Kenya Day 1 - 3 (Nairobi - Samburu Park Nairobi)
Note: this post is super delayed because there hasn’t been sufficient wifi to get it up. It all happened over a week ago, but the adventure is still fresh.
Even though we had just gotten off a flight the night before, our Kenyan adventure began with a bang as we met Caroline and Aaron bright and early to fly out from Nairobi to the Samburu Park. An adventure in and of itself, the flight was onboard a small 13 seat aircraft. I may have turned a bit greener with each and every bump, but the views out our tiny windows were beyond spectacular. The Kenyan countryside was as lush, green and thriving as any tropical landscape you can imagine.
The next 2 days would fly by as we set out on many safari adventures. These would consist of climbing into the back of our trusty open air rovers and scouring the conservancy for animals large and small.
Many, many animals did we see. From up close encounters to an elephant mama and her young playful calf to just mingling amongst a rather large herd of giraffes. We also wearily kept watch on a pair of “not-that-fat-away” crocodiles who literally kept getting closer at each glance while we had a safari breakfast and spied a young ostrich family as they walked the plains.
Obviously the highlight of these treks (besides the excellent company of course) were the encounters with the large cats that ruled this space. We would repeatedly run into a pair of mama lions and their 2 pairs of cubs who (luckily) always appeared to have well fed before our sightings. They are absolutely majestic creatures in person and fan favourites until our last night of exploring where we came across the aftermath of what must be a regular safari transaction.
The lions had cornered a leopard up a tree after relieving it of its prey/dinner and set up shop in the grass below. A fortunate spotting for us because up until that point the leopard had proved extremely elusive. Unfortunate for the leopard as it had to remain aloft while the lions ripped and crunched their way through the unlucky gazelle, intended to have been said leopard’s dinner. As night descended and we drove away the leopard was still trapped high above.
Our lodgings or base camp for these excursions were anything but basic. The scenery, food, drink and accommodations were nothing short of unbelievable and provided the perfect respite from each days safari. The dinner hall was an open air area overlooking plains below which stretched from dozens of kilometres. Some of the best experiences came simply from taking in this view as clouds, rainstorms, distant lightning and elephants strolled through our view. Meanwhile we were serenaded each night by a male lion who always sounded like he was right outside our window.
Besides our good friends Aaron and Caroline we have also had the pleasure of meeting and sharing adventures with Tina (Caroline’s cousin) and Dean, Abi and their daughter Louise who are all excellent companions for such an excursion. You’ll see them in many, many pictures.
Voila!