over the course of the year or between night and day. Here are photos of my two campsites, the second I much preferred because of the nice shade trees. Both had toilets but no water.

I went to Ol Pejeta pricinpally to observe white and black rhinos and, with any luck, cheetah. I saw plenty of rhinos, mostly white, but struck out again on the cheetah. I think I am fated not to see cheetahs on this trip, perhaps as an enticement to return next year? Here is a composite video of my wildlife observations, with a focus on rhino:

Ol Pejeta Conservancy composite video (24 minutes)

Photo Gallery:

After leaving the Maasai Mara my plan was to go west to a remote and rarely visited Park called Ruma near the shores of Lake Victoria and then head north to visit a couple of other small and relatively unknown Parks (Saiwa Swamp and South Turkana). However, as I was leaving The Mara I learned that the tsetse flies were really bad at Ruma and that they carry the parasite for sleeping sickness. SO, rather than battle the tsetse flies and risk the disease I opted to stay east and head to Lake Bogoria National Reserve. I can’t edit the map above on my tablet so you can just skip over the paths between The Mara and Lake Bogoria and go straight to Lake Bogoria.

On route to Lake Bogoria I stayed in a low-end hotel in the town of Narok because I could not find a camping site anywhere nearby. On the way up to Lake Bogoria the following day I had an uneventful crossing of the equator. I wouldn’t even have known I was crossing the equator if it weren’t for my GPS system – there was nothing on the paper maps or on the road marking the crossing. Centered on the equatorial crossing were some large sisal plantations. Sisal is in the Agave family and is cultivated for its fibres in the leaves used to make rope and other products. Here’s a photo of what that looked like:

After many kilometers of surprisingly decent tarmack roads I ended up on a stretch of rather rough track that see’s very few vehicles other than motorcycles. However, it was the only track to the Reserve coming from the south, so I had little choice but to go slow. After creeping through herd afer herd of goats and cattle, I eventually made it to the Reserve gate, where I learned that my planned public campsite was under water. Apparently, like all the other lakes in the region, including Victoria and Tanganyika, the Lake level has risen significantly over the past several years. Some suggest climate change due to global warming-induced increased rainful as the cause. And this is adjacent to areas in eastern Kenya and Ethopia that have been experiencing severe droughts. These sorts of regional and even local swings in climate seem to be one of the hallmarks of climate change. Fortunately, the Reservee substituted the lakeside campsite with a streamside campsite that was a very comfortable and serene setting right along a babbling brook under numerous shade trees, including some huge fig trees. Here’s a few photos that don’t quite capture the full scope of the peaceful riparian setting and the grandeur of the fig trees:

But if you really want a sense of the serenity of this streamside campsite, watch my 6-minute streamside flute video:

Lake Bogoria streamside flute video (6 minutes)

Lake Bogoria National Reserve (41 sq. mi.), established in 1970, is located on the floor of the Great Rift Valley roughly 145 miles northwest of Nairobi. Lake Bogoria lies in a trough below the Ngendelel Escarpment that rises steeply from the lake 2,000 ft – an awesome sight! The reserve is centered on the lake itself, which in addition to its spectacular setting is geothermically active on the western shore, with geysers and hot springs. It was once described as “the most beautiful view in Africa” – I wouldn’t claim that, but you be the judge. The Reserve is in a semi-arid area. The only major river feeding the lake is the Waseges River, which rises on the northern slopes of the Aberdare Range. The Waseges runs through productive agricultural land (mostly coffee plantations) higher up, through bush and scrub used for grazing, and then through very dry bush before entering the lake at its northern end. The lake is surrounded by dry srcub, except along the few streams running into the lake which support lush vegetation and huge fig trees. There is no terrestrial wildlife here to speak of, which is perhaps not too surprising since there are goats and cattle grazing everywhere – so much for the concept of a nature Reserve. All they seem to be reserving is grazing/browsing for domestic livestock. Not my idea of a National Reserve! Here are a few shots of the lake and setting:

The lake is alkaline, feeding blue-green algae which in turn feed the flamingoes. At times the number of flamingoes feeding in the lake may be as high as two million. I’m not sure of how many flamingoes I saw but it must have been in the hundreds of thousands, perhaps even a million. This flamingo spectacle is the avian counterpart to the wildebeest spectacle of The Mara. Here’s a photo to wet your lips, but check out the video to see the full wildlife spectacle.

Lake Bogoria composite flamingo video (10 minutes)

I know how much some of you like trying to guess mystery objects/sounds, so here’s another one for you. What is this cut log structure hanging in the tree and what is their purpose (note, these were distributed all along the road through the Reserve)?

OK, I’m off to find Rhinos at Ol Pajeta Conservancy. Wish me luck!

My first destination in Kenya is the Maasai Mara National Reserve and Mara Triangle, located in the southwestern corner of the country and contiguous with the Serengeti NP of Tanzania. The Mara Triangle is the western portion of the Reserve between the Mara River, Tanzania border and the Isuru or Oloololo Escarpment.

The Mara (580 sq. mi.), as it is locally known, established in 1961, is named in honor of the Maasai people, the ancestral inhabitants of the area, who migrated to the area from the Nile Basin. Their description of the area when looked at from afar: “Mara” means “spotted” in the local Maasai language, due to the many short bushy trees which dot the landscape. The Mara is one of the most famous natural reserves in Africa, in part because its unique role in hosting the huge mammal migration of 2 million plus wildebeest, plains zebra and Thompson’s gazelles during the dry season of August-October before they turn south to the Serengeti in Tanzania for the wet season. The Mara is a meca for the wildlife during the dry season because it receives just enough monsoonal rain showeers the keep the grasses green when everything to the south is dried up. And like the Serengeti, it is importantly to remember that The Mara is the ancestral home of the Maasai people who were displaced from the Reserve to benefit the wildlife and tourism.

The landscape in The Mara is primarily open grassland with seasonal rivulets and a few major rivers, including the Sand, Talek and Mara. In the southeast region are clumps of the distinctive acacia tree, and shrubs and trees fringe most drainage lines and cover hillslopes and hilltops. In the south are distinctive low, flat-topped volcanic “inselbergs”, which are usually topped with a shrub thicket. The western border is the escarpment of the East African Rift, which you might recall is part of the great African rift system that extends some 3,500 mi long from Ethiopia through Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi and into Mozambique. The southern border is contiguous with the Serengeti NP of Tanzania and fortunately there are no fence lines to disrupt wildlife movements between these areas – although people are not allowed to pass! Otherwise, The Mara is surrounded by well-developed and populated agricultural and pastoral lands. Consequently, The Mara, along with its southern neighbor is truly an “island” wilderness home to the many wildlife species. Unfortunately, in recent years the wildlife populations have suffered significant declines due to the increasing human population and development surrounding the Reserve and the accompanying human incursions, including poaching and cattle grazing, into the Reserve. In fact, only the Mara Triangle, the area west of the Mara River, is completely dedicated to the wildlife. The rest of the National Reserve still allows cattle grazing by the native Maasai communities. Here are a few photos to set the scene:

Before getting to The Mara I had to cross the border post at Isibania. It would have been a breeze through and taken maybe 15 minutes if I didn’t have to wait 1 hour for the custom’s agent to come back from lunch at 2:30 pm (?!). For various reasons, including not finding any campgrounds nearby, my needless delay at the border post, and my need to take care of some “city business” (i.e., get sim card for my hotspot, shop, refuel, wash Green Dragon), I ended up staying in the first significant town after the border crossing, Migori, and ended up staying at the Hotel Discretion. Yes, that’s right, Hotel “Discretion”. What that means, I will let you ponder; I simply used it for a bed and a secure lot for my vehicle in the bustling urban center of Migori.

I had 3 nights in The Mara before I was joined by brother Mark and Kirsten. For my first night, I chose the only public campsite with complete facilities, Oloololo, which is located near the northwestern entrance to the Reserve. The video will show the campsite and its setting so I won’t repeat it here. For the remaining 4 nights in the Reserve (2 more by myself and 2 with Mark and Kirsten), I moved to a no-frills (i.e., only pit toilet, no water) campsite farther south into the middle of the Reserve and perched up high on a hill partially overlooking the plains and Mara River. A sweet setting but without any good shade trees. Again, the video will show the campsite and setting. Mark and Kirsten brought with them lots and lots of food – no surprise there – but also the return of “sundowners”. Here’s a photo of our sundowner on the first night:

I have a couple of anecdotes to share from my stay in The Mara:

#1. I am a little reluctant to share this anecdote because it could have earned me a Darwin Award, but in the spirit of full disclosure, here goes. When you are in the “bush” and you have to releave yourself it is customary to find some sheltering vegetation or landform. At one point along my drive I really “had to go”, so I stopped the vehicle near an old termite mound that had some small shrubs growing out of it – seemed like a reasonable spot. Here’s what the site looked like:

Pretty reasonable looking spot for taking care of business, right. I went to the middle of the termite mound and found a burrow in the middle that looked like this:

Doesn’t too active, does it? Here’s an even closer look at the burrow:

As I dropped my pants and started to squat about 3 feet away from the hole, an alarmed or frightened or pissed off – I didn’t have time to determine which – bolted out of the hole straight at me. I was so startled that I jumped 10 feet in the air and landed with my legs at full speed, where I promptly tripped on a rock and landed face down. In the split second that this took place I had visions of being rammed up the you know what by one very pissed off warthog. But when I turned and regained my feet, to my great relief he was racing away as fast his legs would take him. Fortunately, he was scared and not pissed. Needlesstosay, I lost a few heartbeats during this encounter. Good thing my head is already shaved of hair or I would have lost some of that as well. Moral of this story is: “never squat near a burrow, no matter how unused it looks!”

#2. I went to a Border Post in the far southwestern corner of the Reserve and talked to a couple of the Park Rangers. They shared with me that they do border patrol along the Tanzanian-Kenyan border through the middle of the Maasai Mara as well as anti-poaching, since they are located along the Reserved Boundary. To my amazement, they showed me a pile of animal snares used by poachers from the adjacent villages to trap and kill antelop for the meat. They retrieve 100-300 wire snares every day on their patrols and so far this year they have collected 70,000 snares. Yes, that’s right, 70,000! Here’s a photo to prove it:

OK, that’s it for anecdotes. There’s not much else to say here about the landscape and the wildlife that the video won’t do better, so I will leave it at that and let the video and pictures below do the talking.

Note, sorry, but not really, but the composite video is super long because I had 5 full days of observations in The Mara, and there was so much to observe. There is quite a bit of footage of the wildebeest herds and the migration because this was THE main spectacle, and what a spectacle it was. Also, for this video I composited my footage chronologically, so you can see how my observations progressed over the 5 days. Of course, I wasn’t able to capture all the cool species I saw on video, and I stopped videoing a lot of repeat scenes after day 2, otherwise the video would have been twice as long. I realize that this video is longer than most of you will want to sit through, so honestly I don’t expectt many of you to watch this. But if you want to experience the spectacle and see lots of lion footage, then skip your Netflix movie and sit back and enjoy The Mara, because I sure did!

Maasai Mara composite video (83 minutes)

From the Wildside:

Photo Gallery:

My 6^th and last country on this overland trip is Kenya, and once again, it is worth sharing a few factoids about this country to put things in better context and to educate myself (and you, if needed) a little about this corner of the world.

• As you can see in the map above, Kenya is on the east coast of Africa bordering the Indian Ocean and abutting 5 countries, including Tanzania, Uganda, South Sudan, Ethiopia, and Somalia, and perfectly straddles the equator.
• It is part of what is commonly referred to as “East Africa”, along with Tanzania and Uganda (although there are many other recognized delineations).
• The official name of Kenya is the Republic of Kenya.
• Roughly the same size as Texas.
• Roughly 57 million people, compared to ~332 million in the U.S..
• 2 official languages: Swahili and English, but there are as many as 70 different native languages spoken.
• Government is a democratic republic, which includes independent executive, legislative and judicial branches with a structure similar to the US, including a bicameral legislature.
• Official currency is the Kenyan Shilling, but many tourist places (e.g., hotels, lodges, etc.) accept US Dollars.
• Major exports include coffee, tea, cut flowers, and vegetables. Unlike its southern neighbors, gems and precious metals are relatively minor exports compared to the horticultural products. Kenya exported coffee to the value of over 40 million US dollars in 2021. Locals value coffee as a commodity so greatly that most Kenyans don’t really drink it, and only a small amount is sold domestically.
• Although it is unclear what percentage of the population self-identifies as indigenous, the government does recognize some 42 different indigenous tribes.
• Often referred to as the “Cradle of Humanity” because the earliest known hominids and the oldest remains of genus Homo are found here and elsewhere in East Africa
• Kenya’s colonization history is very similar to much of eastern Africa, and especially to its neighbor to the south, Tanzania. The indigenous hunter-gatherers began to be displaced by Bantu peoples some two thousand years ago, and the influx of various Bantu peoples continued through the 19th century. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to sway influence over the region during the 16^th and 17^th centuries but never assumed any real colonial control over the native peoples and never reached too far from the coast. During the second half of the 17^th century the Portuguese were slowly driven from the coast by Arabs from Oman, and from the end of the 17^th century the Arabs were the dominant power in the region. The Arabs became slave traders and took huge numbers of slaves from the region during the 18^th and 19^th centuries, exporting slaves mostly to Arab or European colonies in the Indian Ocean. Eventually, the British arrived in the late 1800s and started taking over the region under the banners of the British East Africa Company. Thus, during this period East Africa was split between British control in the north in modern-day Kenya and Uganda and German control in the south in modern-day Tanzania (also Rwanda and Burundi). However, after the first world war the entirety of East Africa came under British territorial control. The end of British colonial rule was spearheaded by the Mau Mau rebellion between 1952-1959. And while the Mau Mau were eventually defeated, the rebellion signaled the end of British rule. Kenya achieved formal independence in 1963.
• Has the 2^nd tallest mountain in Africa, Mount Kenya, at 17,057 feet!
• Has the first woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize – Wangari Muta Maathai! This inspirational woman was a Kenyan environmental, social, and political activist who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace.
• Has the world’s largest desert lake, Lake Turkana, which is inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• There must be something in the water in Kenya, because the country’s Kalenjin people have produced many world record breaking athletes and long-distance runners, known for dominating marathon circuits worldwide.
• Has ~12.5% of its total land area devoted to national parks, reserves and wildlife management areas – comparable to the US but not as impressive as its neighbors to the south!