Oct 2-4, walking safari

We were sad to leave our pretty posh lodge, but also very curious to get out of the Land Cruiser and see the Kenyan countryside close up. We were driven from the lodge to a seemingly isolated spot where, sure enough, our guide and spotter were waiting for us! 

We learned the three rules of walking safari: 1. Always stay behind the rifle; 2. Don’t run or make sudden moves if we encounter wildlife; 3. If the tell you to run, do it immediately! Fortunately we didn’t need to follow rules 2 or 3. 

Camping in Kenya is like camping in Oregon except for the truly massive piles of poop reminding you there are large animals out there!

Log suspended from a tree by a barbed wire, and wrapped in more wire, to deter honey badgers. This is a beehive used by the local tribe to collect honey. 

Some of our 13 support camels (some are in training). Goodness are grumpy camels noisy!

Camp, and one of the bucket showers. 

It was a very dry & dusty and overall very interesting landscape. We were cared for so well by our crew of 13 camels and 8 tribesmen - we did feel a little sheepish at having so many people looking after us! The two nights of camping meant a tent for each of us, and what is called a long-drop loo: a toilet seat in a frame set over a hole in the ground, with a square tent pitched over it. After you use the facility, you shovel a bit of dirt over, and when we strike camp the filled in the hole. We had two loos, and also two bucket showers, with water heated up for us. We also had some really delicious meals - salads, pasta, meat, you name it. 

Each morning we got a wake up call and warm water delivered to our tent so we could wash our faces, then we had a full breakfast (cereal, eggs, bacon, coffee, tea, fruit, toast) and started walking. We walked 5km/12km/5km over the three days.

The walks were hot and dusty and I fantasized about burning my shirt and pants at the end, figuring they’d never get clean again, but all my gear did its job and overall it was quite an experience. 

At the end of day 2 we went to a Maasai school and then a village. It’s incredibly sobering to see how some people live and how truly little they have. They’re also feeling the effects of 2 years of drought, and I found it all pretty distressing. Dinner that night was a pretty quiet affair. 

Jeff 9 carrying our bags to the airstrip. (Our guide said all the camels were Jeff 1-13; he may have been kidding but I couldn’t decide.)

Airstrip. 

The shaded place to wait for your plane. 

Walking to the airstrip. 

On our last day we walked an hour to the airstrip, which this time was TRULY that - a strip of dirt and a log in the shade to sit on. But our plane arrived on time and swept us away to our next adventure: northward bound!