AMBOSELI TO TSAVO
17 November 2006- Friday
Up early to repack the duffle and head downhill to the lodge for breakfast. Had put the bags out for the porter's to carry. Then noticed that out of the back window of the dining room stands Mount Kilamanjaro without the cloud cover- naturally took a lot of pictures to get the right one. Seemed strange to see a snow covered mountain top in the middle of Africa. Ernest Hemingway stayed in the lodge area when he wrote his book "The Snows of Kilamanjaro." Then the load-up drill (there's not much room in a land rover) and on the road again. We were already outside of Amboseli so we headed east. We are back on a dirt roads and make a stop in a small village. The driver explains that we have to pickup "security" which turns out to be a 15 year old with an AK47. Seems we are close to the Tanzanian border and there has been some robberies in the area. Went on to tell us that Kenya has been hurt by world affairs and that after the American Embassy in Narobi was bombed he tourism industry was so badly hit that Abercrombie and Kent (who is running our tour) amost went broke. Made a photo stop at the Shetani Lava Flow which is left over from a distant Volcanic eruption. Acres and acres of black lava fields. and finally we enter the Game reserve called Tsavo West. The reason that Tsavo is in 2 parts is because the railroad runs right through it and is the line of demarcation between east and west. The next stop is Mzima Springs- which is the result of water percolating through the porous volcanic mountain called Chyulu Hills and bubbling up to make this spring of exceptionally clear water which then runs into the Tsavo river. there a hippo, crocodile and strange fish. After about 4 hours of driving we come to Kilanguni Serena Safari Lodge- in a beautiful garden setting where we are to have an outdoor buffet lunch. Food was good, Coke light refreshing, but the spectacular was to go into the dining room of the lodge and viewing room near the bar. The Lodge sits on a hill overlooking a valley which gradually slopes uphill. about a quater of a mile away is a water hole with 3 gazelles and later zebras. It's a sight you can't capture on camera- must be a sight in the evening.
Back into the vehicles and pass through a town called Voi with a military cemetery- it's small but I wonder what it's doing there. Is it WWI related to the battle of the Bundu- where the Germans (who owned Tanganyika then) tied down a large British army by using guerilla warfare?- a research project for the future. And suddenly we are on a paved road A109 with a jog south and then a left turn onto a really badly rutted dirt road. Now the drivers get into a competition of trying to pass each other with the dust so thick you can hardly see the vehicle in front of you. 40 years ago I learned some Swahili- gwend poli poli, it means go slow- but it was to no avail. We pulled up in front of a 3 story building which I hought would be he lodge but it was only to register for the real lodge which was a few miles away and a real spectacular. The Taita Hills wildlife sanctuary has 2 story circular buildings with thatched roofs and are built on stilts- it looked more like a French chateau and was really impressive at a distance. The dining room and viewing area face a water hole and beyond that stretched a large grassy swamp. Dinner good, but no animals showed up- (we had a party crowd with us that was loud enough to scare off any game within 5 miles). I woke up at 0130 and went out to the viewing area again- still no wildlife. The excuses abounded the next am, but essentially it was that there were 4 days of heavy rain before we got there and so the animals had plenty of water.
Up early to repack the duffle and head downhill to the lodge for breakfast. Had put the bags out for the porter's to carry. Then noticed that out of the back window of the dining room stands Mount Kilamanjaro without the cloud cover- naturally took a lot of pictures to get the right one. Seemed strange to see a snow covered mountain top in the middle of Africa. Ernest Hemingway stayed in the lodge area when he wrote his book "The Snows of Kilamanjaro." Then the load-up drill (there's not much room in a land rover) and on the road again. We were already outside of Amboseli so we headed east. We are back on a dirt roads and make a stop in a small village. The driver explains that we have to pickup "security" which turns out to be a 15 year old with an AK47. Seems we are close to the Tanzanian border and there has been some robberies in the area. Went on to tell us that Kenya has been hurt by world affairs and that after the American Embassy in Narobi was bombed he tourism industry was so badly hit that Abercrombie and Kent (who is running our tour) amost went broke. Made a photo stop at the Shetani Lava Flow which is left over from a distant Volcanic eruption. Acres and acres of black lava fields. and finally we enter the Game reserve called Tsavo West. The reason that Tsavo is in 2 parts is because the railroad runs right through it and is the line of demarcation between east and west. The next stop is Mzima Springs- which is the result of water percolating through the porous volcanic mountain called Chyulu Hills and bubbling up to make this spring of exceptionally clear water which then runs into the Tsavo river. there a hippo, crocodile and strange fish. After about 4 hours of driving we come to Kilanguni Serena Safari Lodge- in a beautiful garden setting where we are to have an outdoor buffet lunch. Food was good, Coke light refreshing, but the spectacular was to go into the dining room of the lodge and viewing room near the bar. The Lodge sits on a hill overlooking a valley which gradually slopes uphill. about a quater of a mile away is a water hole with 3 gazelles and later zebras. It's a sight you can't capture on camera- must be a sight in the evening.
Back into the vehicles and pass through a town called Voi with a military cemetery- it's small but I wonder what it's doing there. Is it WWI related to the battle of the Bundu- where the Germans (who owned Tanganyika then) tied down a large British army by using guerilla warfare?- a research project for the future. And suddenly we are on a paved road A109 with a jog south and then a left turn onto a really badly rutted dirt road. Now the drivers get into a competition of trying to pass each other with the dust so thick you can hardly see the vehicle in front of you. 40 years ago I learned some Swahili- gwend poli poli, it means go slow- but it was to no avail. We pulled up in front of a 3 story building which I hought would be he lodge but it was only to register for the real lodge which was a few miles away and a real spectacular. The Taita Hills wildlife sanctuary has 2 story circular buildings with thatched roofs and are built on stilts- it looked more like a French chateau and was really impressive at a distance. The dining room and viewing area face a water hole and beyond that stretched a large grassy swamp. Dinner good, but no animals showed up- (we had a party crowd with us that was loud enough to scare off any game within 5 miles). I woke up at 0130 and went out to the viewing area again- still no wildlife. The excuses abounded the next am, but essentially it was that there were 4 days of heavy rain before we got there and so the animals had plenty of water.
Labels: Nairobi to Rio 2006
posted by DT at 10:57 AM
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