NANTS INGONYAMAM BAGITHI BABA!!!!
We are in Kenya! You know what that means: SAFARI!
On one of our days off, we took a trip into Nairobi National Park for a day of safari. We were hoping to see the big 5: lions, giraffes, rhinos, buffalo, and elephants. Our guide was quick to tell us there are no tembo [elephants] in Nairobi National Park. So, we hoped for the rest of the big 5….
The first animal we saw was some type of deer. Half the van was stoked to see an animal, the other half wasn't impressed and said "We've got those back in America…"
We drove further into the park, stopped at an overlook and scanned the savanna for anything that moved. Our driver said he spotted some giraffes and rhinos, but they were so far out there, I wasn't even sure I actually saw anything. We kept driving, saw a few more animals off in the distance. I was started to get discouraged that we wouldn't see anything up close.
Then we came across some impala; and then some more that were fighting right in the road!
We drove futher on, watching as a storm rolled in, praying that it wouldn't ruin our safari. It rained for a little while, but nothing too bad and it didn't last that long. We came across some twiga (giraffes) eating right next to the road near the end of the rain.
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Big 5: lions, giraffes, rhinos, buffalo, elephants
As we were driving around a water hole, Chris spotted a rhino sleeping behind some bushes. Our driver didn't even see it, and was impressed so he gave us some extra time in the park. Our driver took us around the watering hole to get closer. We were only a few feet away from this sleeping white rhino!
Big 5: lions, giraffes, rhinos, buffalo, elephants
We continued journeying around the park. Saw a lot of impala, gazelle, hartebeest, warthogs and various birds, and few pundamilia [zebras], hippo, waterbuck, and ostriches.
We got to one area of the park where you are allowed to get out of your van and walk to the river to look for crocodiles and hippos. We were greeted by swarms of monkeys, several with really adorable babies (see picture above).
We continued down the path to the river, escorted by a park ranger with a pretty hefty gun. We stopped at three different spots on the river, but didn't see any crocs or hippos. I slipped and almost fell in a rather large pile of poop during the walk. It was a close call.
We piled back into the van and drove around lion territory. Nothing. We all really wanted to see a simba [lion] before we left the park [who doesn't though???]. It was getting later into the afternoon and our time was running out when we came around a corner and saw a pride of lions lounging under a tree! There were several females and a couple cubs. They were just lounging in the shade, nothing too exciting, but the cubs were a bit fiesty, trying to play with the females. We sat there for a good while, just watching, hoping for some excitement. My camera died while we were watching, so I borrowed Michelle's. The zoom was not nearly as good as that on my camera, so I tried taking pictures through the binoculars. It worked great!
Big 5: lions, giraffes, rhinos, buffalo, elephants
It was getting late in the afternoon, we were happy with our lion sighting, so we headed out. I was bummed we didn't get to see more, but was so stoked for all that we did see! We stopped at the gate to use the bathrooms. Most of the girls washed the mud off our feet in the sink from our unsuccessful hippo/croc trek. One of the workers saw me taking my fot out of the sink and said "you should not do that here." I didn't know what to do, since I was already done and the rest of the girls had already washed their feet, so I just said "sorry" and got back in the van. Oh well…
***words in italics are Swahili***
