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KENYA
Day 282 19.10.05
Arusha to Nairobi
Upper Hill Campsite
S01 18.000
E036 48.719
Sadly had to say goodbye to (the newly engaged) Debbie and Martin.
A long drive with the border to negotiate and Nairobi in rush hour. The border was less confusing thanks to Martin's info. First hand data from fellow travellers is extremely useful.
We were hassled to buy an 80kh sticker at a grossly inflated price, as the hawker said we would be in trouble with the police if we didn't have one. We could see that a lot of vehicles did have them but didn't get one and later it was confirmed to us that private vehicles don't need them! It is always difficult on borders to separate fact from fiction, as sometimes the touts can be helpful with information.
Entering into Kenya you have your carnet stamped by customs before going to immigration. Usually it is then other way round as if you try to get your carnet stamped first, they point out that you don't yet have permission to enter the country!
Upper Hill campsite is conveniently situated on the south side of Nairobi. Days 283-286 20-23.10.05
Nairobi
Jungle Junction campsite
S 01 17.325
E 36 45.635
Moved to Jungle Junction campsite, as we wanted to be somewhere where Steve can service the Land Rover. Christof welcomed us with a no problem attitude to the idea of the service and the offer of equipment.
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Steve spent an entire day under the Land Rover or with his head under the bonnet!
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Garden workshop
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He replaced engine oil, filter, fuel filter, cleaned the K&N air filter, checked the tappets, replaced the sump plug, put in new front brake pads, checked all fluid levels, greased the u/j's and tested the wheel bearings. This was made much easier as Christof kindly lent us his trolley jack and axle stands. He also has a large collection bin for draining oil, so although this was all done in front of his house, there was hardly a drop spilt!
The rear transfer box output seal had been leaking since the transfer box was overhauled in Zambia at Foleys' Africa. This had the knock on problem of rendering the transmission hand brake useless as it was covered in gear oil!! Steve therefore had to drain the transfer box, drop the rear prop shaft and put in a new flange and seal from our spares. Surprisingly the "new" flange fitted with the overhaul was very pitted, not allowing a good seal.
The oil was carefully cleaned off the drum brake and we look forward to being able to use it in the mountains of Kenya and Uganda. The compressor reservoir came into its own here, speeding up the cleaning process after a liberal coating of Land Rover brake cleaner was applied. Steve took the opportunity of replacing the u/j bolts and nuts as they were quite worn. Our spares locker is beginning to look half empty!
It is now that we realise what a good job Robert did before we left home advising us on the spares list and in teaching Steve what to do with them!
The campsite is an entertaining place to be as there are 6 other overland vehicles here, mainly Land Rover so lots of chat and encouragement with repairs.
The site is actually the garden of a house where Christof, Diana and their children live and the downstairs of the house is for the use of the campers with all the comforts of home including kitchen, dining room, sitting room and bathroom.
I felt strangely emotional being able to use all this, as it was such a long time since I had been in a proper house! Day 287 24.10.05
Nairobi to Nakuru
Kembu campsite
S00 17.986
E35 54.053
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Campsite is on a lovely farm complete with black and white cows -very English. Countryside very lush so the rain didn't surprise us.
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Kembu
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Day 288 25.10.05
Nakuru to Nakuru National Park
Camping Makalie Falls
S00 29.546
E36 04.944
The Lonely Planet guidebook says that all the flamingos have left Nakuru Lake but the locals insisted they were there.
We went to see and as we entered the gate of the park we could see a splash of pink on a section of the lakeshore. As we got nearer we could see that the whole of the lake was encircled by a fringe of pink, which shimmered in the sunshine with the movement of the birds. There must be millions of Flamingos there. Up close the sound is also amazing. They don't individually make much noise but they move continuously and just the sound of their movement as they jostle together is loud. They were fascinating. They move round in small clumps of about 6 birds. They all march in one direction and then turn together. Suddenly the group stops and they stretch out their wings in sudden precise movements. Out then in.
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Cohabitation
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Where are they off to?
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Lakeside landy
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The rest of the park is also beautiful. We were parked watching the flamingos and pelicans when we looked round and saw a couple of Rhinos ambling past -the first of 6 we saw that afternoon.
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Pelicans
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Yet another rhino
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There were lots of buffalo here as well.
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That's close enough!
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The campsite has the usual basic facilities and it was raining again so we had to find a spot that wasn't flooded.
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Day 289 26.10.05
Nakuru Nat Park back to Kembu campsite
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We had the morning in the park.
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Race you to that landy
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After looking into a 1000 trees across Africa in the vain hope of spotting a leopard -it happened. Steve suddenly said 'leopard'
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'Where?' I said peering into the distance.
'In the tree.'
'Which tree?
'This one right next to us.'
And there it was lolling on a branch right above us. The roof hatch is great in situations like that. It was wonderful to have found it all by ourselves! We were already enthralled by everything we had seen at Nakuru and this was the icing on the cake.
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Leopard lair
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Once out of the park gates we left the landy carefully locked up for 5 minutes while we visited the toilets. As we walked back towards it I noticed a monkey on it and realised in the same instant that we had forgotten the roof hatch and left it open. Steve leapt up onto the roof and added to the already confused situation of the monkey going in colliding with the monkey coming out its mouth stuffed full!!
These Vervet monkeys are very bold and I'm quite frightened of them after a few close encounters and having seen a group of them gang up and chase a child. If you make a threatening gesture at them they come towards you instead of running away.
Steve stood on the roof wielding a spade until I managed to get the hatch cover out of the back and pass it up to him while repelling the monkeys from the back door. We won't make that mistake again.
What they had found, luckily, was our rubbish bag from camping (as you have to bring all your rubbish out of the park,) so although they had made a bit of a mess they hadn't been able to get at any of our food. Day 290 27.10.05
Nakuru to Lake Bogoria
Fig tree camp
N 00 11.565 (now North as crossed equator)
E36 07.357
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There is a series of lakes up this part of the Rift Valley. The scenery is so dramatic. We took a back road through the hills to the southern end of Lake Bogoria. The Flamingos used to live here before Lake Nakuru became the in place to go. There are still a few here.
Every so often along the shore are columns of steam as the lake is fringed with hot springs making the lake water very saline.
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Two old geysers
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Fig Tree campsite is at the southern end down 2 k of 4x4 track through jungle alongside the edge of the lake. One of those tracks that you feel if you stopped too long, the jungle would swallow you up.
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Into the jungle
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We had the beautiful campsite all to ourselves. A real Garden of Eden sitting among the huge fig trees. There is a sparkling clear stream to wash in. Once we had a fire going Steve baked some bread. We followed some 'cat' tracks up the stream bank for a while until we realised that where we could see it had jumped the stream the tracks were deep implying that it was quite big and heavy and possibly we didn't want to meet it while on foot armed only with binoculars.
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Evening in the camp
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Cooking dinner
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Day 291 28.10.05
Lake Bogoria to Lake Baringo
Roberts Camp
N00 36.787
E36 01.365
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Leaving our Garden of Eden after breakfasting on the fresh bread, we drove up the lakeside to the site of the biggest geysers.
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Lake Bogoria
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Letting off steam
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Here we encountered a party of school kids who seemed to find us more interesting than the hot springs. We assured them we weren't famous but it didn't deter them and eventually we had to call a halt to the photo session. We asked them had they been learning about the origins of the hot springs and they told us that 'long ago some people lived there and they made God angry so he sank their land and that was why the steam came out.'
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No we're not famous!
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Day 292 29.10.05
Lake Baringo to Eldoret
Naiberi River Campsite
N00 26.862
E35 25.327
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Dawn across Lake Baringo
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We travelled to Eldoret and checking our email we were devastated to learn of the death of a close friend and colleague of Steve's.
Ash and Raj at Naiberi River were extremely kind to us as we arrived there unable to think straight.
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The campsite is on a new site by the river and is an ongoing project. What they have done so far is remarkable. Best toilets anywhere in Africa! The bar and restaurant complex is huge and built into the side of the hill with waterways running through it. It is approached by a plant-lined tunnel. The campsite dogs were lovely here. Well fed with glossy coats and well behaved. Behind the bar were 9 puppies being well looked after by an attentive mother.
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Naiberi River Camp
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It was good to meet David and Ann who work locally. David is the local government tourist representative so he had some good tips on places to visit.
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To Uganda
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