Detomos Abroad

This weekend we took another trip down the intercoastal waterway via the Isahayi Sea to Conrad and Inyant’s beach hut. (See August 17, 2008)  A thirty minute ride on the water makes one worries melt away.  We were going for sun and relaxation as our sea freight had not yet arrived.  The sun cooperated and it was a wondrous day.  No cell phones and no traffic only the sounds of the Atlantic Ocean.   We walked the beach, relaxed in the hammocks, read a book, and flew a kite.  Emmanuel and Friday prepared a feast from the supplies we brought and we ate barbeque ribs, kabobs and burgers.  We shared conversation over a bottle of wine (or 2).  We even taught the local children to fly the kite.  What a peaceful day. 

   

 

This morning I had the privilege to attend a hospitality coffee offered by the American Women’s Club (AWC) hosted at the Nike Gallery.

Renowned batik artist Nike Davies-Okundayoe has turned the first floor of her Lekki Estates home into a showroom. Nike was personally there to show us around and to answer questions.  Her daughter was also there modeling some of the batik skirts and sashes.  Her home show cases not only her art but other artists thus paintings, beads, fabric and other artwork were displayed. It was a wonderfully interesting morning.

 

 

 

Nike Davies-Okundayoe is one of the most well-known and contemporary artists of West Africa.

She is an active supporter of women’s rights and promoting Nigerian art forms.  Nike’s Center for arts and Culture in Oshogbo trains men and women free of charge in the Nigerian art forms.  (Oshogbo is a major market town in southwest Nigeria that is the center of production of adire [indigo pattern dying].) Nike is working to keep alive the techniques of traditional Yoruba art:  adire, batik, beadwork, wood carving, mosaics, appliqué and even drumming and dancing.  Nike is also an active opponent of the economic slavery of women through the practice of polygamy. You can learn more at www.nikeart.com

 

 

The Elephant Dream by Nike Davies

 

 

Osun Goddess by Nike Davies

 

Close you r eyes and you will hear horns blowing, engine noise and one thousand conversations.  Open your eyes and see a kaleidoscope of colors in front of you and across the street as well as thousands of people.  The shops are 4 foot wide and 8 foot deep with racks on all 3 walls full of fabric from ceiling to floor.  There are all colors of the rainbow as well as fabric from all of Africa (Ghana, Benin, Ivory Coast, Gabon, South Africa and more).  There is no door or air conditioning, but hops have one light in the ceiling.   There are fabric and then fabric with lace woven into it.  The colorful but plain fabric for every day wear and the laciest of fabrics for special occasions and Sunday Church wear.  The senses were overwhelmed.

 

This morning 7 of us ventured to Balogun Street on Lagos Island in search of dress fabric.  Some of the ladies were after skirt fabric or blouse fabric, but two of us were after fabric for traditional dress.  Balogun Market is on Balogun Street not too far from where Rocky works.  It is a street traversed on foot or by okada with people everywhere.  Occasionally you will see a car as it is difficult driving due to the volume of people in the street.

 

So where does one start with so many choices.  As this was my first time here, I followed my friends observing the wide variety of fabrics.  I was after dress  and headdress material as well as fabric to cover our bar stools.   After viewing several shops I found blue material overlaid with gold with hints of pink and lavender for a dress.  The shopkeeper wanted 4000 Naira (NGN) [~$34].  We bargained and I paid 2500 NGN (~$ 21)  for 6 yards of the blue fabric. All fabric comes in 6 or 12 yards lengths.  I then selected the pink fabric (that matches the dress) for a headdress from another shop.

 

 For the bar I found brown black with a pattern that matches the carvings on the front of the bar.  The gentleman wanted 4500 NGN (~$38) but eventually settled for 2500 NGN (~$21).   All in all, shopping took us about 3 hours. 

 

As we walked back to Breadfruit Street where the drivers and cars waited we bought 2 bags of oranges (6 oranges for 200 Naira [$1.70]).   As it turns out those oranges was lunch as we got stuck in traffic and it took 70 minutes to get home (normally 20 minute drive).  My next foray will be to find a tailor.

On Thursday, October 2nd, I received a call from the American High School Football,

 (Soccer), Coach, Columbus, asking me if I wanted to accompany him to a soccer competition on Saturday.  In addition to coaching at the American High School, Columbus runs a Football Academy nearby on the Lekki Peninsula.  The Lekki Peninsula area is relatively upper-middle class in Lagos, and most of the people in the area are hardworking and educated with a modest income.  However, our adventure this weekend would take us elsewhere.

 

In January, 2008, the Lagos State of Nigeria decided to host a year-long “Street Soccer” 5 vs. 5 Tournament, open to all registered Football Teams within the Lagos State.  The purpose was to identify new, upcoming Nigerian Talent and allow young footballers to emerge.  MTN, one of the major local cell phone providers, provided major sponsorship, the State Government provided guaranteed medical insurance to the players, and thousands of teams were registered for the event in January.  Competition began in February, and by this weekend now in October, the competition was down to the top 80 teams – 10 teams each at 8 different sites spread around the State of Lagos.  The competition this Saturday would be a strictly 1 game each knock-out competition to reduce the number of teams to 40.  These 40 would then be regrouped into 10 brackets of 4 for round-robin play, with 2 teams from each bracket moving on to a “finals” championship in November.  The Tournament winning Team will receive 2,000,000 Naira, (~$18,000), and trips to Brazil to play, Runner-Up with 1,000,000 Naira and trips to South Africa to play, and 3rd place with 750,000 Naira and trips to Ghana to play.

 

I met Columbus at the American School at 8:30am to travel to one site of the competition.  Columbus’ Academy has an under-19 group, but half of the players would be at exam today, meaning that they would have to play without any substitutes.  Also, they were drawn to play today at “Maracana Field” in Apapa…a hotbed of football for Nigeria in the middle of some of the most densely populated poor slum areas of Lagos.  This particular pitch is named in honor of the famous stadium in Brazil – their homage locally to the sport.  Columbus had himself grown up in the area, but had not been back to this hallowed ground for over 16 years.  Numerous of Nigeria’s professional footballers grew up and learned a passion for the sport here, and I was eager to see the ground for myself.

 

Maracana Field was not easy for us non-locals to find.  After traveling to the Apapa area, we found ourselves on very narrow streets during Saturday morning market hours, surrounded by a busy, bartering mass of humanity.  There is no doubt in my mind that I was likely the only “Oyinbo”, (pronounced ‘ow-wee-bo’ – meaning ‘white person’), within a few miles, among over a million Nigerians.  In many ways it way humbling, but mostly, it meant I was a curiosity there.  After winding our way through 20 blocks of dusty, dirt, potholed roads, and moving the throngs from in front of us through persistent horn-blowing and car-creeping, and stopping to ask direction 3-5 times, we finally found the pitch at 9:20am.

 

Unfortunately, I had forgotten my camera, but I can describe the scene for you clearly:  The area was the size of 3-4 full size pitches with only a modicum of grass remaining at the extreme edges.  Although the ground was dirt from the constant local play, it was not sandy or soft, and without wind or rain, would allow a technical game to be played.  There were permanent goals, and sets of smaller temporary goals around, and the perimeter of the field was lined on 2 sides by the walls and kitchen windows of the surrounding neighborhood.  The 3rd side was bounded by the wall of the local school, and the 4th  boundary was the classic galvanized steel fence we customarily find lining an automotive salvage yard in the U.S.  Finally, the scene was held together by people playing – no organized play, just groups of kids from 4 years old to 19 years-old playing 1 vs. 1, 4 vs. 1 keep away, playing little 6-a-side soccer, etc.  There was no actual field, but clearly on this Saturday, one would be needed.

 

The games this day were slated to start at 9:00am, and would consist of 5 games on 45 minute intervals, with 10 minute halves each.  At 9:30am, they started to create the pitch!  The Rope-Man and Ruler-Man worked together to lay 60- by 40-yard touchlines, and the Liner-Man put fresh sawdust and wood clippings along the rope to create the boundaries.  Two goals were moved into place, 10 boards were moved to the sidelines for sponsor banners, and 20-ft tall wind-sails, with ‘MTN’ on them, were erected around the field. The Commissioner’s Tent was erected, the referees arrived, the Teams were warmed-up, and by 10:45am play was started.  I was introduced as a visiting Coach from the U.S. and given an excellent viewing seat of prominence under the tent with the Commissioners.

 

Before the matches, I met Columbus’ Team, and their Assistant Coach Martins, who had just returned from receiving his USSF “B” Coaching License in the U.S.  Columbus’ Team drew the third match of the day, and the first two matches were skillful and entertaining.  All players were fast and technically skillful – some very much so.  However, there was clearly a strong differentiation in the players’ tactical and decision making ability.  The first game was dominated by errors that cost one team a 2-1 loss, although they dominated possession and chances on goal.  The second game was evenly matched until late when a goalkeeper ventured too far forward on a offensive corner kick, and got caught terribly out of position, a 1-0 loss.

 

Columbus’ Team played skillfully, and tactically smart for a team having no subs.  They shot often, and occasionally from distance, as it served to allow them to pace themselves for the whole game, and they won handily, 2-0.

 

After the game, some of the staff wanted to say “hi”, and asked about coaching, coaching courses, and football in America, both professional and in Colleges.  The little boys at the field were excited, but shy, to come up and say “hi” to the Oyinbo, but you could see their eyes were wide with wonder and delight.  We gave Columbus, Martins and  Columbus’ brother a ride back to the American School to catch their local transport, but as is typical on mainland Lagos on Saturday afternoon, the traffic made for a 90 minute trip back.

 

All in all, it was an exciting and educational day, and a great chance to see the emerging talent within the Nigerian football world.  Watch out, World!  By the way, the FIFA Under-17 Boys World Championships will be in Nigeria in 2009 – I hope to get to see some matches, and who knows – maybe some of the boys I saw today.

                                                                   

As one of our “horizon expanding” activities, we decided to take up the game of golf more seriously in Nigeria.  With the combination of close availability to a golf course, company-sponsored joining fees, and more available recreational time, we joined the only Golf Club in the area – The Ikoyi Club – 1938, a very famous and venerable organization celebrating its platinum anniversary this year.  On September 29^th, 1938, the Club was founded with the merging of the European Club and the Lagos Golf Club.  Until 1976, the Club was run by Expatriates, but today, it is a shining example of diversity and inclusiveness.  It currently occupies 456 acres of prime real estate in the middle of Ikoyi Island, just blocks from our residence.  In addition to a full par-71 18-hole Golf Course with Driving Range, the Club boasts 3 swimming pools, a professional Table Tennis Arena, a Tennis Complex, a Snooker/Billiards Section, a Squash Court Complex, and various restaurants, meeting rooms, a library, gymnasiums, and weight room.

 

 

Joining the Ikoyi Club – 1938 starts with finding two full members, (full-members for at least 2 years), to sponsor you.  With their escort, one enters the Club’s Business Section and purchases a Preliminary Application Card for ~$65.  Upon completion of the Card by yourself and the Sponsors, one returns and is allowed to purchase a full Application Card for another ~$100.  Upon completion of this paperwork, and after securing approval from the Sports Section Chairmen, and after submittal with fees amounting to ~$6500, one becomes a Junior Member, (our current status).  We will remain Junior Members until being called with our Sponsor before the General Committee and being approved to become Ordinary Members.  Junior Members have all the privileges of the Ordinary Members except for voting rights.  However, full Ordinary Membership usually takes a number of additional months to secure.

 

With all memberships, use of all Club facilities is free – no green’s fees or facility charges.  Buckets of 50 balls at the Driving Range is only ~$1.75, and Caddies, (which are required), are only $5-$8 for a round of golf.  Drinks and food are extremely reasonable, even by U.S. standards.  To get started at the Golf Course, one must play 5 rounds with existing members to set a handicap, and then they are free to play whenever they so desire.  Since Julie is just beginning, she scheduled a set of lessons with the Club’s Golf Pro, Jacob.  She has started out with the more open-faced clubs, and is working her way up to the long irons and woods.

 

Overall, it’s really wonderful to get outside, away from the traffic and cement of Lagos, and into the greenery of the golf course and the dominant sounds of nature.  We plan to spend some hours there, at least a couple of days per week.

 

 

    Come join us for a round…

We headed back to camp, sat on the porch and enjoyed a bottle of red wine together, and prepared for the coming rainstorm that was building in the distance.

 

The storm hit with strong winds and horizontal rain, forcing everyone in Nyumbu Camp to take temporary refuge in their tents.  After an hour’s downpour, the rain turned to a sprinkle, and we ventured outside to find the nearly dry creek at the base of our camp turned into a 40-foot wide raging torrent.  Zebra who find daily evening refuge in the security of the camp were caught looking forlorn on the other side stranded from their security.  Phillip, the Camp’s Manager, assured us that the water would recede in a couple of hours, and so it would.  At dusk, the camp directors moved the campfire into the headquarters tent, where our Maasai Guide and Assistant Manager, James, told us about growing up Maasai in Kenya.  James is a college educated young man with a wife and 2 young children who was raised in the area.  He dresses each day in native Maasai dress, but speaks perfect school English, and represents the blending of African tribal traditions with Western upward mobility.  At 7:30pm we adjourned to dinner, and afterwards, we reassembled around the campfire for the anticipated stories.  When eyelids grew heavy, we broke the camaraderie for bedtime, just in time to make our way to our tents amidst the roars and rumbles of lions on the plains on the other side of the river.  Sleep came, though more nervously then normal, as the echos of preditor lions filled the small valley for the next 10-15 minutes.

 

My eyes awoke with a start in the still blackness of night that surrounded us.  I could tell by the luminescence of my watch’s dial that it was only a little after 2:00am, and the crunching and stomping outside of the tent is what woke me.  Julie and I quietly rose and took a look out the screen into the moonlight, to see two Zebra almost within arm’s reach, feasting on the still wet grass around the tent.  We took comfort in knowing that they thought it was safe here, as we crawled back under the covers to fall asleep.

 

We rose just before sunrise, again, and took a walk around the sleepy camp to survey the night’s handiwork.  The river had receded to its normal trickle, and the sign of Zebra and Wildebeest around the camp was abundant.  We wandered back to our social campfire patio to sit with morning coffee, and were lucky enough to see a family of three Velvet Monkeys 30 yards away playing hide-and-seek with the local tree trunks.

 

Sadly, we made our final check out after breakfast, and said our goodbyes to the other guests and staff.  Phillip and James had made our short stay truly memorable, and we were sorry to have to leave.  We used the few extra hours that we had in Kenya to re-enter the Maasai Mara Park, and take one last Game Drive through the Reserve.  Given the rains of the night before, we stayed to the main roads, and took one last long look at the vistas of over 10,000 animals that filled our small horizon.  In the distance were the ever present Elephants  and Giraffes, and we came upon two new groups of Ostrich who were busy with their heads to the ground, eating – pausing only occasionally to look up and see what was going on around them.

 

 

  

We started our trip to the park’s exit when our driver took a turn into a small quarry on the side of a hill where lay the park’s king, a male Lion, (Simba in Swahili), grooming himself without a care in the world.  From only 20 feet away, one can finally appreciate just how big the animal is, with front paw pads measuring 10 inches across!  We watched him for 15-20 minutes, until we decided that we needed to leave – a spectacular end to a wonderful visit.      Within the Maasai Mara Park, we had seen at least 2 of every large, major animal, with the exception of the Rhinoceros.  Only 20 years ago, there were hundreds of Rhinos here, but poachers looking to feed the black market for their horn almost wiped them out!  Today, only 24 Rhinos are surviving in the Park, vigorously protected by the government and locals.  The belief is that they are slowly making a comeback, but we are not destined to see one this time.

 

The drive back to Nairobi is long, bumpy and uneventful.  We stop at a souvenir shop along the way to stretch our legs and take one last look at carvings and beadwork.  After another hour’s journey, we reach Narok where we stop for lunch as Samuel seeks out his mother at a local market to stop and say “hi”.  Narok is in the middle of the wheat farms.  The farmers still dry the wheat by spreading it on huge sheets in the sun for 1-2 days.  Full and tired, we resume our 5-hour journey to get back to Nairobi to catch our 7:00pm flight.  At the airport, we warmly thank our Driver, Samuel, who is a fine a guide and driver as one could ever find.  Sadly, we enter the airport and say goodbye to one of our memorable journey, ever. 

The day was a scenic mural of vast game-covered vistas, punctuated with spectacular sightings!  We entered the Talek Gate, and headed west towards the Mara River over the Olorukoti Plains.   Over two million Wildebeest and another half-million Zebra make the migration north to this area every year, and the herds there now, after most of the migration, were vast and wondrous.  While making our way to the Mara River, we needed to cross a number of tributary creeks and streams.  Since it had rained considerable in the park the night before, some of these were un-navigatable by vehicles.  On one crossing in particular, we observed a vehicle in front of us get stuck in the mud ruts, unable to navigate the flooded road ahead, unable to back-up up the hill, and unable to jump the wheels out of the ruts onto better ground.  Our driver got out to help as the others cut grass to place under the vehicle’s tires, and to push the vehicle to safety.  They finally got it out, but unfortunately, Samuel was spattered with mud for his trouble.  With him at our wheel, we made the crossing in a new spot, sliding comfortably onto dryer ground on the other side, and grabbing traction to climb up out of the valley.

 

We also came upon numerous groups of Giraffes, and a couple of pods of Elephants.  However, the first unexpected highlight was when we encountered a mother Cheetah with four 1-month old cubs.  Mother was obviously on the lookout for a meal, and every animal within sight had a hard lookout on her.  A hungry Cheetah mother with cubs is a danger to most animals on these plains, and they we at their most alert status.  Meanwhile, the cubs were wrestling and playing the whole time, already knowing where their next meal was coming from.  They were just losing their baby-down, and were likely still suckling from their mother.  Unfortunately, the law of the wild says that only two of the four of these cubs will be lucky to make it to adulthood.  Lions stalk and kill Cheetah cubs to maintain a competitive balance of predatory cats in the wild.  We regretfully left the Cheetahs, and continued our journey to the Mara River, near the southern border of Kenya. 

 

 Next on the adventure was a climb to the top of Loldopai Hill Lookout, 1580 meters up, where a view of the Mara River Valley stretches to the horizon in each direction.  On the way down, we came across a trio of Hyenas who were so gorged that they could barely walk.  We soon reached the Mara River, where, in the slower moving waters of the muddy river, huge families of Hippopotami soaked while bellowing their dominance over the river valley.  We saw at least 4 pods of over 15 Hippos each in one small section of the river.  Even the giant African Crocodiles, of which we saw two 16-footers, defer to these Hippos, who leave the water at dusk each day, to climb the banks and eat grass all night long.  Here, on the high banks of the river, we had a picnic lunch, sitting on ground that just one to two weeks ago saw millions of hooves pass.

     

After lunch, we travelled along the river until we could see a small grotto of brush, with a few trees topping a local hill.  There, in the branches of the tallest tree was the carcass of an antelope, a telltale sign of a Leopard/Jaguar kill.  We circled the grotto until we spotted the Leopard resting in the shade of a tree, waiting out the heat of the day.  She was lithe and incredibly powerful, being able to bring down an animal equal to her weight, transport it back to the Grotto, and haul it 30 feet up a tree.  We left her resting in peace, and continued our journey.

 

We then started our journey back to the gate via a different route, following the tributaries to the river.  We came upon another small group of elephants blocking the road with play in the rutted road’s mud puddles.  They sprayed themselves, and playfully frolicked with the water at hand.  We slowly circled around them, and went on to cross the tributary where we spotted another Leopard near the marsh’s edge, sound asleep under a bush.  After leaving the wet lowlands, we headed back up to the plains, coming across more groups of Giraffes, and another large pod of Elephants.  This group of 16 Elephants had 2 small babies among it, and the herd was careful to always keep those two sandwiched between two large adult females for protection from predators.  Daylight was growing short and so we reluctantly resumed our journey to the Gate.  But one more surprise awaited us tonight as we came up on a huge male Ostrich.  This bird was much bigger than the Wildebeest and Zebra that we has seen, and was easily 12 to 14 feet tall.  It was a fitting end of a wonderful day in the park.

  

To be continued…..

The Maasai Mara Park shares its southern border with Tanzania and their Serengeti Park.  The area is home to the Maasai people, who still build traditional homesteads of encircled huts and wear traditional red linen wraps.  They are still a people who herd their animals, (cattle, sheep or goats), and stay with them 24 hours a day, moving to wherever the herd’s food drives them.  The auto ride south is a formidable one – five hours by road, only half of which is on an improved road.  We are impressed by the amount of agriculture that takes place in this country, with multitudes of family-sized farms growing nearly every type of vegetable that one can think of.  At a little after noon, we finally enter the Maasai Mara Park through the Sekenani Gate, and immediately spot a large family of Elephants, followed by a group of Giraffes.  We crest a hill, and are met with the annual Wildebeest migration – 100’s of thousands of animals moving across the park in an annual migration that takes them north across the Mara River.    It is a sight that is hard to fathom, as they move along the same routes as have been used as long as man has recorded the event.  Mixed in along the way are large Secretary Birds prancing about, large herds of Zebra, groups of Gazelles and numerous pods of Topi, a very large type of antelope.  We head to the Nymebu Tented Camp, located just outside the park’s Talek Gate, and arrive just in time to have a catered lunch.

 

Our tented camp is a collection of 16 permanent residence tents on stonemasoned slabs.  The camp is powered by large solar cells, and sits within the wildlife area.  We no sooner finish lunch, and three Zebra wander through camp, and from our front porch seats, we spot a group of Wildebeest and a family of six elephants.  The camp has a large and helpful staff, and its food is spectacular.  www.maasaimara-nyumbu.com

 

  

 

 

At 4:00pm, we leave for a dusk game drive through the park.  We are accompanied by a Maasai Guide, Edward, who guides us through the park to the Talek River, passing more Wildebeest, Zebras, Gazelles, Antelope, and Giraffe until we happen upon a pack of Hyena who have obviously just eaten, with distended stomachs, and lack of vigour.  We spot a majestic Martial Eagle, and a snake-eating Secretary Bird, a 3-foot tall stork-looking creature with tufted crests upon his head.

  

Our first major highlight of the evening, however, was as at the top of the river’s embankment, where we came across a pride of six Lions, napping and resting in the grass.  From our open, exposed vehicle, not 5 meters away, we watched the 3 adult females, and the other 3 young adult Lions for nearly one-half hour, at which point we started to draw a crowd, and so we moved on.  However, just 10 minutes ahead, we came across another female adult lion, up and searching for her next meal.

                    

Our second highlight came soon afterwards, as on a mound, 60 meters away, sitting tall was a king of land speed, an adult Cheetah.  He sat attentively, watching a Servel Cat who was entering his territory.  When the Cat approached too close, the Cheetah let out with a tremendous burst of speed, sending the Cat scurrying for its life.  With the problem resolved, the Cheetah returned to his throne and took up his surveying of the plains below. 

 

By now, the sun was setting, and we started the journey back to the Camp.  In the distance, translucent veils of showers played with the setting sun to cast an orange brilliance on the horizon. 

 We arrived back at camp at 7:00pm, and after shooing the Zebra grazing away from our tent door, we washed, changed, and headed to dinner.

                                                                                        

On this night, we are sharing the Camp with only 7 other guests, also from the United States, but having travelled from a previous Safari in Tanzania.  We share a pre-dinner campfire with all, listening to Maasai childhood animal stories told by James, our Maasai host and expert Camp Guide.  Dinner is served at 8:00pm in the Dining Tent, and is enjoyed by all, as a brief thunderstorm rolls past.  9:00pm calls for bedtime as we have a long day of game rides tomorrow.

 

With Zebras and Wildebeest around the tent all night, it was not unusual to wake to snorts and grunts, and the sound of hooves on the ground around us.  We rose with the sun, showered and made our way to breakfast, looking out over the river bottom at the foot of the camp, and the antelope covered plains beyond.  We left for a day of Game Drive in Maasai Mara Park with our driver, Samuel, at 8:0am, and we were not disappointed.

 

To be continued……

We turned south and arrived in the town of Naivasha just in time for lunch, and check into the Lake Naivasha Simba Lodge, 70 villas spread around on the edge of a Game Preserve on the lake’s shores.  While eating lunch, we saw giraffes ducking in and out of the trees across the field, and after lunch we went for a quiet walk through the forest to the lakefront observation tower and jetty.  Along the way, we skirted groups of waterbucks, bushbucks and other gazelles, and walked up on a huge Maribou stork, (over 4 feet tall and likely 70 pounds). 

Wandering unattended among the wildlife made us feel as if these moments were taken from the pages of National Geographic.  It’s an adventurous, but powerless, feeling walking among 200-800 pound animals knowing that you are in their home and that your safety is at their discretion.  Ahead, we ascended the observation tower, from which we could see the rangers working to remove a dead Hippo from the lake – a loser in a 24-hour battle with another Hippo over the attention of a female.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At 4:00pm, we met Samuel for a Game Drive in Hell’s Gate – a park that encompasses the part of the East African Rift System that includes active geothermal springs and vents.  Upon entering the Park, we saw herds of Plains Zebra, Thompson Gazelles, Impalas, and Grant’s Gazelles.  A particularly curious baboon watched us from a few feet away, as we drove deeper into the Park. 

 

                                                                                          

 In the middle of the Park, we stopped at the headwaters of the Rift Ravine, fed year round with 100 degree Fahrenheit water.  A local tribal guide took us on an hours hike down the ravine, walking and climbing along the riverbed hundreds of feet below the ravine rim. 

                                                      

After a strenuous hour of descending our way downstream, we climbed nearly straight up out of the side of the ravine on ancient footholds used by Maasai for centuries, and walked back along the ridge to our vehicle.  The journey out of the park was at dusk, but we saw a reclusive Dik-Dik, (small antelope-type of animal), and a few Elands, (large Elk-like animals), in addition to the grazing herds that we saw when we entered, and the ever-present families of warthogs.  We made it back to the Lodge in time for 8:00pm dinner.  But then, it was time for a quiet night to prepare for tomorrow’ trip.

 

The next morning, we arose before sunrise, and setoff back toward the lake to see if we could spot any dawn wildlife.  During the night, Water Buck herds had moved into the area, and we quietly made our way to the water’s edge where we could see a school of Hippos submerged offshore.  We were soon joined by a hotel Nature Guide, Bernard, who walked us back into the bush where we followed the sounds of clattering horns to come across two male Waterbucks fighting with their head’s down, uninterested in us.  We followed them deeper into the forest, until we remarkably came across a lone Hippo, foraging on the forest floor. We approached quietly behind a large Yellow-fever Acacia tree to within 15 meters, and then slowly circled, until the Hippo took notice, and rudely turned away.  We did not pursue, as Hippos can be very dangerous on land as well as in the water. 

                   

But the sidetrack to view the Hippo had taken us deeper into the forest where we happened upon a family of Giraffes, (including one six-month old).  We followed them for a while, but needed to complete our morning adventure in time to take a quick breakfast, check out, and begin our automobile trek to the famous Maasai Mara Park.

 

To be continued…..

The next morning we moved to the Treetops Hotel room run by the Outspan, one of the most famous lodgings in sub-Saharan Africa.  In 1952, Princess Elizabeth of England and her new husband, Phillip – The Duke of Edinborgh, came to the Treetops among press and ceremony to visit one of the earliest places that valued viewing wildlife over hunting them.  During their stay, King George VI unexpectedly died, and Princess Elizabeth became Queen Elizabeth at the Treetops.  Kenya gained its independence eleven years later, in 1963, but always remained proud of their remarkable tie to the throne of England.

 

 

The original Treetops burned down but was rebuilt on the other side of the watering hole in the 1980’s.  Animals come to drink 24 hours a day at the site, which is a large rustic treehouse, built of trees trunks, with 2nd and 3rd floor rooms and a rooftop observation area – all hewn wood.  In the late afternoon, we took a drive through the local area, and came across Colobus monkeys, water buffaloes, waterbucks, a baboon, a black spotted hyena, warthogs, a giant forest hog, and numerous small antelope and other animals. 

 

                   Waterbuck                                                             Hyena

 When we returned to the Treetops, we had dinner, and had no sooner settled in for coffee, than two young male elephants showed up.  They explored and drank, but then engaged in a ceremony of one elephant demonstrating dominance over the other, as the dominant male would not let the other elephant up the bank and out of the watering hole.  This play-battle went on for over an hour as the trapped elephant tried all sorts of means to out-flank or out-manoeuvre the one on the high ground.  In the meantime, the rain started, and apparently in an effort to keep dry, a Genet Cat, a small relative of the leopard, showed up under our doorstep.  This nocturnal animal is not often spotted by people, but apparently was comfortable being so close to us.

 

 

                 Elephants                                                                   Genet Cat

 

The rooms at the Treetops are equipped with an optional buzzer to wake you if activity at the watering hole picks up during the night.  We bedded down as the elephants left at midnight, and slept uneventfully until sunrise at 6:00am, when we had coffee, packed, and journeyed back to the Outspan Hotel for breakfast, and to meet our driver, Samuel, again.  By the way, today’s Rocky’s birthday!

 

After breakfast, Samuel drove north over the equator, where variation of the Coriolis rotation of water was demonstrated and the Equator Crossing was memorialised. 

 We continued north through the town of Nyahururu, home of Kenya’s Olympic Marathoners, and on to the northern tip of Aberdare Park where we visited Thompson Falls, discovered in 1878, with a vertical water drop of 283 feet into a tropical ravine.  Unfortunately, the popularity of the location has engendered a large, annoying contingent of local panhandlers, looking to provide any friendly service for a fee.  Although this type of activity is common in Lagos, Nigeria, it is the first time that we’ve seen such activity in the country of Kenya.

 

 

Road travel in Kenya is easy, as the major roads are generally in good condition, and lightly travelled.  They still drive on the left-hand side of the road, as learned from their British rule.  Every 40km, or so, are police roadblocks, (with nail-strips to insure that you stop),   checking for proper licenses and papers, and looking for illegal Somalia immigrants. Also, every town insures you slow down for their safety by having multiple speed bumps every 10 meters.   Gasoline is plentiful in the cities, but costs 105 Shillings per litre, (over $6 per gallon); therefore, most people walk, ride bikes, or take local buses.  Often, the road is lined with common telephone poles, but seldom are there any wires remaining strung between them, as the value of the wire greatly exceeds many people’s income, and it is often stolen for resale income.  For this reason, one sees hundreds of workers digging trenches by hand along the side of the road for 10’s of kilometres all over the country, in an effort to bury the future wires.  In addition, one sees no highway signs of any kind for the same reason – they are too valuable and will disappear quickly.

 

To be continued……