Two days in Amboseli
Amboseli
A seven hour drive to Amboseli, a National Park in the South Central part of Kenya broken by a couple of stops at roadside cafes, which usually were attached to ‘curio shops’ – tourist traps. This camp is not as “swanky” as the last but still four star. The major difference in the camps is the wifi – a first world problem – it is sporadic in operation and coverage.
Arrived for lunch and then a game drive. This drive was phenomenal – we once again saw most of the animals this trip. The Plains here are flat and arid, a desert with grass. We were told to bring bandanas but none of us believed how dusty it could be. This Park is famous for the big herds of elephants, and we saw plenty of those. The difference here is that they roam during the day on the plain and then walk to the wetlands to soak down and eat some more. A few of the herds were made of complete families. One of them had a baby estimated at three weeks, who was working hard to keep up. The large difference was that we saw different birds for the first time, vultures are ubiquitous.
Back to the camp, and a really large dinner selection. Tipping is the norm and to make sure that all the service people get to be tipped we get the same waitperson so there is only one person to tip. Tips are cheap we can get away with a 500 shilling note every time ($2 cdn)
Amboseli part 2
In the Toyota at 7am for a morning game ride. A hassle at the gate again, the app failing again for John the driver. Almost as soon as we came in a group of elephants crossed the road ahead of us, they have no fear of vehicles and just ignore us. The usual drill is that the John the driver will see an interesting animal and stop to give us all good camera shots. Everybody takes piccies and then the good ones get shared. We have not had a photo competition but we will. For the second time on big holidays my Nikon camera failed on me, it is ten years old. I did have a shoot’n’point that is not easy to use but I am getting pictures.
Anyway our luck held and in one of the swampy areas we came across a Hippo that was feeding noisily. As it moved across the feeding area he/she did come within fifteen feet of the road. A great number of piccies were taken and the best are in the gallery. This swamp also produced a different variety of birds. We saw flocks of Flamingos and ducks in a lake and they shared the lake with wildebeests and gazelles.
A lunch was catered in a Lodge owned by the Camp and it was just as good as the lunch at the ‘big house’. After lunch we had decided to forgo the visit to the Masai. As a couple of people on the tour had brought pencils and other school supplies to be given to the locals we had to find a way to distribute them. We did! The Toyota stopped as soon as we saw little kids on the roadside. One waved us down and a few more came running. They know the drill, and enjoyed receiving the gifts.
Relaxing by the pool we decided to visit “Hemingway’s Bar”. Ernest Hemingway, in his travels around Kenya apparently stayed here and his rooms are now a bar in the Camp. A very interesting place – same beer prices and a nice atmosphere.