Kenya 2023: Chapter 6 – Reunited

 An ibis in flight.

Jetlag was much worse on this trip than it had been on the last one. Maybe we’re getting older, maybe we didn’t do a good job of adjusting quickly. We slept well, but awoke at 2 am, backed up photos, played rummy (Ed won, vindication for his terrible loss along the Susquehanna), and got a breakfast of chicken sausages, mandazi (a kind of donut), pineapple, bacon, omelettes, and black tea.

The morning was cloudy. Winter in the southern hemisphere was fast approaching, so it was a mere 65 degrees. The porters and security staff outside the hotel were dressed in parkas, wool-knit hats, scarves, and gloves. We were in shorts and t-shirts. The porter and Ed spoke about the weather in Swahili, Ed indicating that the temperature was very nice as it was hot (joto sana) back home.

On our last trip, our driver Lenny, was incredible. We have kept in touch with him over the last four years and we specifically asked to be with him again. Lenny arrived right on time at 7:30. The three of us were extremely excited to see one another and we wasted no time loading our bags and hopping into the truck. Ed and Lenny conversed in Swahili about families and how things have been. Our conversation took a myriad of courses covering topics of African corruption, Covid, Chinese investments in Kenya, infrastructure upgrades, and the green energy transition. Regarding the latter, Kenya is doing a fantastic job of implementing solar, wind, geothermal, and hydroelectric into their grid, but more on this later.

 We were disappointed to learn that climate change is affecting the Great Migration. East Africa is drying out. Less rain means the grass that the massive herds of wildebeest and zebra require to sustain them grows slower. Later grass means later migration and shorter duration. In 2019 the migration had already pushed into the Mara by early June. Here we were two weeks later and hoping to see the animals crossing and we were too early. The wildebeest were still 300 km south of the Mara. We would not see them this time.