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  • Day 1

    Journey to Lake Naivasha

    November 25, 2019 in Kenya ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    I got up early to get a hot shower so that I could pack and load my things onto the truck before breakfast. On returning from the shower, I discovered that I had accidentally locked my fellow traveller, Vincent, in the dorm room by paclocking the door out of habit while I was half asleep. I apologised profusely and Vincent took it all in good humour which befitted his calm and seemingly implacable character.
    I had omelette on toast for breakfast before we were all ushered to the truck to be given a brief tutorial by Jemma and Often about the trucks facilities, where everything was kept and stored and the various 'dos and don'ts' of life on the truck for the coming three months. We saw where the food, table and canvas stools were kept. We were shown how we would wash and rinse the dishes in three bowls before flapping them dry rather than using a tea towel as it is more hygienic. This became a very well worn routine during our trip. We were also told about how we would be divided into 'cook groups' with one lead 'chef' and that it would be each cook group's responsibility to shop for and cook breakfast, lunch and dinner for a particular day. We were also shown where our provided tents would be stored and also where the chlorine treated water was kept in large black plastic canisters. We were also shown where the extra food was stored under the floor of the truck and where we could store our possessions under the seats and in overhead storage. We were also shown how to use the on board electricity on the truck to charge our electrical goods. We were shown 'The Beach' which was an area above the front cab of the truck which could be opened so that we could look out the top of the truck or sleep and rest there.
    The final task before we set off on our first day's journey to Naivasha Lake Park, was to be shown how to roll up the tarpaulin sides of the truck and attach with the velcro straps so that we could get plenty of ventilation and look out at the view during our trip.
    I sat at the very back of the truck where I could see out of the back window. I sat next to Brian and opposite Linda and her daughter, Heather. The streets of Nairobi were very busy with queues of rush hour traffic. As we left the outskirts of Nairobi we were caught in a very long queue which we eventually realised had been caused by flooding from the heavy overnight rain. We later learned that many people had died as a result of this unusual and severe flooding in Kenya. The unusually heavy rain and flooding became a consistent feature of the first part of our trip through East Africa and around Lake Victoria. This provided a sort of ominous backdrop to our journey with thoughts and communal discussions often turning towards the threat of global warming and climate change to people, animals and the environment.
    As we left Nairobi we travelled through green and lush bush and farmlands with small villages and scattered small holdings with families outside working and their children playing. My imagined view of East Africa in the dry season as a parched and yellowed landscape was immediately assuaged by this verdant green landscape surrounding us. When we knelt up on the seats to look out the windows we were met with excited waves and calling from children and adults alike. This was another consistent and heart warming feature of our travels across East Africa. It seemed that our white faces and big yellow truck were quite a novelty illiciting happy, sometimes bemused, and very occasionally negative responses from local people - but there was nearly always a response. We, of course, waved and smiled back. The people often called out 'Mizungu' which means 'aimless wanderer' in Swahili and has become the ubiquitous term for travelling tourists such as us.
    We stopped in a shopping mall to buy some fresh food provisions for the evening meal in Naivasha lake park. I decided to stay on the truck as a truck guard, talked to Jesse about her half Polynesian ethnicity in New Zealand and watched local children playing football on a nearby football pitch - a scene familiar the world over.
    We drove on until we reached the edge of the lake park and I was thrilled to see my first large African mammals living in the wild - an unrepeatable special first experience. We saw zebra, wildebeest, giraffes, and eland, all feeding, wandering and almost impossibly existing from my western perspective of never seeing such large wild mammals in the English countryside.
    We eventually drove off the main road and down a narrow track and into a beautiful campground, Fish Eagle Inn, covered in green grass and dotted with several tall yellow barked 'butter' acacia trees. The campsite was well named as I was amazed to see several large fish eagles settled high in the trees. This was when I began to have to adjust my expectations about how much wildlife I would continually see in East and Southern Africa. If I ever saw a single Golden eagle in Scotland it would make my entire trip. Here, I counted at least nine enormous eagles all circling together above the lake nearby. The sheer density and proliferation of life, plant, insect and animal, in Africa took me to a new normal of how much life can and should exist in the natural environment and brought home the comparative paucity of life in England where insects have been decimated by pesticides and the majority of large wild mammals have been driven out of existence. The contrast re-affirmed my passion for rebuilding the English countryside with it's original animals and insect ecology - the wolves and bears must one day return and we humans have a duty and a responsibility to learn to live alongside these wild animals once again.
    We took our heavy tents down from the truck and people were allocated their tents. Brian had his own tent and I was left without someone to pair up with in a tent. This allowed my, fortunately, to have my own tent to myself. My tent was called 'Queen Elizabeth', somewhat ironically with my republican sentiments. Often gave is a quick tutorial on how to put up our tents and we went away to find a spot to pitch out tent. I pitched my tent facing the gently lapping lake shore. Often was kind enough to come over to help me pitch my tent as I was putting it up on my own.
    I then returned to the truck to begin to organise my things to put in the tent. This felt quite disorganized and quite discumbobulating at first, but after a week or so became an organised rhythm, and by the end of the trip a finely tuned, honed and efficient procedure
    After we put the tents up and collectively made our lunch. After lunch the grey clouds over the still, reflective lake began to thicken and it started to rain and thunder. I talked with Often about our mutual interest in wildlife and nature. Often said that he was particularly interested in birds. He took me down to the lake shore to show me the tall papyrus reeds growing there as a fisherman bravely collected his nest waste deep in the lake where hippos lived in numbers. I was pleased to know that Often would be able to share his knowledge of the African flora and fauna during our long journey.
    We were due to have a boat trip out on the lake in the afternoon with the chance to see hippos for the first time and, to my great disappointment, the trip had to be cancelled due to the inclement weather. As an alternative, a small group of us decided to take a small minibus down the road to where Joy Adamson of 'Born Free' fame had lived with her husband, George Adamson, in a large house on the Naivasha lake shore. We toured the house and saw Joy Adamson's artwork of the local tribal people's (who I was politely informed by the local guide should be called 'communities' rather than 'tribes'). We also saw her furniture and bombings and had tea and biscuits at the back of the house with nice views across the large lawns leading down to the lake. We also watched a couple of rain bedraggled colabus monkeys who were resting high. in the trees. These monkeys had apparently lived there since Joy Adamson was still alive and in residence. My amazement at seeing such animals I'm the wild remained undimmed as it did throughout the trip. We then watched a short video about Joy Adamson's life and her conservation work with lions and other animals. She expressed her deep passion and love for lions which is an emotion I would later understand and experience for myself. She described several affairs with men outside of her marriage which eventually led to her marriage to George Adamson who she met out in the bush. She recognised herself that she was a cantankerous character and probably preferred the company of animals to humans. This may have led to her falling out with one of her local employees who took revenge by shooting her dead. She was clearly an interesting, unique character while also a difficult personality socially it seems. Her portraits of local tribes men and women are now a celebrated vusual record of Kenyan cultural heritage which has now disappeared. The guide told me how he and his urban friends have now lost contact with their old tribal community heritage.
    When we returned to the campsite, and the evening light began turning to darkness, we collectively cooked and ate our evening meal using pots, pans and utensils from the truck. We cooked in an external covered kitchen area with it's own electric lighting. We sat on the collapsible canvas stools from the truck eating our meal and chatting. We all then helped to wash the dishes and dry them using the surprisingly effective and hygienic flapping method. Just after we had cleared everything away, something magical happened. Someone spotted a hippo had climbed out of the lake in the darkness and was feeding on the grass a few metres from where we had just eaten. We excitedly trained our phone torches on the large pinkish grey flank of the hippo. I was transfixed by this unimaginable close encounter with the reputedly, potentially very dangerous wild animal. There was a thin wire electric fence between us and the hippo offering us some protection, but I considered that such a big animal could trample through such a thin electric wire if she was exorcised enough to do so. However, the hippo continued feeding seemingly unconcerned by us and slowly walked past. Then another hippo emerged from the black lake waters, this time with a small infant hippo just behind her. I was so delighted to witness this animal at such close quarters and it completely made up for my disappointment at missing the boat trip earlier in the day. I was lucky enough to get a few good photos of the hippos and we all looked at each other's photos as we excitedly discussed what we had just seen as the hippos walked on back into the gloom of the dark from which they had miraculously emerged.
    We all retired to our tents as the rain began to fall again. I settled as best I could into my sleeping bag and reflected on how I had earlier summoned the spirit of the hippo after I was disappointed to miss seeing hippos on the boat trip - it was then astonishing for them to appear to us later that evening. I went off to sleep, my tent facing the lake with hippos moving through its waters, pondering the amazing sights of African animals and birds that I had already seen on my first official day of the trip - I could only wonder at what was yet to come....

    Old Blog: Naivasha Lake Park = Packed early and set off in the truck on the first day of the trip. Huge traffic queues after heavy rain all night caused flooding of already poor condition roads. Enjoyed the bus journey. Local children waving. Saw zebra, wildebeest, giraffes, and eland from the back of the truck on the way into the park. Set up tents on campsite by lake shore. Sadly boat trip on lake cancelled due to heavy rain and thunder. Went to Joy Adamson's house for museum, film and tea – saw colabus monkeys in ther garden. Had hot meal in the evening and magically saw three hippos feeding on ther grass by the shore feet away from us, including a mother and baby – this absolutely made my day! Three electric fence around the campsite kept us safe and you would never get this close to wild hippos on land in any other way. Earlier when I was disappointedabout the river trip being cancelled, I asked the spiri of the hippos to come and visit us later. ‘Often’ the driver is wonderful to talk to about wildlife and told ne about the yellow Acacia trees on the campsite.  His truck is called Chui which is Swahili for Leopard – his spirit animal. 
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