Kenya's Rift Valley

Oct 16 2009

There was a light drizzle when my Origins Safaris guide Stanley Kariithi and I got underway on the 2hr+ road trip to Lake Naivasha. The Nairobi-Nakuru highway is generally in excellent condition, the same however cannot be said of the road behavior. Stanley displayed immense patience with the reckless driving of the matatu drivers who passed other vehicles with seemingly no regard for their own or their passengers' safety.

This is one of the reasons why we don't recommend road trips and more specifically, self-driving. Even so, due to the good condition of the road, this particular trip is manageable and I certainly enjoyed some beautiful vistas over parts of the Rift Valley, en route. It was also an interesting experience to observe the terrain and activities along the roadway. Just outside of Nairobi there are roadside stalls selling everything under the sun, from cooked food to live chickens, furniture and clothing.

My Origins guide Stanley and I had lunch at the Karen Country Lodge en route to the Rift Valley

Although service was slow, I quite liked the nice decorative touches. The vegetable curry dish was pretty good too

The view from the bar at Karen Country Lodge

Another example of the interesting interior decorating at the Karen Country Lodge

Part of the lounge at Loldia House on Lake Naivasha

By late afternoon, we arrived at Loldia House, a well-known guest house dating back to the 1920's. The setting and the grounds, with stunning views over Lake Naivasha, are superb. Right around the lodge there are some massive trees and the birdlife is excellent. I was also surprised to see a variety of mammals in close proximity to the lodge, including wildebeest, zebra and lots of buffalo.

A young English couple enjoying a drink in front of the fireplace at Loldia House

Breakfast is often served outside at Loldia House

Fresh fruit was served with practically every meal I had in more than 2 weeks in Kenya, it was particularly fresh and flavorful at Loldia

The lounge & living are at the Loldia House family cottage, a separate 'house' right on the edge of Lake Naivasha

The view over Lake Naivasha from the family cottage at Loldia House

Another view over the lake

Interior of one of the rooms at Loldia House

One of the cottages at Loldia House

One of the cottage bedrooms

The view from a cottage bedroom

My room (#1) at Loldia House, in the main original house, has excellent views over the gardens and the lake itself. However the room and especially the bathroom (which has a bath and shower) can do with an update and refurbishment. I was very happy to find a wireless internet connection in my room and spent a couple of hours later that night updating e-mail.

Dinner was at the large table in the dining room, with Loldia House Manager Peter Njoroge serving as the host. Peter was very gracious and personable, not to mention witty! It wasn't long before he was teaching me several new Swahili words and phrases. My main course was wholesome and filling, but really nothing special - a mix of some vegetables and rice. The appetizer was a much more interesting vegetarian 'cutlet' which was very tasty. Dessert consisted of fresh fruit, amongst the best of any I had experienced on the Kenya trip to date.

October 17 2009

I was up fairly early for a 4-mile run with Bernard, one of the Loldia personnel, all along the perimeter of the game area. It was quite hilly and fairly strenuous, but I enjoyed every second which we spent on the trail. After all, I was running in the Rift Valley, the birthplace of most of Kenya's famous long-distance runners!

Then it was time for breakfast, which consisted of more fruit, some toast, pancakes and porridge, known as uji in Swahili. Thanks, Peter! Peter then showed me around the rest of the Loldia House property, consisting of several separate cottages and a family house with 3 rooms, 2 of which have en suite bathrooms. It is ideal for a family or two couples traveling together.

Stanley and I then set off by road for the 2hr drive to Lake Nakuru, where I would overnight at Mbweha Camp, a lodge consisting of a large thatched lounge, bar and dining area with a central fireplace and 10 rustic thatched rock cabins with en suite shower and toilet and solar lighting.

The lodge lounge and dining room area is quite nice, just a little 'smoky' because of the indoor fireplace. The food was good and varied, if somewhat ambitious at times.

October 18 2009

There was no water in the faucets or shower in my room this morning. The previous night I had found out that there was no bedside lamp or light switch in the room. Very annoying to have to get up and switch off the light just when you're dozing off... I am not wildly enthusiastic about this camp but my stay was so short, it is really unfair to judge it. Compared with some other Lake Nakuru accommodation options, it is quite small with a high level of personal service which is always a big plus in my book. The property just needs a little bit more 'polish'. I think two nights there would be good in order to take a couple of game drives into Lake Nakuru National Park and to enjoy some of the other lodge activities such as a night drive and walking.

The lounge and bar at Mbweha Lodge near Lake Nakuru

Interior of my room at Mbhewa Lodge

A black and white Colobus monkey at Lake Nakuru National Park

Lake Nakuru National Park is well-known for its rhino, and within minutes of entering the park we spotted this white rhino not far from the shoreline

During an afternoon drive into Lake Nakuru National Park, we did a site inspection of Sarova Lion Hill Lodge. This very large (100+ rooms) but well managed facility offers comfortable accommodation in an excellent location overlooking the lake. All meals are buffet-style with an extensive menu including several vegetarian options. The standard rooms are on the small side but adequate for a couple. The suites are much more spacious and certainly a recommended choice.

Outside view of a standard room at Sarova Lion Hill Lodge, Lake Nakuru

A portion of the dining room at Lion Hill Lodge

The large pool at Sarova Lion Hill Lodge

Interior of a standard room at Lion Hill Lodge

The lounge area in one of the suites at Lion Hill Lodge

The view from the bedroom of a Lion Hill Lodge suite

A partial view of a bathroom at Lion Hill Lodge

On a game drive along the shores of Lake Nakuru this afternoon, we saw lots of buffalo, plains zebra, impala, Thomson's Gazelles, Defassa Waterbuck, warthhog and notably several white rhino, also 4 black and white Colobus monkeys, a life mammal for yours truly. We had some good views of a few Rothschild's Giraffe, which was also a life mammal! Nice going.

There was buffalo all around Lake Nakuru including several fairly large groups of up to 40 or so, with many youngsters

On October 19 (morning) we took another game drive to Lake Nakuru. In the early morning the light is better for photographs of the thousands of Lesser and Greater Flamingo for which the lake is famous. There was a good concentration of several thousand birds in the South-eastern corner of the lake, and I made quite a few exposures. Like the previous day, we saw lots of buffalo and other wildlife and several white rhino, one with a very young calf.

Flamingoes at Lake Nakuru

Appropriately, this white rhino was waiting for us at Rhino Point on Lake Nakuru

We were entertained by this baby white rhino, scampering around its mother

Giving us the once-over

Munching away while staying close to Mom

A new life mammal was this striking Rothschild's Giraffe, seen walking in a wooded portion of Lake Nakuru National Park

The Rothschild's Giraffe has noticeable white 'socks'

Other than that, it acts just like ordinary giraffes anywhere..

There were some interesting birds around Lake Nakuru as well, including this Secretarybird, third one of the trip...

By midday on Oct 19 we drove back to Loldia House/Naivasha airstrip, where I said goodbye to Stanley. He was an ideal guide: knowledgeable, friendly and a professional through and through. It is good to know that my Origins Safaris clients are in the hands of people like Stanley Kariithi and his colleagues.

Soon enough we were airborne and embarking on the last leg of this great African adventure. I would be returning to the Maasai for two more days!

Samburu National Park

14 October 2010

I was up before 0530 this morning to check and respond to e-mails. As a result, no time for breakfast before having to head out to Wilson Airport to catch a Safarilink Cessna Caravan (just two passengers) via Nanyuki (40 minutes) to Samburu (20 minutes).

My room at Elephant Bedroom Camp on the banks of the Uaso Nyiro River was large and comfortable, and I quite enjoyed the lounge and dining area which also overlooked the river. The area was extremely dry with several dead cows to be seen all around, as well as other dead mammals including the hardy Impala.

On the afternoon game drive, we saw large numbers of Reticulated giraffe, Grevy's zebra, Beisa Oryx, plenty of the fascinating gerenuk, impala, many dik-dik, a few elephant, and a couple of female lions. Despite the drought, the area was very productive.

Lunch on this day was most enjoyable - a pasta stirfry and salad, with fresh fruit salad for dessert. Dinner later on was perfect: ugali (the local maize polenta) with spinach, onion soup, and peach fritters.

My tent at Elephant Bedroom Camp on the banks of the Uaso Nyiro River in Samburu National Park

Interior of the room at Elephant Bedroom Camp, Samburu

Another part of the room. I never got to sit on the couch - but I did use the desk

Fairly good bathroom, but not much in the way of storage space

Unlike years of average rainfall, Samburu was almost devoid of elephants. We found this solitary one wandering around the Uaso Nyiro River

Of course Samburu is famous for its endemic mammals, including the superb Reticulated Giraffe. This is the original oil painting - the Plains (southern) Giraffe is the watercolor

There were Reticulated Giraffes all over Samburu

Solitary ones

Young ones

And hungry giraffes feeding on acacia just like the gerenuks, but higher up...

We all make funny faces when we eat, sorry...

Here's a particularly large group of giraffes at nightfall

This was the conclusion of a really amazing giraffe sighting when we followed a group of almost 30 giraffes including several youngsters. There are few sights quite as striking as a large group of Reticulated giraffe against the backdrop of the sun setting over the mountains.

Another endemic is the handsome Beisa Oryx

Perfectly adapted for this arid region, the oryx all appeared to be in pretty good shape, especially when compared with the buffalo and other mammal species suffering from the drought

Not sure what exactly this oryx is trying to feed on as the vegetation was very scrublike

The Kori Bustard is found all over Africa and is not endemic to Samburu. Doesn't make it any less special of a bird though

The gerenuk is a rather odd antelope, especially when it adopts this typical feeding posture

A very specialized browser, the gerenuk occupies a niche somewhere between the smaller antelopes and the giraffes.

It gets right up there


Plucking the green leaves which nobody else has gotten to

A female gerenuk with a youngster

There were hundreds of dik-diks all over the Samburu area. Literally everywhere

They were standing, running, staring, feeding and ---

drinking

While I was in the Samburu area, it started to rain heavily and the Uaso Nyiro River came down in a flood

At first it was just some light rain on the afternoon we arrived, but by evening heavy thunderstorms were rolling in. Eventually the area was totally soaked and as a result of similar rain falling elsewhere in the catchment area of the Uaso Nyiro River, it started to run very strongly. Amazingly, we could see the area becoming green just 2 days later; we were told that it gets noticeably green just 3 days after significant rain.

The rain and resulting flooding of the river was quite spectacular and it made everybody happy

An immature Bateleur pretending to be an owl

A Tawny Eagle at Samburu

The Vulturine Guineafowls are abundant in Samburu. I definitely need to get some better photographs of them the next time!

Yet another Samburu endemic is the striking Grevy's Zebra. Their thin stripes and the absence of a 'shadow' effect give them a particularly elegant appearance.

The Grevy's zebras were a bit camera-shy so I did not get too many useful pics on this trip

The very morning after the first rains of the season had fallen, the game started to disperse and all the endemics which had been bunched together the previous day along the river, seemed to have disappeared. Our morning game drive started very very slowly but improved with a couple of good buffalo and elephant sightings, and a far-off (across the river) sighting of a cheetah. Ten minutes or so later, we came upon a couple of stationary minibuses observing a leopard in a tree. As we approached the scene, the leopard clambered down and walked to a nearby bush where it had left its impala kill.

The leopard then proceeded to wrestle and drag the dead impala a good 30 to 40 meters along the ground, disappearing into a gully. I fired off a quick few pics with mixed results, even so I was happy to be able to tick off leopard on my trip mammal list. Then it was back to the lodge for breakfast. With just two guests that morning, breakfast was a la carte and quite enjoyable. I had a fresh fruit platter, vegan pancakes with syrup, and a mixed plate with baked beans on toast, grilled tomato and sauteed potatoes. Nobody ever goes hungry on safari!

I did get some pretty good views of a cheetah. Due to their habitat preference (open areas) and hunting habits (diurnal) they are usually fairly easily seen when present

This one made no secret of its presence

It had apparently recently fed and was looking for a suitable spot to rest up

Which it proceeded to do, at least for a while

There were many species of birds in and around the campsite at Elephant Bedroom Camp, some trying to snatch your food off your plate! Others, like this woodhoopoe, was content to look for its own source of food

Vervet monkeys are plentiful all over Kenya and Samburu is certainly no exception

The spectacular Superb Starling is very common in Samburu

I loved the 'big sky' feel of the Samburu area, very much out of Africa

The mountains and hazy sky adds to the scenic appeal of the area


These two Olive Baboons were feeding on Doum Palm nuts, very high up in the massive palm tree.

While down below the rest of their troop plus a solitary elephant was scavenging around for dropped palm nuts and other edible bits

Samburu is known for some pretty reliable leopard sightings and it did not disappoint, this particular leopard had just jumped down from a tree and was on its way to drag its prey into a nearby donga.

While in the area, I spent a night at Intrepids Samburu Camp. This is a fairly large camp with 28 rooms, 14 on each side of the main lodge. I found the camp to be very comfortable and would really have liked to spend more time there. The tents are well-equipped with adequate lighting, seating, a separate toilet with door and a large shower. This is 'luxury camping' for sure. All the rooms have river views and there are few if any steps. Beds are of the 4-post type with effective mosquito netting, although there were no mosquitoes to speak of.

The food and catering at Samburu Intrepids was amongst the best of any of the camps on my trip. Dinner one evening was really fun in the company of a couple of Canadian ladies (Marly and Erica) and Jenny from Sydney, Australia. As is customary on safari, we talked about what we had each experienced thus far, and amongst others there was a rave review of Singita and a not-so-great report about the food at Chobe Game Lodge. My dinner entree of risotto with a tomato-based sauce was excellent, as was the butternut squash starter and fresh fruit dessert.

By 1140A on 16 October I was on my way back to Nairobi, to meet my Origins Safaris guide for a road trip to the Lake Nakuru area, in the heart of Kenya's Rift Valley.