Samburu National Park, Kenya
As of today we have been traveling for 2 months! Sometimes it seems like a very long time and sometimes it seems like we just left…
Today we woke up at 6:00. Upon leaving our tent we were shocked to see that the river level had risen about three feet and was not only a couple feet away from our camp. The guides told us not to worry and that the water level would soon go down.
At 6:30 we set out on another game drive. Once again we saw numerous animal species. We saw everything that we saw yesterday except for the elephant. Then, at the end of the game drive we saw a two lions (male and female). And, just as yesterday, I was very frustrated that we were moving on very quickly.
At 11:00 we returned to camp. Shockingly, the water had continued to rise and the area where our camp used to be was now underwater! Fortunately, the camp caretakers moved our tents to higher ground. After making sure that all of our belongings were ok, we enjoyed a nice brunch.
At 12:30 we headed to a Samburu village ($20 extra –goes to the village). First, the men greeted us with a warriors dance. I found it very interesting that they tell who is strongest by who jumps the highest during this dance. Next, the woman joined the dance and then performed a welcoming ceremony. Once we were all inside the village (it was a small gate made of dried out acacia trees) we were treated to a tour.
I thought that one of the most interesting things about the village was that they use almost everything they can find. The walls of their huts are made out of cow poop and they use goat pooh as a mosquito and snake repellant. Toward the end of the tour they tried to convince us to buy things. Having already spent $20 to see the village, I decided to refrain. B could not resist himself and spent about $50 on some souvenirs.
Our group of nine left the village in a single van and headed toward a lodge within the park. On the way we came across the lions. They were still hanging out under the tree and resting. As we sat there watching them, it seemed as if everyone else was impatient with them.
When we got to the lodge I had to get away from everyone in the group before snapping at someone over their attitude toward the lions. I could not help but wish that the others were more interested in just watching the animlas. I found an empty bench and sat alone and watched the river. As I sat there I saw the eyes and ears of a hippopotamus emerge from the river every now and then (barely visible as it was on the opposite bank). Once I had cooled down I wandered around the lodge. It was very fancy and had tons of monkeys hanging around.
At 16:30 I rejoined the group and we set off on another game drive. I thought that it was an ominous sign that the others all had beers when they returned to our vehicle. Still, I think they must have figured out that I was not happy because when we returned to the lions they asked me if I would like to stay and watch them. As we sat there watching them we were treated to witnessing them mate (a process that onlyt takes 10 - 15 seconds)! It was interesting, amazing, and hilarious!
I was also pleased that we got to have a longer stop with the giraffes (almost 10 minutes). Similarly, we spent a much longer time watching the zebra, orax, and impala interact. At the end of our game drive we returned to watch the lions for just a bit longer. We were the only vehicle around and watched the lions for an extended period.
As we sat there they got up and started moving. As if out of nowhere, 4 or 5 other safari vehicles immediately appeared. Our caravan of cars then followed the lions for a few more minutes. Incredibly, they stopped and took a nap on the side of the road. We were forced to go off the path just to get around the lions!
We returned to camp just after 18:30 for dinner. As we ate dinner, it started to rain. Everyone quickly retreated to the tents. After reorganizing my sleeping area I feel went to bed...
At 2:00am I woke up feeling slightly wet. I felt around and discovered that there was a small pool in the middle of our tent. In my panic (I initially thought the river had risen very high again) B also woke up. We discovered that the top of our tent was dripping due to the extremely hard rain. Eventually, the drip became so severe that it rendered half of our tent useless. Later, when we slowly fell back asleep, we would be crammed onto a single small mattress…
As the rain continued to hammer down B thought that he could here the river rising. Slightly nervous about the entire situation, he ran down to the waters edge to investigate. He reported that the water level was not rising but that the water was moving extremely fast.
In another interesting note, when I went to the bathroom I noticed that the Australians tent was sitting in a large pool of water. I found out later that they had to abandon their tent in the middle of the night and go to the van to sleep.
No comments:
Post a Comment