28th – Transfer to Arusha

Skipped breakfast this morning due to last night and at 0730 we were southbound towards the Tanzanian border. Having driven a couple of hours we arrived and after a slow moving queue to get our departure stamps on the Kenyan side we walked across to the Tanzanian side. Here, fir the first time ever, I had to show my vaccination card to confirm that I had had my yellow fever shot before getting my Tanzanian visa which was handled surprisingly fast.

At around 1230 we arrived at the Outlook Lodge in Arusha, our place to stay until leaving for our drives tomorrow. It was the same place as back in 2010 and it brought back memories. Nothing had really changed since then.

We had lunch and shortly after two guys of the remaining 4 of the group also arrived. Getting the share my room (and therefore also tent) now. We had a walk into Arusha but concluded that unless you enjoy being hassled by street vendors and other similar entities who don’t accept no for an answer, Arusha is not a very interesting city. As I said; nothing has really changed since my last visit.

As planned we had our meeting at 1800 where we got to meet everyone, and after dinner we relaxed at the bar and got to see an acrobatics show before crashing. And, if I’m not mistaken, that could also be classified under the “nothing had really changed”-column.

Tomorrow we will be departing at 0745 to visit a village and do a drive in Lake Manyara NP.

27th – Return to Nairobi

Before getting back to Nairobi we had an early drive, leaving camp at around 0700. This night had been quite calm; our first night we could hear hyenas close by and the dogs and the Maasai village going absolutely bonkers as a result.

Nothing special happened on the drive, only noteworthy was that we saw 3 lions eating the remains of what looked like a small cow (Maasais often take their herds inside the park for them to graze – as a result they lose one or two now and then).

We left the park at 1030 and at around 1600 we were back at the hotel and said our goodbyes.

At 1800 we met up with out next guide, Moses, who gave us an overview of how our next couple of days would look like. The group will be bigger than now, but not very. For dinner we went to restaurant Carnivore, a repeated success from last year.

Tomorrow we will depart at 0730 and expect to arrive at the hotel in Arusha at around 1300-1400 for lunch. I will likely be skipping breakfast, dinner was… filling.

With a mane like that he must be using a conditioner.

Buffalo with yellow-billed oxpeckers.

These three lions were found eating the leftovers of what could have been a small cow.

The crunching sounds were fascinating.

Grey flycatcher.

Violet-eared waxbill (or common grenadier).

23rd–24th - Departure to Kenya

Leaving Copenhagen at around 1700 with only a couple of hours in Amsterdam meant that I arrived in Nairobi at 0700 the following day (2 hours time difference). Getting through immigration this time was a breeze compared to last time; fill out forms and only queue a few minutes before being taken care of which was quickly done. Nothing like last time’s almost half an hours’ wait and tedious handling of my papers.

Waiting for your luggage you always get that nervous twitch when you see several bags 5-7 times without having seen your own – but finally mine showed up and I left for the waiting G Adventures coordinator waiting for me at the pick-up area.

The traffic was normal for a weekday which meant that even when leaving the airport at around 0800 we didn’t arrive at the hotel until almost 0930, even if the trip could have been done in less than half an hour without much traffic. A lot of standstill. It had been raining the last couple of days which had brought the temperatures down a bit; barely 20 degrees when arriving and just above the rest of the day. Far from as hot as what I had prepared myself for, but it was actually very comfortable. This also meant that even without A/C the car drive to the hotel was quite pleasant.

When arriving at the hotel I quickly checked in before we left again – this time to go to a local elephant sanctuary which is only open to the public at 1100-1200. Despite a small detour to pick up some water we arrived a bit early and after a short wait we were herded to a roped enclosure. During the one hour we were presented for two different groups of elephants; one with 8-20 months olds and the second they were between 20 months and 3½ years old. They take animals that have been abandoned by the family for any reason (rejection, poaching, etc.) and let them grow up here where they are taught elephant-stuff before releasing them when they have become adults. They said if an animal has been released and afterwards gets injured or has a calf that is sick they remember the place and return to be taken care of, after which they leave again.  Because of this they have a very high survival rate of released animals.

On the way back to the vehicle the G coordinator (who had joined me in) pointed out an enclosure several high fences in; there was one of “their” rhinos. Apparently they have two; one is completely blind and therefore can’t survive in the wild (which was the one I saw) and another that comes and goes as it pleases (which wasn’t there at the time).

So basically within 5 hours of arriving I have already seen 2 of the big 5 – though some might call it cheating due to the circumstances, which I might be inclined to agree with.

Back at the hotel I had lunch and the afternoon was spent of having a much needed shower from the flight and otherwise coping with me not sleeping on the plane. Luckily they have decent wireless so time was relatively easy killed.

At 1800 there was the usual meet-and-great with the guide and the rest of the group. One would be arriving on a later flight which left me alone with the guide, Patsie. Yup – the first part of the trip, in Kenya, will be a small group. It’s off-season so we shouldn’t expect to see many other tourists in the park. Suddenly it feels a bit more exclusive.

The trip consists of two separate trips; one for the part in Kenya and a second for the part where we go to and drive around in Tanzania. Coming back to Nairobi from Masai Mara we will be picked up by our next guide and meet with the rest of the group when we arrive in Tanzania. On arrival we will also have a meeting there similar to the one here – it will be interesting to see how big that group turns out to be.

Anyway; departure tomorrow morning at 0730 and a long drive to the park; with the recent showers and heavy traffic there is no knowing the state of the roads where we are going.

On my previous trip was, as I mentioned, the purchase of my buff. This trip was something a bit different; I had considered it for some time due to the many long flights but never gotten around to it due to the relatively high price. But making the decision a couple of days before departure I went and bought a pair of noise-cancelling headphones. Sitting in the plane and listening to the constant engine noise it was amazing turning on the headphones and turning the noise into a faint hum. Voices were greatly muffled and a baby crying behind me sounded as if it was far away. What an amazing product.

The young elephants learn how to cover themselves in dust.

Being fed is the best time of the day!

Small fella just enjoying himself.

Their rhino trying to sneak a peak.

11th – 12th - Arriving in Nairobi

Going to Nairobi from Copenhagen required a layover in Amsterdam, in my case a 1½ hour one. Therefore, knowing Schiphol is a large airport, I began getting slightly nervous when we hadn’t moved half an hour after the planned departure time. After having solved the technical problems of the plane (which required a full restart – that sounded familiar!) we were on our way. They managed to cut off half an hour of the 1½ hour flight so we arrived in Amsterdam only half an hour late.

I quickly got myself to the net gate where they already had started boarding. Getting through the gate’s security was swift, maybe a little too fast. When everyone had been seated they asked over the plane’s speakers if anyone where missing a Samsung tablet found in the security check. Ah, funny, someone’s got the same as me. It even looks the same! … wait a minute…. Yeah, that was mine. Woops.

The flight to Nairobi was otherwise uneventful. Immigration at the airport was annoyingly slow but after almost 2 hours after arriving I finally came out on the other side and was picked up and driven to the hotel.

I had a 2 hours break before continuing with the trip’s schedule where a needed shower was had. Amazing standard of the hotel room (especially considering my usual camping), but unfortunately they did not have a room available which I was supposed to have. This meant that they had to upgrade me to a larger room. Oh well, I’d just have to live with that.

At 1030 we departed to go to the giraffe center. We got to stand on a balcony to feed giraffes eye to eye, saw a presentation on giraffes (“this is how you see the difference between the three types, they have as many vertebras as humans but bigger, here are some bones, any questions?”), and that was it. It was quite a disappointment, to be honest.

After this we went to Karen Blixen’s coffee farm to have lunch, great food. This was followed by a visit to Karen Blixen’s museum where we were guided around. Our guide had a thick accent, spoke fast and mumbled so it was quite difficult hearing and understanding everything he said.

After a couple of hours at the museum and a couple of hours break at the hotel we went to the restaurant Carnivore for dinner. Plenty of meat was mounted on an enormous grill in the middle of the building. We were given a flag and as long as it was standing up the waiters would regularly show up with more meat. Most of the meat was relatively ordinary (beef, lamb, pork etc.) but we were also served bulls’ testicles (the smelled stable-ish but tasted like something towards liver, with a firm but soft structure).

This was finished by a visit at the bar in the hotel where incomprehensible bills, confusing bartenders made it seem like they managed to cheat us (me) of 1700KSh. Nice.

Close encounter!

Never underestimate a good scratch on the nose.