Tuesday August 3rd

Day 7 - Lake Naivasha to Keekorok Lodge

We didn't have a great deal of time at Lake Naivasha so were up around dawn to make the most of what time we did have. The paths around the hotel rooms didn't look quite as exposed in daylight as they did the previous night in the dark with hippos about.

We were down by the lakeside as the sun rose at about 6:30 am. There were a few hippos at the end of the jetty and more a little distance away, but they were pretty difficult to see. 

There were a few water birds around, but the main experience was the early morning light over the boathouse, trees and the island that we didn't make it to.

We left Lake Naivashi just after 8:00am, after breakfast.

The journey to Keekorok Lodge took all of the morning. The first part was on surfaced roads towards Nairobi. A few days before, there had been a collision between a train and a heavy lorry on a level crossing, completely blocking the single track line. When we passed the lines was still blocked.

After a long drive across the width of the rift valley, we stopped at the usual curio shop/toilet/cafe for a break.

For several days we had been discussing whether it would be right to give out pens to the local children who were extremely adept at begging. At this stop, Brian actually approached a group of three children. They were obviously keener on sweets and money than on pens. 

The comfort stop marked the end of the surfaced road. On this occasion, we had about 60 miles to do on the dirt roads.

About half way across the drive, we had yet another puncture (our third of the week). At first we seemed to be in the middle of nowhere, with nobody to be seen in any direction. 

Gradually, a couple of dozen children materialised and stood around watching and hoping for something. Once we got going, there was a Masai village and school just across the horizon.

We arrived at Keekorok Lodge just in time for a late lunch, shared with a variety of birds, who didn't seem in at all frightened of the humans.

After lunch we had a couple of hours to find our way around the Lodge and grounds. Like most of the hotels we stayed in on the safari, Keekorok was set in extravagant gardens and not protected by fences.

Accommodation was in log cabins set in the grounds, surrounding a central swimming pool. The focal point of the grounds was an enormous lilac-like flowering tree that was visible from miles around.

Just adjoining the main lawns was the nature trail, an elevated boardwalk through trees with a shelter (sometimes bar) overlooking the local waterhole, floodlit at night. During the heat of the day there was little to see.

At 4pm we were off on our first game drive in the Masai Mara national park. The weather was rather foreboding, heavily overcast with a threat of rain.

Just outside of the lodge, we encountered a small troop of baboons. Two had already crossed the road and were on the roof of a building to the left of the road; others, including the female with baby were still in the process of crossing the road.

The main focus of the drive was lions.

Our first encounter was with a lion feeding on a recent kill, a wildebeest. The lioness was lurking to feed once the male had eaten its fill.

Bt the following day, the big predators had abandoned this kill to the vultures. 

The Masai Mara is famed at this time of year for its vast herds of zebra and wildebeeste migrating across from the Serengeti plain in Tanzania. 

Our first encounter was mainly with Plains Zebra.

There were reports of Cheetah.

Rapidly about 20 vans from various tour companies converged and jostled for view of .. nothing. Eventually we gave up and moved elsewhere.

Everywhere we went in the Mara, we found wildebeest.

On the first day we were excited at the view of a few dozen. By the end of the second day we needed at least a hundred thousand to attract out attention. 

Once away from the madding crowd, our driver showed his experience of the area and found two groups of lions which did not enjoy the attention of other tour buses.

• The first group were relaxing by the side of a watering hole

• The second group were walking around in the foothills at the edge of the plain. We only saw the mail; the rest of the family were not far away.

The weather deteriorated and we retreated to the inside of the van and closed the roof. There were some hints of rain, and it got very cold, but we missed the torrential rain.

We did take the opportunity to stop at this small group of ?? by the side of the road.