The last day

Our last night in Kenya we spend in Meru National Park in one of the bundas, Murera Bandas  (correct me if I have this wrong Zoe). Very basic accommodation, with en suite shower and electricity 🙂 Just in time to load our ipod and iphone for the long drive back to Nairobi airport the next morning.

That shower was more than welcome as we were both a bit sweaty and dusty after the drive into the Park.

While we had some time to ourself, Marti our cook was already busy preparing our dinner. Everything’s done outdoors and food does taste better when you can eat it outside!

The birds were cheerfully whistling their song and the cheeky monkeys were being, well cheeky! Wonderful to see them run and climb those trees. One thing we did notice during dinner was their well, not so nice odeur..but I suppose that’s all part of being one with nature and I must admit, we loved it!

The bandas also had a bar where we could buy some drinks so we each splashed out and had a beer (Patricia) and a vodka mixed drink (me).  Marti had prepared yet another yummy soup and main course was spaghetti with lot’s of yummy vegetables and tomato sauce. We loved it!

Soon after dinner our eyes were getting smaller and it wasn’t even 8pm yet..We thought we’d go and sit by our banda on the terras but that was a no-go since the mosquitos had already decided to sit and fly there, definitely at least a hundred of them..sort of anyway. So we quickly went inside, switched the light on and what did we see out of the corners of our eyes..one lizard, two common house geckos both walking our walls.

 

 

 

They do no harm to us so we just left them there. They are good to eat all the other insects, right!

However, the next morning we came across this huge spider in the bathroom!!!YIKES!! A good thing I hadn’t seen that one before going to bed. I am sure it was around already …

 

 

 

That night was probably the worst night of the trip!! Even though we had a mozzy net I was covered in mozzy bites!! And they itched all night. So I definitely must NOT forget to take my malaria pills over the next few weeks. I went for the weekly rather than the daily ones.

Morning finally came (yes) and before breakfast we went on a game drive in a separate part of Meru Park, where they keep the rhinos and the Grevy Zebra.

This zebra distinguishes itself from the plain common zebra by its larger size, big rounded ears and the white belly, their stripes don’t go all the way underneath the belly. It was such a peaceful morning drive. We spotted tons of baboons again, big buffalos and finally after some time a rhino. Luck was on our side..it was a black Rhino. If I remember correctly that site holds 32 rhinos of which only 12 being black. Did I tell you already how you can spot the white from the black rhino? No, it’s not by the colour at all! The main difference between black and white rhinos is the shape of their mouths. White rhinos have broad flat lips for grazing and black rhinos have long pointed lips for eating foliage. A popular — if unverified — theory claims that the name White Rhinoceros was actually a mistake, or rather a corruption of the word weid (“wide” in Afrikaans) referring to their square lips.

While we driving alongside the fence we saw a lot of children sitting around on wooden plateaus or walking around waving at us. The main reason why they are there is to fence of those cheeky monkeys!! Those monkeys can climb and jump over the fences that divide the park from the farmers’ crops. And those cheeky monkeys would just steal all the crops!!  The people there live and feed them self of those crops so they protect it any way possible..a job for the children. Some were still very very young I must say!

We had our breakfast not far from a big herd of elephants! How lucky can we be! How many times have we had a meal with wild animals around us?? Absolutely fantastic for sure.

Soon after our breakfast we headed to a local tribe. Like the Masai people they live very sober. There was only one person present as all the other had gone to perform somewhere in order to earn some money. They lived even more primitive than the Masai. But they did have a few huts (with shower) and those were powered with solar panels! But he did tell us that not many people do actually stay there.

After this it was time to drive back to the Bandas where we had to pick up Marty and pack our bags. Well, ours were packed but the car had to be loaded and we got the opportunity to see the naked mole rat! Funny looking naked rats, no fur what so ever with very long, sharp front teeth.  They don’t see all that well but are able to dig tunnels of 3 km.

 

The small education center where they had those funny creatures also exhibited an entire range of skulls. Skulls of most of the animals found in Meru National Park.

After this it was sadly time to say goodbye to Meru and its beauties! We had a long drive to Nairobi ahead of us!

As always on long drives we saw many things along the way but this time we drove through some amazing countryside. Very green and lush, full with plantations ranging from tea, coffee to pineapple!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once again it was clear how badly they drive over there! We can honestly say that at times we weren’t that comfortable. But in the end we made it to the airport safe and sound.

Said our goodbyes to Zoe, Martin and Daniel from Bush & Events and headed towards the airport. We were way too early for our flight and had hoped to check-in and rest a bit ..no such luck!!!

The Brussels Airlines desk didn’t open until 8:30 (and we had been sitting there since 7 pm)… We did have some amusement by watching the staff working…slowly, very slowly, walking at a very slow pace..very slow.. I had to laugh because this would not be happening in Belgium!! But then again, this is Africa.

When we did eventually checked in we were were so hungry but there wasn’t all that much on offer. All the staff were so unfriendly, I had never seen anything like it! We couldn’t access the internet either which was a pity and t make things even worse (still hungry and tired) our flight was delayed by almost an hour. But ones on board we got served a yummy meal and were able to rest a bit..a wee bit.  Read some more in ‘My Pride & Joy’ and thought back to our visit to Kampi ya Simba!

If you were to ask me what will stick by me the most on this trip I would have to say visiting Kampi for sure!  Being able to be in the place where such a great man did so many wonderful things for the lions and other wildlife is just, well like I said before, indescribable. And unless you have read about or know about George Adamson and his wife Joy too of course, this place will hold not much meaning. But to those of us who do..

Patricia had only heard about George and Joy through the things I have told her. But now she will read up, be it in Dutch of course, as she wants to know more about them too! Wonderful J

Of course I will remember more about Kenya than ‘just’ Georges legacy!!! The amazing wildlife, gorgeous scenery, the sounds, the smells, the colours….and then there is of course little Susan..sweet little Suzy!

Will we be able to do something for her? I sure hope so….

Here’s  a link to a song we all got to love while we were in Kenya.

Here’s YouTube film of the music we all got to love

 

 

Kwaheri kwa sasa!!