Every time I told someone I was going to Africa the first question they would ask is, “Are you going on a safari?” To be honest, when I first researched a safari I thought they were way overpriced. I went back and forth on whether I should do one or not….
Lets just say I’m glad I did.
After a bit of research I went with a one day excursion to Hell’s Gate National Park and Lake Naivasha in Kenya, about an hour outside of Nairobi. I went with Lion Trails Safaris as they were highly rated on trip advisor and they do one-day excursions.
Our first stop was a viewpoint overlooking the Rift Valley. This is where many of the animals in Kenya make the Great Migration twice every year. There were some native Masai people selling goods and I picked up a trinket, snapped a photo and moved on.
Our next stop was Hell’s Gate National Park. After a circuitous and dusty van ride through some very small towns (think a few shops along a road), we made it to the park. At the entrance of the park there is a toll booth and you can actually choose to ride a bike or walk through the park. Luckily we drove into the park and the first thing my guide pointed out was a flock of birds…
At this point I thought, “great, all this way, one day off and birds….”
Then everything changed.
First off were zebras everywhere.
Then a giraffe comes strolling in.
Trust me, there is a giraffe in there.
And the animals kept coming. Zebras, wildebeests sweeping across the vistas, impalas and one of my personal favorites the warthog. The only reason I like warthogs are that they remind me of Howard, our dog, when they run/frolic. Like loaves of bread with little legs and horns.
After driving through the park we came to a parking lot for Hell’s Gate gorge. This spot was a trail head for hikes I tot the gorge. What it turned into was the best part of the day by far. My waking guide, James, took me on an hour long hike into the gorge. He explained to me that this was the land of the Masai people who still live in the land that stretches from Kenya to Mozambique. Needless to say I think he was pretty stoked to have someone that was in relatively good shape to show around as at every point in the gorge he would say “easy way or hard way?” Any of you who know me know what the answer was to that question. What follows is a step by step photo shoot of our gorge walk. The only thing I regret is not getting a photo with James, which I immediately thought of after we had pulled away from the park.
So yeah, pretty incredible. After the hike my driver and I had lunch at a swanky country club and I snapped a photo of a few camels hanging out in front of the country club.
Then it was into a boat and onto Lake Naivasha to have a look at some hippos. Now here is what I learned about hippos:
1. In the day, they are not usually on land.
2. If they are on land during the day they probably are a momma hippo protecting it’s male son.
3. Hippos don’t like humans.
Here is what happened. Basically I was filming the shoreline, like a good tourist when I spotted a hippo on land. It was kinda moving towards the water and then it caught a glimpse of us in the boat. It picked up it’s pace towards the water, let out a grunt and dove in after us. Where is the video you ask? Well bandwith being what it is in Africa I am going to have to wait to upload and post it. But when I do, trust me you will see the hippo charging, me putting down the camera and the nervous laughter afterwards is a thing of beauty.
So after my nervous laughter and my hippo encounter I was happy to get back on dry land and with a new guide this time to walk me around Crescent Island, which isn’t really an island but a peninsula shaped like a crescent. There are no predatory animals on the island so you can actually walk around the island without fear. This is where I snapped a few photos of giraffes, impalas and zebras close up. I also got my guide to snap a pretty iconic photo, which Facebook has enjoyed, of me in front of all these animals.
And that was my day, after a long one hour ride back to Nairobi I can honestly say that this was some of the best money ever spent. I definitely want to go back and do a full few days in the wilderness, preferably hiking through the gorge to see the Masai people or try to come back during the Great Migration.
Off to Kampala, Uganda tomorrow…
Where is CJ? 