Anyone for an African massage?

We've had an amazing 6 days of Kenyan safari with lots of stories to tell. We visited three different national parks: the Masai Mara, Lake Nakuru and finally Amboseli.

Masai Mara:

We travelled down from Nairobi in a small minibus across some terrible roads. The journey lasted about 5 hours and ended with two very sore bums. We drove through the famous Rift Valley and the landscape views were spectacular. We arrived and started a game drive immediately. We saw the first of the big 5, the buffalo, and were also extremely fortunate to see 3 cheetah sunbathing on a rock.

After the drive we headed back to our campsite. We had a dribbling hot water shower and a hot meal. We met two other couples who were also staying in the camp with us.

The next day we got up early for another full day of game driving. We had a long journey to Hippo Pools. On the way we saw an elephant really close up. After a while he decided he didn't want us to take any more photos, so he charged at us. It was at this point that Gem no longer liked elephants. The hippos were awesome. Massive beasts that made a lot of noise. We were taken on a walk around the pools by a ranger with a big gun.

Lake Nakuru:

We made the long drive north to Lake Nakuru the following day. This was by far our best day. We arrived mid afternoon and hit the trails straight away. The lake shore was covered with flamingo, which were beautiful. We drove on and saw a massive white rhino sleeping under a tree and also a female lion resting on a small cliff.

Our driver, John, then started motoring off. He had been informed by another driver of a leopard sighting a few miles away. About 15 mins later, we slowed down to see a large number of minibuses gawping up in the trees. Indeed, there was a leopard lazing on a branch, eyeing up dinner. This was so lucky as they are a very elusive animal. That was all the Big 5 ticked off!!

Amboseli:

The drive down to Amboseli was long and bumpy. The second most popular national park in Kenya is served by nothing more than a dirt track!! I think they call it an African massage and we've certainly had enough of those for a while!!

We headed through the park to our campsite with the sun setting in the background. The beautiful image, however, was destroyed as we entered the campsite and saw loads of Maasai people running around. There was a rogue male elephant in our camp. We pulled up and were very nervous. Our driver even told us he was a little scared the next day, but he certainly didn't show his fear like Gemma did!!! Eventually it got bored and left us to sleep.

The final day's driving involved a sunrise drive with Mt. Kilimanjaro as our backdrop. Families of elephant were making their way down to the lake for a drink, which was quite a spectacular sight, although by then Gemma had had enough of elephants!!

After breakfast we went out again as the temperature hit 35degreesC. The drive was quite uneventful until we drove past a zebra with a strange looking sack hanging out of her behind. We stopped and saw her give birth to a small furry baby zebra. Within 20mins it was taking its first tentative steps. Incredible!!

After lunch we went to a Maasai village, where we were shown round by the chief. We were welcomed by the community with a dance and a prayer by around 20 Maasai people. It was quite intense and a little weird. We went into the village and were shown round a home made from mud and sticks. It was very small for a family of seven. They showed us how they make fire from elephant poo and sticks, which was clever and also tried to tempt us into buying their crafts. It was a very interesting insight into how they live, but it's certainly not for us!!

We got back to camp that evening without the drama of the previous night and went to sleep for our final night of safari.

Heard it's cold back home!! We'll soak up the sun for you here. We'll blog again from Tanzania.

Love Ells and Gem xx