Kenya 2023: Chapter 35 – The Last Excursion
On our last morning, we were up at 4 and ready by 5:40. We found Lenny on the veranda out back having tea with friends. We had all of our gear with us and the other guides loved to see the “big bazooka” 600 mm.
We drove off to the northeast into the territory where we had seen a black rhino in 2019, an area that they frequent. For as large as they are and for as many people are out looking for them, they are exceptionally good at hiding. Today would be no different. We saw some hyena, a Cape Buffalo adorned with oxpeckers, giraffe, a martial eagle hunting helmeted guinea fowl, zebras, impala, and gazelle, but no rhino.
On our way back to camp we crossed a hyena and it ran into one of the very few concrete pipes in the road. Neither of us had ever had to think about the possibility of a hyena hiding in an underground pipe, but this was now a new fear.
For once, we had breakfast at the lodge, took some pictures with the staff, conducted a short survey and an interview with Judy who is the maitre d’.
After we checked out, we finally saw some vervet monkeys playing in the trees. They were still here after all. The sun filtered through the leaves as we loaded our bags and bade our Keekorok friends farewell.
We still had three hours to spend in the park before our entry was up so we headed into the plains once more. The Black Rock Pride had been spotted near Keekorok and off we went. They were, of course, sleeping in the shade of the bushes, as had every other pride we had seen. There were more than ten of them, and they were soon joined by others wandering in from the grass as the morning warmed up. For once we got to hear them roar. A subadult came across the road and let out a low call, a sort of “rowwwwwww”. Many of the trucks shut off after that so we could hear the calls. “Rowwwwww” “Rowwwwwww”
We left the pride after a while and headed east toward the gate, taking a few side roads to look for rhinos one more time and came up empty. We had seen the Big Five (Cape Buffalo, Elephant, Lion, Leopard, and Rhino) last time and we were a rhino short this time. At 11:00 we reached the east gate to the Mara and were immediately swarmed by hawkers again. I bought a blanket for 1,000 shillings (about $9), a far cry from the $60 they wanted in the market.
Because it’s winter here, the daytime highs only get to about 70 degrees and we saw a lot of people in the rural towns bundled up in parkas, scarves, and warm hats. We were in shorts and t-shirts. We reached Narok by 12:30 for fuel and checked out the convenience store to see what kinds of snacks they had. Ed had hoped to buy coffee at Keekorok again, but the store was fairly bare, so we made one stop at the Buffalo Curio shop on the way to Nairobi. Greg bought a chess board and Ed bought a necklace and bracelet for the missus. Naturally, we haggled on prices. At the cafe, we finally got some Kenyan coffee and tea to bring home. We found Lenny in the dining room next door, chatting with friends. The man literally knows almost every person between Nairobi and the Mara. Out of Naivasha, traffic up the mountain was slow and an adrenaline rush as we passed slow-moving lorries. The skies clouded up by the time we reached the hotel again. We were pleased to see Ska, the bomb dog, at the entrance.
We said farewell to our good friend and excellent guide, hopeful to see him again. “Sisemi kwa heri, kwa hivyo nitasema tutaonana tena”. Translation: I shouldn’t say goodbye, therefore, I will say we will see each other again.
We got into a room, repacked, showered, and went and got delicious beef skewers and of course, more Tusker. An excellent end to an excellent adventure.
