At tonight’s “tent” camp we were told to securely zip our tents lest curious monkeys break in – three of them were milling about on the porch when I went out just now; I continue to very much enjoy the odd little requirements of travel in Africa (note: “tent” = luxury cabin with canvas walls and roof).
Today started with a short morning game drive at Lake Nakuru that included a ten foot long python slithering out of a pool to sun itself. We then embarked on a long journey north, but the roads were shockingly good, and a significant portion were actually blacktop, with some even having lane lines. After enduring several hours in the safari vehicle we arrived around 4 PM at Samburu Game Reserve and immediately spotted a number of new species in the arid landscape here. The additions to the species checklist included new varieties of zebra, ostrich and giraffe, as well as the gerenuk, which looks like an impala but has the ability to stand up on its hind legs to browse the high branches on shrubs – I can now check “gazelle that can stand upright” off of my list of things that I never had any clue existed but am hugely glad to have seen.
The lodging is another ridiculously fancy one along a river, although we were warned not to get too close to the water on account of crocodiles, and to be careful in the mornings lest elephants are out and about – it’s easy to arrive at a comfortable lodge and temporarily forget that I’m in Africa, but the constant danger of being eaten or smooshed is an excellent reminder. The monkeys are also everywhere at this camp, so this may be another location where the wildlife around the lodging is competing heavily for attention with what we see on the game drives. Three nights here should provide for some interesting times.
You are making me want to go to Africa!!!!!
I feel fairly certain that you wanted to go to Africa before I came here 😛 You and mom would love it though.