Kenya

Full of good Game Drives (and Walks) and people that will go out of their way to do anything for you

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For Return to Kenya yet again in 2017 please click HERE

For Wildebeest(less) Migration in 2019 please click HERE

For Kenya in Spring of 2021 please click HERE

For Kenya Summer of 2021 and the Wildebeest Migration please click HERE

People hear of Kenya all the time.  From the Great Rift Valley, to Karen Blixen who wrote Out of Africa, to the great Game Parks all over the country.  It is one of those places people always dream to visit and I can say I will be back one day to do some of the other game parks.  The people were very friendly in always trying to help you with directions or give you rides places.  The scenery is stunning and many of the buildings have interesting sayings on them such as “Glorious Hotel and Butchery”.  The landscape being in the Great Rift Valley was absolutely stunning as the rolling hills took me back to what Uganda and Rwanda looked like.

I had the chance to be in Nairobi for a few days at the beautiful suburb of Nairobi Karen.  This is the place where Karen Blixen (Out of Africa) lived and my campsite was right down the street from her house.  Although I did not enter the city of Nairobi because of protests, I had the opportunity to see the Elephant Sanctuary where they take orphaned elephants and raise them up to be let back in the wild, as well as the Giraffe Park.  Besides being in Game Reserves, this is the closest that I had gotten to Giraffes on this trip.

A great place to stay while in Karen is of course the Karen Camp.  This lodge situate in this quiet suburb has rooms, campsites, and dorms.  The restaurant and bar has a quiet serene atmosphere.  A great driver to use which usually hangs around on the premises is Smiley.  For a fair price he can drive you around to different spots that you need to go, or pick you up from places as far as a few hours away.  His contact information is +254 733 913 109.

I also had the opportunity to visit a friend that I taught with from Japan.  She lives and works in Kenya and we decided to have lunch together and talk about the past eight years.  Strange how time flies….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The lakes are the place to go in Kenya if you want to see game.  Everything from Giraffes to Baboons to Hyenas just to name a few.  Lake Nakuru is a great game reserve in Kenya just a few hours from Nairobi.  The whole city surrounds this game reserve that used to host millions of flamingos.  As of recent times the flamingos have left because of the rise of the water, but that did not stop us from having one of the better game drives we have had…

Lake Naivasha, which is very close to Nairobi, holds another few good game parks.  Hells Gate among a few of them is world renowned.  They also have a beautiful Crater Lake which is surrounded by many different games, with an abundance of Pumbas, Zebras, Giraffes, and Antelope.  This is one of the only walking safaris you can still do in the world and the sites were amazing, as was the Crater Lake.  I also had the opportunity to have High Tea at Joy Adamson’s house who successfully tamed and reintroduced Lions and Cheetahs back into the wild.  Her book Born Free which chronicled the life of her and Elsa the Lioness, was made into an Academy Award Movie.  Colobus Monkeys ran around the forests of her house which overlooked the lake and made the afternoon more pleasant.

Our campsite was one of the most bizarre ones I have stayed at while traveling.  Hippos routinely came out of the water and grazed the campsite while Colobus Monkeys and Vervet Monkeys routinely tried to steal food from us.  It was a remarkable campsite and I would probably stay there just for the sheer fact that so much goes on there with wildlife.

A great guide/organizer to use at the campsite which can arrange anything is Simon.  He can organize any excursion like game walks, national park walks/ bike rides, or anything your heart desires.  His knowledge of the area, birds, and wild life is very impressive.  His contact information is mutua.simon@yahoo.com or +254 720 732 251.

 

 

 

Uganda

Adventure and Lake capital of Eastern Africa?

For more of Uganda on Golden Monkeys, Gorillas, and Chimp Trekking Click Here

 

 

 

 

 

 

When early explorers were trying to find the source of the Nile, they had to look no further than beautiful Lake Victoria.

Uganda was another one of those African countries who made headlines in the news in the early 70’s with their rather ruthless and sarcastic dictator Idi Amin.  With him letting militants land an Israeli airplane in Antebbe Airport, to the casualties that ensued, to challenging other presidents to boxing matches (he was an ex boxer), to his comments to Richard Nixon after Watergate, this man had pretty much gained the world’s attention the wrong way ( somewhat like Hugo Chavez of Venezuela did).

Fast forward 40 years and the country is a totally different place.  Beautiful landscapes with lakes dot the country side in this majestic country.  The people are friendly and welcoming and always ready to help out in any way.  Kampala is a big thriving city comparable to that of Cairo with traffic jams and pollution, so that did not really interest me, so I just walked around a bit to get an idea what it was like.

 

I had the opportunity to go on a beautiful lake cruise on Lake Bunyonis.  Said to be one of the deepest lakes in the world.  Many islands dot the lake and in the olden days there was a very small island where they used to put the women who got pregnant before wedlock called Punishment Island.  One of the islands we had the opportunity to see was Leper Island where many of the lepers were put to keep them away from the general populace.  The island is now a beautiful coed school with students coming from all around to study various sciences.  Morality quotes are seen everywhere to remind the students to behave….

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Jinja, Uganda is sometimes called the adventure capital of West Africa.  I can honestly tell you this is true!!!  With activities like kayaking, horseback riding, mountain biking, and of course fishing, you will never run out of activities to do.  Set on a small part of Lake Victoria, I could of spend another week here at the campsite admiring all there is to do.  A few of us decided to take up the lake fishing which was an awesome experience.  We were able to only catch about a 2.5 kilo Nile Perch, but after getting it prepared, everyone savored the great flavor of it.  I just wish we could of caught a few 20 kilo fish!!!!!  Truly a place to visit

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Rwanda

From instability and chaos to stability and cleanliness in 20 years and of course THE MOUNTAIN GORILLAS

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the 1990’s Rwanda made headlines in the news because of their worst genocide since WWII.  The two ethnic groups (who I will not name, because there are now ethnic groups said allowed in the new Rwanda), had years of turmoil and some people say a million plus people killed.  Propaganda and years of favoritism by Colonizers fueled this explosive war.  But those times are gone, the chaos has disappeared and we now have probably the most stable and cleanest country in Africa.  Plastic bags which usually line the streets in many African countries are banned here.  The scenery (pictures below) are rolling hills with tea and different vegetable and fruit plantations all over.  The intensely cultivated land, amazed even myself.  The friendliness of the people to all foreigners was astonishing.

 

Of course the main tourist attraction to this beautiful country is the Mountain Gorilla Trek.  This is something I have wanted to do forever.  The cost is usually very expensive to do this and you are only able to spend 1 hour with the gorillas, but it was all worth it.  There is about 12 or 13 (depending on how you look at it) gorilla families left.  The hike was short but very strenuous with thorny bushes around the path.  The gorilla family we ran into had two Silverbacks and 14 total gorillas (9 of which we saw).  They are almost unafraid of humans and go about their daily business eating and sleeping as if no one was there.  Truly a remarkable experience

As I mentioned earlier, the genocide that happened made famous by the movie Hotel Rwanda, was something that much of the western world turned their backs from.  I had the chance to go to the genocide museum and paid even to take pictures, but being in the moment and learning about this horrible event was more important.  Truly a sad event in history, but the country and people have made a remarkable recovery and this country is a model country for any African Country to look upon….