Kenya

Visited: February 2005

Duration of visit: 12 days

Capital city: Nairobi

Population: 37 million (2005)

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

• A full-day ride on a livestock truck from Ethiopian border to Marsabit.
• Spectacular three days safari in Masai Mara National Park.
• Spotting flamingos, giraffes and rhinos in Nakuru National Park.
• Enjoying leisure time at Watamu beach.
• Significant disappointment at Malindi beach, which was overrun by a large group of Italian tourists.

Kenya was part of my overland trip from Europe, through the Middle East and East Africa – the African Big Tour. I was experienced and knowledgeable about Africa by the time I reached Kenya, but still got caught up in some of the biggest logistic and unhuman adventures in the northern part.

The country with the world’s best safari destination, home to diverse wildlife, which is protected within fifty epic national parks and reserves did not leave me indifferent.

The Great Rift Valley, formed more than 25 million years ago, offers unique habitats for the wildlife that can be easily observed through numerous safari options. The country, where 62 languages are spoken, is also home to Africa’s second-highest mountain and endurance long-distance runners that inspire mostly poor population through day to day survival hoping for better future.

The first contact with Kenya was no different than the last weeks of travelling through southern Ethiopia. Although Kenya is undoubtedly significantly more developed than Ethiopia, this is not the case in the northern part, yet. From the border town of Moyale to Marsabit there is 250 kilometers of dirt road that is mainly used to transport livestock to Nairobi.

The only one bus a day available for passengers, with twice as many people on board as there are seats, leaves early in the morning. Unfortunately, it is practically impossible to purchase a ticket, let alone getting an informal seat on the bus. Therefore, I had no choice but to ride on the top of a truck designed for transporting livestock to Nairobi slaughterhouses.

Kenyan truck drivers do not provide seats or benches for a more comfortable journey. Consequently, I had to find a place on the metal structure with approximately 30 cows and bulls squeezing under my feet.

When I was too tired, I leaned on the cattle for a while, but I had to be careful, so the guard didn’t see me.

I was so worn out at the end of the trip, that all my appetite was gone. The next day I crawled into bed with a dangerously elevated body temperature and a sore throat. The whole body started to ache, desire to eat and drink disappeared; I was certain that I had contracted malaria. Lucky enough, a quick test done by a doctor in a rudimentary medical clinic, confirmed that I had only pharyngitis and a sore throat.

The next stage from Marsabit to Isiolo was slightly more comfortable in a jeep labeled with local telecommunication company logo. We left Marsabit with two hours delay at 5:00pm and quickly reached maximum travelling speed at 110 kilometers per hour on a dirt road. Just after the sunset a coolant system broke down. A quick solution was applied: water mixed with paprika powder. It worked.

Approaching midnight, the driver became too tired to continue; he poured a bucket of water over his face to refresh, but fifteen minutes later he stopped in an undistinctive village and announced three hours siesta break. I laid down on a bench under the stars in the comfort of my sleeping bag.

After one-hour drive, we finally arrived to Isiolo, just on time for a beautiful sunrise. All decent hotels were full. I collapsed down in a dump that would hardly deserve a name of a guesthouse, light up a mosquito coil and fell asleep immediately.

The following day I visited the local market, where people were rather aggressive and strange, looking at me with distrust. A man followed me through the village all the way to my hotel, where the security guard finally pushed him away.

There is always sunshine after the rain. Dirt roads transformed into a paved road leading south towards Nairobi – the capital of Kenya. I arrived at the main station in a comfortable bus, feeling like royalty. The area was completely messed up with up to six meters high piles of sand, surrounded by ditches filled with muddy water.

Nairobi was actually only a transit point to new adventures, even though camping in the outskirts of the city was a much better option than any accommodation so far in Kenya. I didn’t bother too much with sightseeing in Nairobi, since the real attractions of Kenya lay in the wild nature or on the seaside. A few good meals, two night in a secured campground and tour package negotiation for safaris were the most memorable moments.

Nairobi was actually only a transit point to new adventures, even though camping in the outskirts of the city was a much better option than any accommodation so far in Kenya. I didn’t bother too much with sightseeing in Nairobi, since the real attractions of Kenya lay in the wild nature or on the seaside. A few good meals, two night in a secured campground and tour package negotiation for safaris were the most memorable moments.

Despite Nairobi’s reputation for danger, I found myself feeling quite at ease while walking around and exploring modern downtown. It is also a good place to arrange visas for further destinations in the surrounding countries with many embassies knowing how to deal with foreign tourists.

Kenya is the original home of the safari with a land of sweeping savannah grasslands, inhabited by charismatic mega-fauna and it’s still one of the finest safari destinations on the continent, offering an impressive range of animals, including the Big Five. There are numerous Kenya game parks and reserves, with the Masai Mara National Park, Samburu National Reserve, and Amboseli National Park featuring among them.

Safari is a must for any visitor in Kenya.

Upon evaluating various alternatives, reviewing my financial status and making calculations, I decided to visit Masai Mara National Park and Nakuru National Park, which would offer me an opportunity to observe most of the animals at reasonable price.

During a three-day safari in Masai Mara NP we saw most of the wild beasts: from lions (about thirty in three days), to elephants, giraffes, leopard on a distance, buffalos, hippopotamus, black mamba, birds, zebras, wild pigs and antelopes. The most impressive were large groups of elephants, the easiest to spot were lions – always surrounded by some tourist buses that can be detected from a distance. Lazy lions rest most of the timed during the day.

Safari trip was not only about chasing animals, but also having good time with other people in the group and making fun of the never-ending vehicle problems that accompanied me in Kenya.

Most of other groups were transported around the park in coaster type buses, which was a kind of touristy and not really fitting into wildlife environment perception. Our group was proudly moving in a bright green, experienced Landcruiser with open roof and comfortable seats. Our driver Jeffrey was calm, skillful and knowledgeable about the nature around us.

On the second day, the driver unexpectedly lost control of the vehicle, when a gear lever broke and stayed in his hand. Luckily, there was a mechanic next to our lodge, where Jeffrey was a regular customer with his 40+ years-old jeep. The gear lever was fixed and just in case, the car’s engine was welded to the frame, because it had almost fallen off.

On the third day, Jeffrey struggled for half an hour to tighten the only wiper, which died after the first drops of rain in the afternoon. In the end, the engine started to release smoke right under my feet, but the driver just waved his hand and yelled at me to open the window, so we could at least breathe.

The left rear window vibrated too much, while the right one was gone a long time ago. In order to observe what was going on behind the vehicle, the driver had to look back through open windows, which almost caused a crush into a tree once.

As we approached the end of our expedition, the radio antenna of was lost in the savannah.

We slept in a simple campground, where tents were equipped with real beds that were extremely comfortable; the food was decent. Some animals walked around the camp.

Beside regular game trips, we also visited a Maasai village. Dancing performance, posing and house tour seemed very touristic, since many groups pay visit to the same village daily. However, the quality of the dance with high jumps and unobtrusiveness of souvenir vendors was appreciated.

I wanted to combine the experience of Masai Mara NP with another game park that would offer different animals and a contrasting perspective on those that I had spotted previously. Nakuru National Park seemed the best alternative.

Nakuru National Park is famous for the numerous birds, almost hundred of endangered rhinos distributed between black and white rhinos, Rothschild’s giraffe and other fifty or more animal species that also include buffalos, waterbucks, lions and impalas. Probably the main attraction of the park are numerous flamingos that flock in large numbers along the shores of Nakuru lake.

The lake is a shallow soda lake that attracts flamingos to its alkaline shores as they feed on blue-green algae. A large pink spot with more than a million flamingos covers the peripheral parts of the lake, and when you get too close to it, the flamingos slowly move away to a safe distance. The huge availability of food on the lake keeps the flamingos hooked on the lake’s shores.

I had the opportunity to get closer to zebras, giraffes, monkeys and gazelles. For the first-time, I spotted thousands of flamingos, pelicans, various white rhinos and wild dogs.

The whole experience of the trip was marred by inappropriate behavior of our driver who wanted to overcharge us. I didn’t give up and fought for every penny that he promised to return me if I found more passengers to share the costs.

An old Austrian explorer, Pepe, with his buddy joined us in front of the park entrance and kept us entertained with antique camera and stories about his decades of travelling around the world. When Pepe realized that he had overpaid twice for park guide services, he went completely crazy.

He physically attacked the driver and knocked him down, breaking his fake watch of very little value. The driver scared him with a suit and simulated a broken arm. This, of course, was just one of the lies and exaggerations he bombarded us with all day.

Mombasa was only a transit point between Nairobi and the coastal town of Malindi, where I was going to spend a few days relaxing on the beach. A neglected place, smelly and full of garbage was filled up with strange people and extremely uncomfortable infrastructure for walking. The extreme heat with high humidity didn’t make my visit any better.

The coastal town of Malindi could be renamed to a Little Italy due to so many Italian tourists.

It seems that Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama landed here to open the way for many Italians who either visit the area for vacations or settle down for years.

The atmospheric old town remains a melting pot of local cultures with a rich and fascinating history, while offering delicious Italian food in many high-quality restaurants. My original plan was to stay in Malindi, but the polluted river flowing into the sea made swimming unsuitable.

Malindi Marine Park was a big disappointment. Unspectacular corals, very few fishes, limited visibility and thousands of jellyfishes that allowed me only 20 minutes of swimming before I would finish stung all over.

I continued to Watamu Beach, which proved to be significantly more tranquil and served as an ideal final destination for relaxation and rejuvenation. It also provided me with the opportunity to reflect on the various adventures I had encountered during my time in Kenya.

From difficult logistics in the much less visited north area of Kenya to national parks and coastal pleasures on Watamu Beach, facing Indian ocean, I covered a variety of topography from savannah, lake lands, the dramatic Great Rift Valley and mountain highlands.

Kenya is regarded as the cradle of humanity, one of the greatest sites to discover wildlife, and a melting pot of African, Arab, and Indian civilizations. There are parts of the country where ancient tribes still live in harmony with the natural world, but technology, desire for higher income and comfort will change this in the future, when immigration to the cities will increase.

In conclusion, my lasting impression of Kenya will be its most distinguished attribute, which the name Kenya has come to represent – African wildlife safari.

This recognition is certainly well deserved!