Nakuru National Park, Kenya




Wow. What an awesome day! Still no luggage and the report last night that it would arrive today was erroneous. Now we are hoping it is enroute to Nairobi today and we can pick it up at the airport on our way tomorrow. Meanwhile we are washing clothes and buying new tshirts to wear. We wish we had packed more socks and underwear! Lol But we are managing!



Today we drove to Nakuru National Park and it was just full of wildlife! We did not spot a leopard unfortunately but we saw so much else. We saw several types of antelopes that we had never seen before-Thompson’s gazelles, and Elands. We saw a herd of rhinoceros and some were black ones and some were white ones. It was amazing to watch them. The car decided not to start when we were ready to leave so we held our breath as Omari had to get out and tighten some connections and the white rhino was not that far away. Watching him time his exit from the vehicle, he has a health respect for the rhinos! We saw lots of baboons and some dik dik and several types of the vervet monkeys. We saw the gorgous pink flamingos-by the thousands and oh my, are they something to see fly. We saw storks and a masked weaver working on his nest. The sheer amount of wildlife here is amazing. We cape buffalo by the hundreds and impala and a pair of jackals.



The weather was wonderful and we took the top of the vehicle off and were able to stand (sock feet) and get good views of everything. We had lunch at the Lion Hill Lodge which was wonderful and the staff was so helpful to me with getting me the right food. There were beautiful birds all around the yard.



We were amazed at being passed on both the right and left hand side of the van simultaneously-rather unnerving! The life here is so interesting to watch. The average person still dresses with native attire of sorts and most business is transacted in small stalls on the street. There are pockets of great poverty and living in pretty grim circumstances. Other areas are very clean and more prosperous.



It was a great day and we all came home very happy. But the fun didn’t end there. Jim and I walked back out to the water which is about a ¼ mile I estimate from the lodge on the back of the lodge property. About 1/3 of the way there, you go over a little gulley with a bridge that they lock at night to keep the animals from coming onto the grounds. But the waterbucks just jump over that. So therefore, they are on the grounds near the lodge a lot. Last night they were out from our patio and they slept and grazed all night which was so neat. There are spotlights enough so that you can see them, without it being too light. I love this lodge. It is just delightful. Jim and I saw a giraffe right after we crossed over the gulley and enjoyed stopping to just watch him. He eventually meandered farther away so we went on down to the jetty. There was not as much wildlife visible when we first got there so we just enjoyed the quiet and the flowers that are beginning to open and the birds that are so plentiful. I saw a pied kingfisher as well as the superb starlings that are so beautiful. Then we headed back to the lodge and to our right, we spied a whole group of giraffe. I later counted and there were 12 of them. They are Masi giraffes and the spots are so beautiful and dark. There was a small lake pond between us and them and it made such a pretty scene. We stood there and enjoyed watching them and happened to glance around and there was a maribou stork walking toward us about 10 paces from us. As we stood watching her, a male stork flew down and came toward us as well, though I imagine it was his lady friend he was heading toward. Before we knew it, there were 3 males and this one female and they headed toward the pond and walked right by us. About that time, someone spooked the giraffes and they started running right by us. It was a beautiful sight! They formed a long line and were just so neat. It is an incredible experience to be able to stand close enough to these animals and observe them and take in the beauty and majesty of them.

What a wonderful 45th anniversary it was for us.