In the morning there was an extensive spread of fantastic food. I usually start with a custom omelet made to order in the dining room. After packing I headed for the van with Paul our driver. We needed an early start as we were going back to Nairobi for lunch. Our drive started back through the animal filled swamp we had toured yesterday. However, we ran into a pride of three lions and a fresh wildebeest kill. Two lions were on one side of the road and a third was on the other side eating its kill. There were many other safari vans around but it didn’t seem to bother the lions. They may just think that the vans are a strange type of elephant. We have now seen all the big five animals (elephant, rhinoceros, hippo, lion and leopard) except that we saw cheetah rather than leopards. After the lions we saw a group of hyenas at their den or holes in the ground.
We drove across the dry Amboseli lake to get to a main road for the trip back to Nairobi. However, the van started making a lot of noise on the very bumpy road and it turned out that a metal plate that shields the transmission had come loose and was dragging. Our driver Paul did an amazing repair job. Lacking a lift he drove the left front tire up onto a rock Bob provided and used his jack to raise the metal plate. It seems that a bolt had sheared off. Paul was able to remove the stub and steal a bolt from a seat with which to replace the one that had broken. While we were there a group of Maasi came up from a nearby village to watch the proceedings. The adults were in traditional garb but some of the children were in school uniforms. I don’t think it will be too long until the Maasi give up their traditional ways completely. They are the last tribe to stay natural but technology is coming.
After the fix we headed for Nairobi over a combination of really bad and fair roads. There is a lot of road construction going on in Kenya so there are many detours. At a rest stop with a caring shop I asked where the carvings were made fearing that they were made in China or Malaysia. They took me around back and there were two guys making some new carvings. I assume that they also purchase carvings from villagers in the area.
In Nairobi we had lunch at the elegant Safari hotel that included beautiful gardens and a wooden roof with beams that reminded me of the hotel at Yellowstone. They had a good local instrumental group to play during lunch. We then headed out for Mt. Kenya (the second largest in Africa that has 5 glaciers) and the Mt. Kenya lodge. The roads were the best I have seen in Kenya with the start being dual lane. As we proceeded north the environment changed becoming much greener and wetter. More farms and plots with all sorts of vegetables and bananas were along the road. The guide book says the Mt. Kenya lodge is actually in a rain forest but a cooler one. The hotel is wooden and different than any we have been at. It is all wood with each room looking out onto a water hole. When I looked out my window there were about 30 Cape buffalo lounging around the water. A little while later they got up and ambled off. The hotel will ring your room during the night to alert you to the animals that are currently at the water hole.
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