Off to Samburu

We awoke early this morning and headed to the massive breakfast buffet at the hotel. After consuming many calories, we boarded our jeeps for the safari. Our guide is Magic and the other driver is Aden. We have two toyota land cruisers outfitted for the safari, with three pop top openings for better viewing, two gas tanks, an extra spare tire, cb radio, and lots of power. About 8 am, we headed out of Nairobi and towards our first game park, Samburu. En route, we stopped and shopped in a kenyan crafts store, purchased bracelets, necklaces [i think], and a stone plate with a map of the world chiseled into it. we continued on for lunch at a trout farm. approaching the farm, we turned off the main road and onto a dirt path, full of pot holes, bumps, and large rocks. each time the car ran over one, we jolted up and down. magic yelled 'safari safari'to warn us to hold on. he also promised one elephant for each bump in the road. we're holding him to it.
at the trout farm, we ate.....trout. it came barbequed, whole. they offered to remove the heads for us. that wasn't enough for shayna who also requested the removal of the tail. they obliged. marc fileted the fish for the family. ruben would be proud. marc dollinger, mountain man and adventurer!
we continued driving towards the samburu nature reserve. about 50 miles before the entrance, we picked up a local woman whose husband works at the lodge. as it typical, we was walking to the lodge. it would have taken her 3 days, in the heat, through areas inhabited by predatory animals. they have small villages and huts along the way where she would have stopped at sunset each night. magic knew her and her husband and offered her a ride.
once at the reserve, magic stopped the car and opened two of the hatches in the roof. he encouraged us to stand up with our heads out of the top of the car. off we went through the arid, dry brush, with a large plain, surrounded by a few mountains. this was the region that disney used for the lion king. the mountain in the movie is in this park [we took pictures]while the samburu tribe were the models used by the disney writers. magic told us that they animated the movie with help from kenyans as well. heading down the dirt path, we scanned the horizon for animals. as we drove, magic called out 'giraffes at 2 oclock.' we looked. no giraffes. magic shouted again, 'giraffes at 2 oclock.' still no giraffes. we continued forward a quarter mile and there, RIGHT IN FRONT OF US, were 3 giraffes, one on the left side and two on the right side of the car. amazing. magic stopped the car, turned off the engine, and encouraged us to actually climb on the roof. cameras in hand, we took photos and video as the two giraffes crossed the road right in front of us.
minutes later, magic called: 'elephants straight ahead'. we looked and no elephants. right in front of us, he said. still no elephants. he turned opposite the supposed elephants, around a bend in the dirt road, onto a dirt path, around another corner and there they were: some 30 or 35 elephants. we sat in awe, watching them interact. there were several baby elephants barely able to reach the belly of their moms. barbar watch out. then, in a moment we were told is not often seen, the male elephant began mating. what can we say? it was quite a scene [and actually repeated several times while we watched] the older girls understood what was going on. the younger girls learned a little something about the birds and the bees. as for the adults, the moms just took more pictures. the dads were a bit shocked by the.......enough of that....we move on...
we continued driving on different dirt trails seeing all sorts of wildlife, including the next highlight, a lioness. magic ordered everyone off the top of the car and inside. apparently, they can jump! we sat about 25 ft. from her, snapping pictures, taking video, and inspired. she just sat there, cleaning her paws.
we also saw gazelles, baboons, dick dicks (they look like mini-pint size deer) as well as many different types of birds. marci will add all of them when she updates this post since she was writing them all down.
after two hours bouncing around on the safari, we arrived at the lodge to the welcome and greeting of several local samburu tribesmen, who serenaded us with music. ten attendants ran to us, one for each of us to bring our suitcases to the rooms. this is the good life! we have a giant room with a king size bed enclosed by mosquito net drapes. the girls each have their own protected beds as well. since its new year's night, they opened their giant front lawn to a dinner buffet that was endless. we ate and ate and ate.
after dinner, exhausted, we returned to our rooms, fell into bed, and prepared for our 530 am wake up call for an early morning game drive.