Overlanding Through Africa

We were up at 4.15am and were ready and waiting when Omondi turned up at 5. We had no breakfast or coffee before leaving. We were giving Markson a lift back to his village. It was raining. Omondi drove FAST!! It was African massage at its best! I remembered that I’d read people who were sleeping when they were involved in a car or train crash were more likely to survive, so I tried to relax and not watch the road ahead – just in case! 😂

We dropped Markson off and tipped him – he had done a good job as our guide.

We then drove back to Narok. At 7am, we stopped for breakfast. We had omelette, sausage, and coffee. Omondi had told us that coffee wouldn’t be available and that we would have to wait an hour until we stopped again! He seemed surprised when we asked for it anyway and got it!! Breakfast did the trick. I actually felt awake after eating it!

As we continued our journey, Omondi discussed his views on African politics with us. They were a little controversial, so we concentrated on the views of the floor of the Rift Valley out of the window!

Our next stop was at a curio and coffee stop for toilets and for Omondi to have tea. We had thirty minutes to look around. I had a coffee and bought an interesting magazine called ‘Old Africa’, full of stories about Kenya in colonial times.

Just up the road, we stopped again! This time, it was to have the car windows washed! It seemed like Omondi was wasting time. We were questioning why we’d left at the ungodly hour of 5am!!

We drove through the busy town of Mai Mahia. I shot a video here.

We passed Mount Longonot, the only active volcano in the Rift Valley. It last erupted in 1860, killing hundreds of Masai and earning the nickname, ‘Hell’s Gate’. In front of the mountain, we could see a railway newly built by the Chinese. It was completed a couple of years ago, but so far, no trains have run on it.

We were heading for Lake Naivasha, the only freshwater lake in the Rift Valley. Seismic activity under the water creates steam which is harnessed to make electricity. Around 45 megawatts are generated.

The lake has a surface area of 198 square kilometres. It is surrounded by a swamp that covers an area of 64 square kilometres, but this can vary largely depending on rainfall. It is situated at an altitude of 1,884 metres. The lake has an average depth of 6 metres, with the deepest area being at Crescent Island, where it is 30 metres.
Lake Naivasha is home to a variety of types of wildlife, including between 250 and 300 different species of bird and a population of around 1000 hippos. There are six varieties of fish in the lake, including catfish, tilapia, and salmon. However, the predominant species is now the common carp, which was accidentally introduced to the lake in 2001.

Between 1937 and 1950, the lake was used as a landing place for flying boats on the Imperial Airways passenger and mail route from Southampton, UK, to South Africa. Joy Adamson, the author of Born Free, lived on the shores of the lake in the mid-1960s.

Before visiting the lake, we headed to our hotel, Taphe Guest Resort, in Naivasha town. We arrived there at about 11.15am. The upper floors of the hotel are still under construction, but our ground floor room was nice enough. We’ve certainly stayed in worse places! After settling in, we were served lunch in the garden at 12.30pm. There was an avocado starter (Mark ate mine as well as his own!), chicken with egg fried rice and salad for mains, and fresh fruit for dessert. It was all very nice. It appears that we are the only guests in the hotel!Read more