He got ragged for these transgressions so I
think he was just going to show us all up by proving what a racing driver he
was and oh boy he showed us on the road just what the truck could do when
pitched against all the other cars.... Hell it was a nightmare! The road, even
though we took the highway, was fairly good but very narrow and horribly
inadequate for the amount of traffic that it carries. Again there are trucks, busses,
cars, motorbikes and hulks of metal on wheels that somehow move forward,
sideways and bounce up and down. So my Darling husband has a thing about
teaching a lesson to anyone who drives badly or cuts him off or passes on a
blind rise or a solid white line. Oh my gosh there are some guys out there who
will never make the same mistake again but, when he started to chase the bus
that passed us with NO room, nearly drove us off the road and was totally kamikaze,
then I started yelling that I was going to get out of the truck and never get
back in again. The red mist cleared if only for a moment and we slowed down to
a steady pace again. Seriously the roads are very inadequate for the amount of
traffic that they carry and to be sure, I am very pleased that Ernest is the
driver as although I moan about his speed, he is the best driver I know. I do go on a bit about the traffic but it was
honestly nose to tail all the way from Nairobi to Nakuru so you really had to
just settle down and go at the average speed of the other cars or have a
nervous breakdown in the process.
You really need to be a fly on the wall when driving
through any town and I try and tell Ernest where to go. I put the destination
into the GPS and then I say... Okay go left here. Ernest says “are you sure" I say yes. He says"
I am sure it is the next one". By that time he has missed the turn so I
say take the next one... He says “Gaye make up your mind" then I say" well you decide
then" to
which he says “why can't you work the bloody GPS” oh my gosh I am going to record it sometime and post that. In the
end he radios Ken and only when Ken says it is the right way will he turn!! I
give up! MEN.
Nakuru National Reserve is one of Kenya's
premier reserves together with the Mara and Amboseli and when you get there you
do understand why, it is absolutely beautiful and well worth visiting. It is
the complete opposite of the Masai Mara in that it is very thickly forested
with these huge yellow Acacia trees plus very lush green undergrowth so
different to the vast open plains of the Mara. In the middle of the park is a
huge lake. It is actually situated inside a volcano basin and you can see the
huge cliffs on the outer perimeter of the park.
We arrived at about three, thinking we had
plenty of time to get into the park, have a decent game drive and then camp for
the night. Well, we should have known better and figured that Africa is
unpredictable when it comes to predicting time. So we arrived at the gate which
is now in a completely different place to where it was before. We went to the
office to pay our entry fee and get a camp site only to find a chaotic rush of
people all trying to pay and get into the park. There were tourists, school
kids and literally busloads of people all fighting to get into the queue and
get into the park. Kim and I braved the office. As always, in these situations
there are a whole lot of people that don't believe in waiting their turn so it was
a case of survival of the fittest and boy you just had to be bloody minded and
stand on the toes of the guy who was trying to jump the queue. Kim had a guy
behind him who kept breathing down his neck, which could have competed with a
hyena as to who smelt the worst so our fight to get out was even more urgent.
So after about an hour we managed to pay, get a campsite allocation and get
through the gate. They gave us a site at the furthest end of the park and off
we set, in the pouring rain to get there and get settled in before night fall.
The drive through the park was so picturesque
with these huge trees, lush bush, the cliffs on one side and the lake on the
other. The part that totally surprised us was the level of the water. It had
risen by at least 5 meters since we last visited the park and the reason why
the entrance to the park had changed is because all of the old offices and
restaurants had gone under water. This has apparently happened to all the lakes
along the Great Rift Valley and so many of the facilities around the edges of
the lakes have had to be abandoned and rebuilt on higher ground. We had thought
that obviously they had experienced an abnormally high rainfall over the last
two years but this is apparently not true. It has been as a result of some
shift in the tectonic plates in the Rift Valley and all the water tables had
risen.
So much of the water’s edge where we had driven last time was now underwater and the
whole lake was lined with dead trees that had most probably died from being
under water.
Anyway we certainly saw a tremendous amount of
game. There is an abundance of Buffalo, waterbuck, Impala and we even saw a
Rhino.... That was a surprise. We went through a very impressive Euphorbia
forest, apparently one of the biggest in the world which was a first for all of
us. There are Lion and Leopard in this reserve but we didn't see any as it was
late and we were in a hurry to get to our camp.
The camp site was at a place called Makalia
falls and it was at the furthest point in the park from the entrance so we had
to keep up a good pace as it was a good 30 Kms to go and we only had two hours
before sunset. When we reached the falls there was a little spill way/ bridge
that we had to cross in order to get to the campsite with a sign that said. “do not cross at any time even if there is
no flooding" oh hell what does that mean... Go across to the camp site or
stay put??? It was a very narrow little slipway but as we are so used to
balancing the truck with its wheels right on the edge of the bridge we decided
to give it a go. No problem! Once across
the bridge we found the most beautiful campsite, green lawn, wonderful trees, and
great ablutions all be it without water and a few buffalo grazing nearby. We
set up camp, sent Steve off to find the valve for the water for the ablutions,
cooked dinner and had the most glorious evening under the stars. We all voted
this one as the best camp site of the trip and we will be hard pressed to find
anything better.
During the night Steve and Andrea had a few
buffs as close as 5 or 6 meters from their tents... Rather them than me but
Steve was not nervous at all and quite enjoyed having them so close.
Signing off!
#epiceastafricaexplorers
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