Kenyan Heartlands – Lakes, Great Rift Valley and Masai Mara

(Originally published January 2011)

We left Nairobi early on 20th December heading out of Nairobi towards the Great Rift Valley. A small group of 9 and 3 crew, led by Chris, a Masai who is an Eddie Murphy lookalike.

We stopped at an orphanage a short drive out of Nairobi that is supported by the Intrepid foundation and numerous other benefactors, a considerable number from the UK. The resilience and tenacity of the children is incredible. Despite what has happened to them their capacity to smile, laugh and enjoy the simple pleasures in life is heartwarming. A lot of credit is due to the couple who set up and run the orphanage.

A short drive further and we arrived onto the edge of the Great Rift Valley and made a short stop at the viewpoint at 8000 ft. We then continued onto Lake Nakuru. Our campsite was just outside the park in a small village. After setting up camp we headed for an afternoon game drive in Lake Nakuru National Park. The lake is famous for its pink flamingoes and white rhinos which didn’t disappoint. On leaving the park at dusk, the image of the full moon rising over the lake with pink flamingoes chilling in the water and rhinos grazing on the shore was very serene.

The next morning we took a walk around town, accompanied by Beth who has been responsible for helping the women in the community set up small businesses and invest proceeds into funds that can,if required, unlock micro-finance loans in future to help more women in the community. All the children walked around with us wanting to accompany the ‘mzungu’ and talk with us. The campsite we stayed at was also managed and maintained by the community.

We then headed onto Nakuru town, the 4th city in Kenya but appears very relaxed. Only had a short hour stop here to get some money and coffee. After we headed onto Lake Naivasha. The Naivasha area is famous for its flower farms. These are quite controversial as they are set up to serve export markets (UK in particular) and are quite environmentally unfriendly and the profits don’t sufficiently benefit the local communities. The campsite is set on the edge of lake Naivasha, where we had a few drinks before dinner.

The next morning we went for a small walking safari in Crater Lake game reserve… No big game here, but we walked up close to giraffes, zebras, warthogs and impalas. The giraffes were playing by ‘necking’ each other, essentially swinging their neck and headbutting the other. I spent the afternoon chilling by the pool reading a book.

We left lake Naivasha the following morning and headed towards the Masai Mara. We stopped at a local cow market (Thursday is market day) where we were the attraction as opposed to the other way round… Quite something when several hundred people stare at you as you walked around. That evening we stayed in a small Masai village en route to the Mara. This is the village that our tour leader, Chris, is from and not a touristy stop. We were given a walk around and a traditional welcome (singing and dancing ceremony in the fly infested cow enclosure!). That evening we had a camp fire after a delicious beef stew where one of the village elders recounted a number of traditional Masai stories. The next morning we were invited to take part in Masai warrior dancing, jumping, club and spear throwing. The Masai warriors are generally transient and roam between villages within their area on a semi regular basis and will be called upon by the villages in time of need. They hunt to live and are the purveyors of tradition. Once a Masai warrior ‘graduates’ (only 18-25s can be warriors) they are allowed to return to their village, marry and start a family and become introduced into the council of elders. I was good at the jumping and club throwing but not quite so good with the spear! In the late morning we drove to our camp on the edge of the Masai Mara National Park. Mara means spots in the bush in Masai which is where the area and the national park gets its name from.

Masai welcome, women...

Masai welcome, men

That afternoon we went for a game drive. The highlight was 2 lionesses stalking a wildebeest (and all the vehicles in the park following the event in paparazzi fashion). We also got a close look at a leopard but it was far too brief to enable me to get a picture! In the evening we had a fantastic camp dinner and beers.

The next day was Christmas day and breakfast was a full fry up! Merry Christmas! The whole day was spent in the national park on game drive… Spotted jackal, hyena, leopard, cheetah, lions (male and female), hippos, crocs, elephants, giraffe, antelope, wildebeest, impala, buffalo… We made a mid morning stop at the luxury Keekorok Lodge, where visiting stars and royalty stay. We all indulged in a G&T at the bar overlooking the hippo pool… It’s Christmas after all! We stopped for lunch under a tree in the middle of the Mara. In the afternoon we drove across to the Mara river where the incredible migration crossing takes place and then stopped for another drink at Keekorok lodge on the way back. In the last hour we made two of the best sightings of the day, a beautiful cheetah sitting handsomely on a mound and a pride of a dozen lions no more than 20m away. The ensuing traffic jam of safari vehicles was quite a sight too! In the evening our cook produced a feast… A traditional African beef stew with chapatis and ugali. Delicious! And all washed down with a Tusker… Or two.

Lion, Masai Mara

The cow jams around the Mara are quite spectacular and you need patience and good honking ability to get through.

I was dropped off in Narok on Boxing day with Jason and Linda, a couple from Auckland. The rest of the group were heading back to Nairobi whilst we would join a new group the next day as were on a combination trip. There isn’t anything to see or do in Narok buy it’s quite a pleasant town.

The next day we continued on the road (with a new group of 16) and headed to Kisii, an important town in the Kenyan highlands just east of Lake Victoria. We exited Masai land and entered the Kalenjin tribe land, from where all the great Kenyan runners come from (incidentally Haile Gebrselassie, who is Ethiopian rather than Kenyan, controversially does an advert for Johny Walker over here!). We gain altitude en route to Kisii and the landscape changes dramatically and everything is far lusher. This is tea growing country. Kisii is also another one of the 42 tribes in Kenya. Kisii is also MJ’s (my tour leader on the Cape Town – Vic Falls trip) hometown and he joined me for a few drinks in the bar next to where we were staying. It was great to see him in his hometown.

On Tuesday, after a short stop at a soapstone carvery and passing through Luo tribe land (from where Barack Obama’s father comes from) we left Kenya and entered Tanzania.