Kenya continued

So the last time we touched in with you all we were stressfully sorting out our bright yellow Nissan xterra and given it a total African makeover. Well geared up with the hardest core tires known to man, a temporary plastic rear windscreen- to cover the gaping hole created from a shepherd boy who threw a stone at the car and a full tank of gas we headed towards Kenya on the worst roads known to man.
Kenya is a stunning country with fascinating tribes people, beautiful jewelry and enough animals to make the most cynical tourist smile. English is widely spoken which is a huge relief after the language barriers and strange looks we received in the villages of Ethiopia.
From Moyale- the border town between Ethiopia and northern Kenya, the hazardous ‘road’ is basically a series of boulders, sharp rocks and corrugated soil that destroys vehicles! On top of that- we were warned by other over Landers that bandits were rife in the region and would lie in wait on the dangerous bends of the road, hijack the slower vehicles and often execute or torture the drivers if they weren’t cooperative.
Because of the sudden 2-day torrential downpour that hit Kenya as we were navigating this treacherous area (driving at 20 km per hour for 14 hours a day- just to give you an idea how terrible this road is) the bandits were safely tucked away in warm dry villages and we were left alone.
Frazzled and very sick of Kenyan roads, we pulled into our first national park- Samburu buffalo springs.
Kenyan national parks have gone up in price recently and a 24 hour stretch in a park will set you back 60 USD and a vehicle about 15 dollars per day- so if you’re a couple spending 2 days game viewing- you’re looking at almost 300 usd. Not great for budget travelers!
Because the national park was waterlogged, camping with our fabulous icon tent was out of the question (especially as it costs extra to have a ranger stay with you to protect against buffalo and straying elephant) so we discovered ‘samburu simba’ lodge- a stunning new safari lodge overlooking a panoramic mountain vista and a watering hole with resident crocodiles. We stayed a couple of days filming the animals gathering for evening sundowners on the JVC prohd camera with Martin happily snapping stills on the brand new canon 5d.
We were then joined by Rob and Lisa- a couple of friends from dubai who’d booked a Kenya Safari Experience coinciding with out travels. They also very kindly brought a brand new xterra rear window and shocks, perfect for the roads of Kenya thanks to Monal Zidane at Nissan Middle East! So our xterra was back on track and we were ready to safari!
Let me say again- Kenya is not cheap. We are ploughing through our budget and a week in the national parks will cost you in total about 2000 usd, but the game viewing experience is unlike anything else I’ve ever experienced.
After leaving the fabulous samburu simba lodge we headed to lake nakuru, famous for flamingos, rhino and pretty much every animal you could wish to see on safari. We saw leopard lazily perched in overhanging trees, lions mating, a solitary rhino, buffalo, elephant, giraffe- you get the idea. It feels almost contrived that all of the big five are within a 30 min drive of the park entrance but I’m not complaining
Now we’re off towards lake navaisha to see the spots where the film ’out of Africa’ was shot on location and then have a well deserved relax at lake navaisha simba lodge on the shoreline. Then onwards to masai mara!
We crossed over the equator yesterday and had a fantastic guide/con artist show us the different direction that water flows in the northern and southern hemisphere. Even if it is a hoax it’s still pretty amazing to see a matchstick floating and turning in one direction on the northern side of the equator line and then turn the other way in the southern hemisphere.
So far all our equipment has stood the African test- the webisodes are being edited as I write this on the Apple Macbook, the sennheiser microphones have been brilliant for far away testimonials and interviews and the jvc camera (used by journalists in Afghanistan and Iraq) has survived a couple of accidental knocks and bangs with no hard feelings. The only issue has been the lack of Internet within the game parks so apologies if our updates become a bit less frequent on www.arabiatoafrica.blogspot.com. By the time you read this out Ethiopia webisode will be up and our first batch of Kenya pics.
If you are flying in for a visit- get a package all inclusive deal- trust me it’s cheaper than the way we’ve been exploring! Until next week- see you on the road.