Ok I've procrastinated long enough on writing this blog post and seeing as how I started my first semester of graduate school this week, I figure I better get this done before I get too busy.
At Fisherman's Camp we were a hundred feet or so from Lake Naivasha, which was beautiful, and we were surrounded by massive trees, which were full of monkeys and large, rather evil looking birds. I wandered around the camp site a bit, took a lot of pictures, and enjoyed the view of the lake from the dock. We enjoyed a delicious and nutritious meal of tuna sandwiches, peanut butter and nutella sandwiches, and chips. In the evening we hung out at the camp bar/restaurant and enjoyed a few beers. As I was getting up to hit the bathroom, an Australian traveler pointed out to me that a hippo had come up from the lake. I probably did a quadruple take as I stared at the massive gray beast moving around near the electric fence. I quietly made my way closer to the tent and viewed the animal while slightly hidden behind a tree. I was standing fifteen feet or so from a hippopotamus in the wild. The only thing separating me from this small car sized animal was a thin electric fence, maybe four and a half feet high. I stood and watched the hippo as it walked up to the fence, tested it a little bit, and then lay down in the dirt. I tried to take pictures but it was too dark and I didn't want to freak the hippo out with my flash. After watching it for about 10 or 15 minutes, I made my way back to the bar with a huge smile on my face. I probably haven't mentioned this on my blog but hippos are one of my favorite animals. :)
After a night of cramped, uncomfortable attempts at sleeping, We woke up early the next day, took a boat ride out onto Lake Naivasha and saw a group of wild hippos relaxing in the water. We couldn't get too close but it was pretty cool seeing hippos again in the wild. After the boat ride, we rented bikes from the camp site and rode a couple of miles to Hell's Gate National Park. Previously I had seen CTG’s pictures from Hell’s Gate and it had looked impressive but biking into the park in person, seeing sheer rock walls climbing hundreds of feet, fields of zebras, and just a vast, rugged but beautiful stretch of land in front of me, it was breath taking. We followed the dirt road through the park and rode past herds of zebras, warthogs, and gazelles as we made our way to the spot we’d be camping at for the night. After enjoying the ride to the site, taking a few hundred pictures, scarfing down some pb and chocolate sandwiches, we hopped back on our bikes and made our way to the Hell’s Gate gorge. On the way down to the road we spotted a giraffe wandering around amongst the zebras, so naturally I rode closer to take some pictures. Jordan and CTG rode ahead and when I got on my bike to catch up to them, I had one of the most amazing experiences of my life. As I was quickly pedaling down the road, a couple of zebras were crossing into the road. As they saw/heard me coming near, they stopped in the middle of the road, when I was about 20-30 feet away, they trotted out of the way. As I started to pass them, they both went into a full sprint, running in the grass next to the road, maybe 10 feet away from me. I rode next to these galloping wild zebras for close to a hundred feet before they turned off into the field. I can’t really find the words to accurately describe the feeling but I know that I had the biggest smile on my face and it just felt so surreal. It was definitely one of the most memorable moments, not only of the entire trip, but of my life.
Moving on from my amazing zebra race, I caught up to CTG and Jordan and we eventually arrived at the gorge entrance. The site, which consisted of some picnic tables, bathrooms and a ranger building or two, was crawling with large baboons. Baboons were constantly coming up to where people were, trying to snag a snack, then the rangers would chase them away, only to have them reappear soon after, a little further away. We spent a few hours walking down through smooth rock walls, streams, water falls, pools of water, past large groups of Kenyan school children, and multiple hot sulfur water streams dripping down from the tops of the canyon walls. The gorge was really nice and in spite of getting stuck in the middle of a few groups of kids trying to climb down the steeper ledges, we had a good time exploring. We made our way back to the camp site, slept the night, and woke up to a gorgeous sunrise peaking around the hills into the entrance of the park (look at the pictures!). On the way out of the park we saw water buffalo, more zebras, and warthogs trotting around in the grass.
From Hell’s Gate, we made our way back to Fisherman’s Camp, returned our bikes, and then made it to the city of Nakuru, after one bus and one matatu ride. In Nakuru we sampled more Kenyan cuisine, which mostly consisted of fried chicken, brown rice, and little fried, triangle shaped dumplings called samosas. It was pretty good and at the little café/restaurants, you get a lot of food for very little money. Cold cokes or sprites were almost always the beverage of choice. We set up a safari tour of Lake Nakuru and spent the evening relaxing in the hotel room. Early in the morning our guide picked us up in a small jeep like vehicle that kinda looked like a Suzuki Samurai and we made the 15 minute or so drive out of the city, towards the park. I’ll try to finish the last blog post about the Kenya trip as soon as possible. In the meanwhile, here are a few pictures from Fisherman's Camp and Hell’s Gate and if you haven’t looked at the Kenya photo albums, be sure to take a look!
Also, I changed the layout and the main picture on the blog. The pic I took in Nakuru on the way back from the park. I switched it to sephia on the camera and I thought it came out pretty good. Let me know what you think, thanks!
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