Flying from the Dubai airport into the Nairobi airport was like traveling from the future into the past. One with a billion dollar airport that did robotic luggage checkin the other a converted hangar from around WWII with mobile air conditioners standing near a baggage claim where a guy pulled off bags after they went down the belt and carefully placed them on the ground. Neither better or worse. Just a change in pace and perspective.
Silas, who had prepared our safari, responded quickly to my WhatsApp text when we landed. I had left the very brief customs form on the plane and paused to reenter the information before going through passport control. They did not want our customs forms. We had most of our stuff in carryon backpacks as we feared either losing a bag on the flights, or taking up too much space in our safari vehicle over the next eleven days.
One of our two small checked bags showed up quickly. I searched the mass of bags laid out on the floor for the second one. The line to exit was already very very long. I wandered up and down to see if someone had to put it onto their own baggage cart. Actually, I found our bag underneath someone else’s massive suitcase laid out on the floor. We entered the queue and spent the next half hour waiting to put our bags through the one machine that would check everybody’s bags as they came into Kenya. Finally, we saw someone off to the side, dressed in a uniform that said customs, and they casually accepted the form that I had filled out so diligently. Without a look at the form they waved ads through even though we had noted that we were bringing food into the country. As we usually do when we are traveling we had some dried fruit and nuts for the inevitable gaps in finding food while getting around.
As I’m leaving the airport I message to Silas once again to let him know that we were finished with our two hour ordeal of getting off of the plane and through customs. Silas met with us briefly and then turned us over to our driver, Matthew, who was going to take us to our hotel to spend the night before we began the true safari. The change in time and place it came obvious when we went to put our luggage into the back of his vehicle, and it would not open. Eventually through using the key fob, he was able to get the trunk open. This was not the Lexus or Mercedes that we had ridden in when we were in Dubai, but this was our transportation. We finally put our luggage in and started on our way to the hotel.
Shortly after leaving the airport, Matthew drove past the entrance to the expressway and started onto the main road across Nairobi. Only about 100 m down that road he stopped and pulled to the side. He checked his phone and then backed up the hundred meters or so in order to get onto the expressway finding that the main road was completely blocked with traffic. As we got into the downtown portion of the city, we’re approaching where I believe the hotel would be. It was crowded with a lot of traffic, and I started to wonder as I looked at the barbed wire on top of the fences if I was really in a good neighborhood and if this is going to be a positive experience. I hope that Dusty wouldn’t be too angry at me for the selection of our overnight stay at the hotel Boulevard in what looked like a pretty sketchy area.
When the guard opened the gate to the hotel and we entered we could see that inside the perimeter there were, in fact, nicely maintained grounds with an attractive hotel. At the back of the hotel there were huge trees and a ravine running down to the Nairobi river. Our room was fine for the budget price that we paid and we knew that we weren’t going to travel anywhere to have our dinner that evening so we ate at the hotel. Looking out on the trees and river gorge there was a small area that was both gardens and selected areas for dining. Some of the sitting areas had televisions on the wall with a table and chairs and others that were just like picnic tables with a few chairs and a bench set up like a booth that were open to Nairobi sky. There were trees overhead filled with chirping birds and the sun setting behind us and the clouds dotting the sky. The menu was surprisingly extensive with all kinds of options. We had seen that they had a stone pizza oven on the way in. Dusty opted to have a pizza for herself and I chose to have beef tenderloin for the price of about $10, the total price for our dinner including two Tusker beers from Kenya was only $23. Tusker became our beverage of choice over the coming days as the price for a half liter was about the same as a bottle of water.
The Safari group of Apodiformes was easy to research online I had found that one of the drivers named Tom had a good reputation for taking care of his customers and was knowledgeable in birding and photography as those were both important for us. I asked if we could have him as our guide, but was told that Isaiah would be our guide and that he was skilled in both areas as well.
We were told to be ready at 6 AM and so we were downstairs at 10 minutes before six to pick up the breakfast that had been prepared for us by the hotel the night before. There was no one waiting for us in the lobby. We opened up our box breakfast and went through one of them before going outside to see if anyone was waiting for us. Eventually the staff mentioned that a van in the parking lot in front was from our safari group and we went out and finally met Isaiah for the first time. He said that he would be our son for the next 11 days and if this would be a family outing.
On the Road to Samburu with our driver, Isaiah
(Mount Kenya in the Background)
The road to Samburu was long with the obligatory stop at the equator. We had traveled the same route 16 years earlier to the same lodge, the Samburu Sopa. When we arrived, a customary damp fragrant washcloth to freshen up after the seven hour drive and glass of juice were offered before we even entered the lodge.
After settling into our room, we went to the main area for lunch, and our game viewing began
with impala and guinea fowl coming to the watering hole within sight of our lunch table. Dozens of birds came and visited as we ate and would even hop onto the chairs adjacent to us and attack unattended fruit on the dessert bar. The stroll back to our hut had more bird viewing opportunities. I clicked away as Dusty kept her binoculars up to her eyes for most of the short walk from the main lodge, back to our hut.
Not much later Isaiah had literally raised the roof on our Safari van so that we could begin our first game drive that afternoon. The drive back down towards the river took us over rough and rocky roads that Isaiah managed quite well. There was intermittent viewing of dik-diks, which are the smallest antelopes that have tiny horns on both males and females. There were also hornbills and guinea fowl all the way down towards the river. Down near the Samburu river, we drove in and out around lush greenery, and that revealed giraffes, elephants, and impala and more.
That night everything cooled down and a breeze blew through our hut under the thatched roof in the eaves. This space was nothing but a fine wire mesh to keep the birds and insects out and let the air flow through. While we were at dinner the staff came for turndown service which included mosquito nets dropped down around our bed so that we would not be disturbed. We went to bed kind of early, but at 11:30 when their generators went off the power of the complex all the lights are out it was dead quiet. I snuck outside to take a look at the Milky Way, which was as bright as I’ve ever seen.
Nice first safari day and some nice pix! The idea of being at a higher elevation with no light pollution enthralls me!