Road Trip along Rift Valley!

We left Nairobi with David and John in a Toyota Noah for a trip north into the Rift Valley, a massive rift in the earth that spans from the Red Sea to Mozambique. Our first stop was Lake Naivasha, where to our surprise the lake had risen considerably from all the welcome recent rain, and the previous shoreline had disappeared into the water! We would have needed a boat to arrive at the old view point.

This turned out to be lucky for us because the view point we did find was home to a huge flock of flamingos, providing for engaging observations and many photo ops. Flamingos are much more active, beautiful, interesting and fun to watch than I ever imagined. Great first day on our road trip.

There are a number of private game preserves in the area of Lake Naivasha and it was strangely wonderful to see monkeys in the trees, and zebras, buffalo,

giraffe, and wart hogs grazing on the green grass close to the road while driving between villages.Naivasha is a magical place where you can see Kenyan game animals usually only viewed in national parks, but also a place where the local people are very poor and almost all work in giant cut flower farms owned by foreigners, mainly Europeans & Scandinavians.

There seems often to be a dark underside to the major attractions in Kenya that is at once the most uncomfortable and most intriguing aspect of the country.

Our friend and guide David is very politically minded, and a great source of information on all things Kenyan. We are fortunate to be privy to a wealth of political, social, cultural, and economic information and commentary during our time with him that would otherwise be unavailable to tourists. David has also provided us opportunities to visit places not usually on the itinerary for tourists from outside Kenya, like the equator and Thompson Falls. At the equator we were schooled with a demonstration of the effects on the movement of water of when crossing from south to north.

Next stop Nakuru, the lovely fourth largest city in Kenya with a wonderful game park surrounding Lake Nakuru. Here, too, the lake was unusually high and the track that usually runs right along the shore was underwater. Nonetheless,on our evening game drive we saw incredible birds and animals large and small. After being at Lake Naivasha it is easy to pictures the animals that now

only mainly inhabit the national parks roaming freely throughout the country.

From Nakuru we drove north to Lakes Bogoria and Lake Baringia, including a hike along the former and a boat ride on the latter. We stayed at a lakeside camp where we would very much like to return, waking to a myriad of bird calls and going to sleep after chasing away a hippo munching on grass outside the tent.

The lakes in the Rift Valley tend to be

very alkaline because the valley formation is volcanic in origin. We saw hippos inBaringia, a first for me in the wild, but at a distance and while moving because the boat motor irritates/scares them, and hippos can be dangerous when scared. We also saw a crocodile and a snake and fed fish to fish eagles, which resemble bald eagles in size and behavior.

The observant among you will notice that the photos I've posted do not include hippos, crocodiles, or fish eagles. Ken is a much better wildlife photographer than I am, so maybe he can add some at a later time.

We have been back in Nairobi since yesterday afternoon and are leaving early tomorrow for another road trip to Mombasa on the coast, and the heart of Swahili culture and history in Kenya. Claire arrived today and is sleeping off her two day travel. Having her here is making me wish Dustin was also along for the trip.

Thanks to those of you who are reading, and also for the comments.

Kris