A few more tantalising photos

Loving a roll in the mud at the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.

Our first night sunset as we arrived at Amboseli.

Our home for 2 nights.
Very comfortable - except when the power went off
and it was a mad scramble to find the torch.

Our guide had all the knowledge on where and when to be here
to get a great photo of the elephants with Mt Kilimanjaro as a backdrop.
Amboseli is known for its huge population of elephants.

Having a ball.

 

Lilac breasted roller.
There are so many bird species to be seen in the park.
I started writing a list but then gave up. This one is very pretty.

Lesser flamingos - as opposed to greater flamingos.
The guide says size is what makes them one or the other
but I'm not sure if that is all. 

Hippopotamus. 
They looked very pink - apparently some enzyme
that they excrete to repair their injuries.

These boys were having a bit of a play fight.

A very pregnant hyena.
She disappeared into the culvert under the road and right under our car
and the guide thought that she was possibly ready to drop.

Elephants - and elephant babies

Sunday 23rd June

Trying to fit some time into the day for writing this blog is a bit of a challenge. So much happening.

We are a group of 6 – nice size. There are Lyn and Ross from Perth, and Bruce and Boris from  Halifax, nova Scotia. We seem to have blended really well – all of similar age. Our guide and driver is Antony – he is wonderful; so knowledgeable about his  country and the wildlife.

Yesterday started with a game drive in Nairobi national Park which was only about 10 minutes from the hotel. We had fantastic sightings of rhinoceros  - both white and black. Only one black rhinoceros  seen – the black rhinoceros is endangered. We also saw ostrich, giraffe, impala, crocodiles and lots of birds. We made sure we were headed to the Sheldrick wildlife trust in time to see the orphan elephants getting their bottles. First though was a tiny rhinoceros who had been rescued after being attacked by hyena. Lot of injuries requiring multiple surgeries but now on the mend and starting to grow. So cute to watch him following his keeper (mum) around.

This was the little rescued rhino.

Then came a group of 10 younger elephants, all rescued, some from horrible stories. It was so funny to watch them coming down from the hill – they just ambled along until they got closer, then got a bit of speed up as they approached the keepers with their bottles of milk. The main keeper introduced each one with their rescue story. 

A few of them enjoyed a play in the mud puddle – some trying to push others out so they could have a go. A few tourists close to the fence ended up with a few splatters of red mud.

The second group of 12 elephants were the same – built up a bit of speed when they got closer to the milk bottles. One of them decided he was a big boy and old enough to grab the bottle and hold it himself. We watched another one being a bit of a bully; pushing one with his little tusks. The keeper stood there and wagged a finger at him, and he stopped. 

From there it was back to the hotel for lunch, spotting warthog and baboons on the drive back. 

Long drive then to Amboseli National Park. The roads were all bitumen but so many trucks and a lot of ripple strips and speed humps. It was a 5 hour drive  with a short break for toilet stop. As we got close to our destination we could see the top of Mt Kilimanjaro poking her head above the clouds (reminds us of the song by Toto - Africa - Kilimanjaro rising like Olympus above the Serengeti).

A beautiful African sunset as we arrived at our destination. (Photo to come when I get better internet)

Monday 24th June

7.30 am start for a game drive. Amboseli is known for its elephants and there is an elephant study centre in the park. Antony had a plan of attack – get to this place where the elephants crossed the road and we could get photos of the elephants with Mt Kilimanjaro as the backdrop. Fabulous. We sat there for probably 15 minutes as we waited for the perfect positioning. This herd had a mix of females and young elephants followed up by a huge bull elephant.

From there it was just animal sighting after animal sighting. Lots of herds of elephants, some with more elephants than others, and different numbers and ages of babies. Antony explained how the forming of a herd happens, how long babies stay with their mothers, how long male elephants stay with their mothers, formation of bachelor herds – all sorts of information. 

Lions, hyena, giraffe, wildebeest, zebra, impala, couple of different gazelles, hippopotamus,  flamingos, warthog, and many bird varieties.

All over, back to camp for lunch, then as we drove along the road to camp, one final treat – a huge bull elephant. An amazing mornings outing. What will this afternoon bring? 

Into the Wild

Time to wake up the blog for our next travels. We're not in Europe this time, but in Africa, more specifically Kenya and Tanzania.

It's a bloody long way - as far and as long as a trip to Paris. 24 hours after leaving Melbourne we touched down in Nairobi. Long, slow queues as we went through immigration. Don't know what it was about us, but everyone else had to do fingerprints, and for us it was stamp the passport and welcome to Kenya.

Our hotel is well and truly way above our normal French digs. I have a desk to sit at while doing my blog. We opted for dinner in the hotel last night as we were too tired to think about where else to go. 

Our first day and we decided to go to the Masai market in the city. This involved a taxi from the hotel, I don't think public transport was even considered as a real option for these European tourists.

The market was an interesting experience. Charles nabbed us as soon as we got out of the car and became our 'guide' and 'personal shopper' for the morning. (Along with 3 other guys who followed us around.) He picked up what he called a 'maybe' bag and as we looked at stuff and expressed interest,  into the maybe bag it went. We had maybes, definite maybes, maybe maybes, and possible maybes. Was actually a fun experience with Rob laughing and joking with our entourage. I think we were the only 'white' men at the market (though we did see another couple later in the restaurant.) The masai are beautiful looking people and all seemed to have a lovely friendly nature. Sad though to see mothers with babies on hips begging for food. 

And finally came the 'bargaining' time. Needless to say it was far too expensive and some stuff just had to become definite nos. Spent far too much but we're still happy with our purchases.

We bought this painting.

The middle row of fabric is reversible -
they call them Monday/Tuesday shawls.
Tempted but maybe next shopping time. 

Stoneware - beautiful.

Hard at work.

Nairobi Nike's (thongs).

Beautiful beading everywhere.

This lady was the artist who painted the picture we bought.

Our entourage - main man, Charles, on the right.
Rob is holding our 'maybe' bag.

Left the market to go to CJs restaurant, just around the corner in a street behind the market. Well, it wasn't just around the corner, but about 1k away around a few corners. Was a great restaurant though and we were able to sit on the balcony upstairs and watch the traffic and people in the main street. This was right in the city and in no way did the behaviour reflect what we would see in Collins Street - double/triple parking, people just wandering aimlessly across the street, sort of keeping left on the street, but using whatever space there was. 

We were too full from lunch to even consider these.
I like sweet stuff but tried some of the desserts last night
and they were a bit too sickly sweet.

Looking at the Kenyan women - how long does it take them to braid their hair; I presume they don't do it every day, how often do they wash it? So many different styles. I also commented in a previous blog post from Africa about the women having large sticky outy bums. Seems to be more widespread than just Zimbabwe and Botswana.