Kenya 5

16/9/13

 We left Nairobi and drove to Amboseli National Park. It was about a 4 hour drive firstly on a good highway but latterly 18 kilometres of very rough dusty road. We drove through Masai country again and saw lots of Masai people herding their cattle and goats.

                                      Most but not all wear their native cloaks while herding.

                                        No road rules on a bike - just as many as will fit.

      Bob made friends with this cute little boy at a road stop with yet more shopping opportunities -

                                                     and great examples of African art.

When we got to the Amboseli park entrance where we had to stop to be checked many Masai people came and tried to sell jewellery, spears, knives etc. A lot of the jewellery is beaded and very colourful. I bought a red beaded necklace and bracelet after a lot of bargaining and then the people let me take their photos and laughed when I showed them to them.

We drove through the park and stopped near the marshlands that the park is famous for. We saw cranes and other birds as well as pelicans fighting almost to the death over a fish. Four of them were on to one who eventually regurgitated and flew away exhausted. Another took it and the other 3 got onto him.  The last one seemed very weak – the others held his head under water. Clive has never seen this behaviour before. The park is very dry so we surmised that they were really hungry.

There was also a large elephant just by the side of the road bathing in the swamp and others covered in mud. We also saw huge herds of elephants in the distance and stopped to see baboons.

                                             This buffalo was also having a great time.

                              One of the dust devils / whirlwinds that we have now become used to.

We booked in at the Amboseli Serena Hotel and had lunch. It’s set near a waterhole and there are lots of olive baboons around. You cannot leave a window or door open in your room as they would come in.

                         This is the chair outside our room which this baboon thought was his.

There were lots of lizards around the Lodge including this red-headed rock agama and his less colourful mate.

We left again at 4pm and traveled to see elephants. The first thing we saw was a large elephant with 5 legs – yes he had an erection and boy was it impressive. He had come into or was coming into musk and was quite aggressive putting his ears back and forwards. There was a similar male around and we thought they might fight but they didn’t.

We saw several herds of elephants and they crossed the road right in front of us. We probably saw 200. 

Also we saw lions in the distance – 2 males and 2 females. There was a sick impala that had a bite mark on it’s neck nearby and we thought one of the females might try and take it but she didn’t while we were there although she was very interested in it. Too far away for photos.

At one stage we had a beautiful sunset on one side, the lion stalking the impala on the other and Mt Kilimanjaro coming into view in front. Just breath taking.