Dec. 29 Wed.

Over 100 elephants in this herd

Amanda learning Masai

I will continue on from our "safari" on Monday.  We got up early for our morning drive and saw quite a bit of game including Zebra's.....went back to have a great breakfast...and by 9 headed out to our next place we were staying.  The next place was called Kibo safari camp.  It was just outside Amboseli Game Park.  We arrived at the game park about 1:00 but there was quite a back up of cars for some reason.  We got out to stretch our legs while waiting and were mobbed by Masai (or at least they were dressed in a way to make us think they were really Masai) trying to sell various souvenir type things.  Amanda started to chat with them and before long had quite a group of new friends.  I got the impression he is one of those people that never meet a stranger.  It kept us entertained while we waited.

3 Elephants appearing to hold up the tree

When we got through the gate we kind of hurried to where we were staying to make sure we got there in time for lunch....which we did.  We saw some elephants and gazelle along the way... including 3 elephants that appeared to be holding up a tree.  The landscape was totally different then where we had come from.  It was mostly flat plains and you could see forever in some places.

After lunch we enjoyed relaxing till 4 when we headed out to look for more animals.  We saw a huge herd of elephants at a waterhole.  They were alot of fun to watch...and then they walked across the road kicking up dust and attracting small white tick birds (Egrets) that like to hitch a ride on their backs and eat the ticks off the elephants.  The sun was getting low so the light was so cool to see with the dust swirling...and then to top it off Mt. Kilimanjaro cleared and we had a beautiful view of it in the background.  It was so cool to just sit there and soak in the  beauty of it all.  We headed back about 6:30 to our camp.

Tent rooms at Kibo Camp

I say camp because it was not a hotel but a bunch of tents set up around the place.  there were alot of acacia trees that shaded them and monkeys running around...we could hear them on the top of our tent.  Then tents were quite nice really.  we had a king size bed in ours with mosquito net and in the back was a toilet and shower and sink....not roughing it really in my opinion....but fun to hear the night noises and feel the cool breezes of the evening.

Inside of tents at camp (bath in back)

After dinner we went to the pool area where there were not lights and laid on the chairs star gazing for awhile.  There is nothing like it.  More stars than you can imagine unless you have seen it in a dark place where there is not light pollution.  we were all so tired but waiting up for a Masai dance/show.  That was one thing Kim really wanted to see.  Well, we went to see it and it was extremely disappointing....well Roger and I knew it would be but did not want to ruin it for Kim but she agreed it was not all she imagined.  To put it bluntly it was pathetic ....half of the guys were not Masai and could not really do the jumping up and down they are well known for etc.  But oh well...Kim was able to see the dance and we all got a chuckle out of it.

Sunset over Amboseli

Elephants in front of Mt. Kilimanjaro

The next morning was another early one...heading out after a quick cup of chai to look for more animals.  The mornings are quite cool and felt so good as we drove with the top of our van popped up so we could stand up and see further.  We all had been a bit disappointed we had not seen any lions yet so when we came upon a long line of other vans we realized there must be something big going on.  Sure enough a lion had killed something, hyenas were circling them...the male chased them away.. and so we saw some lions tho they were not very close we could say we saw them.  We saw more animals and headed back to our camp for breakfast.

Cheetah we saw from a distance

Hippo with Egret taking a ride

Right before the gate we saw the van in front of us go off the road thru a field (which you can't do in the park so much).  Ahead of us was a group of Bushbuck which we thot was cool since we had not seen any close up...but then all of a sudden 2 Cheetahs darted in front of us and ran off...even going under the fence that was around our camping area.  It was so cool to see them up close and they turned around after they were through the fence to look at us as if they were upset with us for spoiling the hunt.  If we knew they were there it would have been cool to watch them for awhile but we were so excited we got to see them.

Rainbow over plains

We had breakfast, packed up and headed to Nairobi...about a 3 hour drive.  We had lunch and then took Eileen, Kim and Amanda to the Mayfield guest house and said goodbye.  It was hard as usual.  I am so thankful we are planning to see Eileen in April in China.  The girls spent the night at the guest house and then had a ride from there to the airport.  They were scheduled to fly out at 3 this afternoon (wed) and since we have not heard from them we assume they are on their way...and we are asking the Father that their trip home is uneventful and they never have to go thru all they went thru on the way here...ever again!!!

Hedgehog we found one night at Diani (Mombasa)

We are with Doug and Lisa till next Monday night.  We don't have much planned and it will be nice just hang out here with them for a few days.  Then..we will be off on another adventure and I won't think of that until later...enjoy the day today !!  It's so nice to be here....