We had a very full day, and there is a great deal to share. Today was one of our best days on the cruise so far. Seeing African animals in their natural habitat was incredible, awe-inspiring, humbling, and just plain fun. Having said that, what we saw of the Kenyan environment was just the opposite: dreadful, humbling, and saddening. Our hearts go out to anyone living in such conditions. We experienced both terrific highs and empathetic lows today.
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The following images were taken from the sliding door of our stateroom.
Approaching Kenya
Dancers greeted us as we left the ship again today. The last two images are videos.
Viking Tour Description: “Traverse Kenya’s largest national park during a game safari in search of members of Africa’s “Big 5.” Journey inland to Tsavo East National Park, part of a vast park system covering more than 8,000 square miles. This region was made famous by JH Patterson’s book, The Man-eaters of Tsavo, which was the basis for the movie, The Ghost and the Darkness. Upon arrival, set out on a game drive into the arid savannah grassland dotted with thorny bushes and marshlands by the Voi River, keeping watch for Tsavo’s infamous lions, as well as leopards, cheetahs, zebras, striped hyenas, buffaloes, elephants, and more. You will visit the Aruba dam, a popular manmade watering hole for game and one of the best places to view and photograph the park’s resident wildlife. Return to the lodge for lunch, then set out on a short afternoon game drive.“
This section covers our time in the park.
Elephants – As we entered the park in our 4 x 4 vehicle, we came across small groups of animals/birds, but usually they were in the distance. Then, we happened upon a large herd of about 100-150 elephants by a watering hole. Unbelievable. Seeing the extended family groups was almost surreal – the little calves were adorable. Bull elephants typically live alone or in small bachelor groups, except for mating. A bull elephant communicated with our guide/driver to let him know we were getting too close – the message was received, and we retreated a bit, and then the elephant walked further towards us, and we retreated some more. Maybe there were a few seconds of concern on our part, but the driver took it in stride with a watchful eye. Throughout the day, we came across many smaller groups of elephants and single males wandering around the park. The soil is this striking red color, known as laterite, which is a clay that has been enriched with iron and aluminium oxide. The elephants blow it over their bodies to protect against insect bites, so these gray African Elephants actually look brownish-red.
The following four images are all videos.
Lions – On a tip from other guides, our driver found a group of lionesses sleeping in the grass. They are simply beautiful felines. While the images are very similar, they were just too cool to not show them all. Only the cubs moved around. The adult females were trying to sleep and quietly tolerated all the juvenile activity.
Like all big cats, lions are the most attractive creatures around that would happily consume you for a light lunch. The last two images are videos.
Grazers – we saw many members of the antelope family throughout the day, including Hartebeests, gazelles, impalas, and more. Their movements are gracious and swift.
A group of two male and two female ostriches. It is hard to pick them out in the first three images. The last image is a video, and they are very visible and moving freely.
Guineafowls – This species was plentiful in the park, as well as other birds. The last image is a video.
While searching for animals, I looked up periodically to check the landscape. Broad and vast. Some thunderstorms were brewing in the distance.
The first image is the entry to the reserve. The second two are termite mounds, which are found everywhere. They are built by worker termites mixing soil, saliva, and excrement to create a rock-hard material; who knew? We had lunch at the reserve restaurant. Cheryl photographed her local beer, and we both posed with the wooden elephant.
Vervet monkey – these smart little creatures were hanging out by the lodge where we had lunch, in hopes of scavenging some of ours. I noticed one had a corn cob. They certainly were not afraid of us.
This section covers our two-hour drive to the park, and the last paragraph documents the drive back.
We drove to the park in our Toyota 4 x 4 Land Cruiser primarily on the Nairobi–Mombasa Road. There were some very well-maintained stretches. However, there were also many gravel patches and potholes. Upon leaving the city, the road narrowed from 4 to 2 lanes. When we arrived at the first rough patch, our driver shared that we were about to get our first of many “Kenyan massages“. It was a long and bumpy ride.
On the drive to the park, we made a rest stop. Outside the building, there was a unique tree full of birds and their nests. These pretty little yellow birds are called weaver birds. Quite cool. While I have sadly not seen chickens in a while, there were two fun geese. The last image is a video showing the birds entering and leaving their nests.
Much of the drive was on a two-lane highway, going through many small towns along the way. There were people everywhere. Mainly walking, but there were a few scooters, motorcycles, and bicycles. Lots of small freight trucks, too. The people are very near the road and often in the middle of the road at choke points, attempting to sell drivers water, fruit, snacks, etc. There were no sidewalks nor street signals. People crossed the roadway at their own risk. We were warned not to hold our phones out of windows when people are near, as they might be grabbed or knocked to the ground. We saw many people carrying yellow buckets – fetching water for their homes or businesses.
Along the route, there was a great deal of retail activity. The first image is of one of the higher-quality stores we noticed. The second and third show men moving products to a different location anyway they can. Everything one can imagine is for sale, including clothing, doors (?), fruit, exterior plants, and water.
There were goats and cattle all along the drive. They were sometimes tended, sometimes leashed down, but very often roaming free.
We have not witnessed such abject and pervasive poverty anywhere else on the trip. The destitute conditions were numbing after 20-30 minutes. People working their fields with a hand plow pulled by two oxen. There is trash, abandoned vehicles, and buildings in every state of repair, all along the road.
The drive back was also quite the experience – nearly four hours. We started out near sunset, and after about 30 minutes, it was dark. The Nairobi–Mombasa Road is one of the busiest roads in all of Kenya, and the route carries significant commercial vehicles. Truckers often travel after the sun goes down to avoid the heat. And because it was Ramadan, people were coming out to eat and be with their families and grilling their meals on wood-burning fires – all alongside the highway. We saw hundreds of small semi-trucks parked alongside the road, oftentimes undergoing repairs. The congestion of people, animals, vehicles, and bright lights was very uncomfortable. Our 4 x 4 weaved in and out of traffic doing an elaborate, and to naive Americans, dangerous and frightening dance to make steady progress (or you would be stuck behind a truck doing 10 mph). This included frequently using the incoming traffic lane for passing. Our driver was very experienced, and we had no problems. But given the people so close to the road’s edge, the sketchy road conditions, lack of light, and volume of traffic, the ride could not get over soon enough. That, along with the condition of our vehicle’s suspension, I described the ride to others later as akin to spending 6-8 hours riding in a washing machine. But it was worthwhile, and we would do it again without hesitation to see such incredible animals.
End of Post.