Hippo Safari

Lake Naivasha, Kenya

Our last day in Africa came and went like a whirlwind. We were up with the sun and on the long bumpy road out of camp shortly after. We drove this several villages as we exited the official grounds of the reserve.

We watched as the villages came to life - markets filling with people and goods, men and boys riding on carts pulled by donkeys, children with big smiles waving at us on their way to school, women carrying piles of sticks and buckets of water on their backs, cattle crossing the road in front of us with their Masai herders pushing them along.

We drove several hours in route to Nairobi before coming to Lake Naviasha. Leonard, our guide, has suggested we make a stop here given how late our flight was and how excited we were about seeing hippos. This stop was not included on our safari, but Leonard made the arrangements and dropped us off at a Lake Naivasha Resort around lunch time.

Lake Naivasha is one of the largest freshwater bodies in Kenya. It is home to expansive wildlife including birds, fish and lots of hippopotamuses. There are also lots of non-native animals like gazelles, zebras and giraffes (who were brought to the crescent island for the filming of “Out of Africa” and left behind).

The landscape was beautiful and we were up close and personal in our tiny blue boat. Our boat driver was an excellent guide and got us much closer to hippos and pelicans and commodores than I was honestly comfortable with - but it made for some great photos!

After our tour of the lake, we returned to the resort for lunch on the open terrace. I had Mbuzi (roasted goat)and Ugali (the staple cornmeal mush I wrote about previously) for lunch. The roast goat was a little chewy and tasted a lot like beef.

After we finished eating, we were sitting on the Terrance chatting about our trip when our server came to the table and asked, “Excuse me. Have you seen the hippos?”

We all replied that we had just come from the boat tour. She said “No, those hippos,” and pointed to the garden/Lake front we had passed by on our way to the boats. There were 7 or 8 hippos grazing and laying on the shore. The were right next to where we had just walked. All that separated us was a really weak looking electric fence.

We all rushed down and the the lake shore and spent our last few moments at Lake Naivasha enjoying these incredible and huge creatures.

Leonard got us back on the road and told us (with traffic) we were about 3 to 3.5 hours from the airport. I napped a few times along the way, but did my best to stay awake as much as possible to take in every last possible moment of this vacation and our time in Kenya.

At one point, we stopped in Norak which Leonard said was a really big town with a well-known hospital and a university. While there we saw lots of Boda Boda (mopeds used for hire - like taxis). One Boda Boda was being loaded with two men and two goats. They strapped one goat into the milk crate on the back and the other goat, the passenger held on his lap. It was quite the sight!

At another point, we were traveling on the road in a very rural area when two police officers started waving us down. They walked out into the road in front of us and waved their arms. Leonard slowed, said something in Swahili out the window and then kept on driving.

I was really confused and a little uneasy. Something didn’t seem right about the interaction and he was steadily checking the rear view mirror for a few minutes after.

Later, we passed some additional police officers - these officers had white hats on. Leonard the explained that most of the police in Kenya are corrupt. He explained that the officers we saw before were trying to stop us and take money. They were real officers but traffic was not their jurisdiction. Only officers with white hats are allowed to stop vehicles and typically clearly marked safari/tourist vehicles would never be stopped.

He said the officers waved us down trying to make us stop. He said that if he would have stopped they would have detained us on the road until we paid enough money for them to let us go. I asked what he said to them out the window and he laughed and said he asked them, “What’s the problem?”

We also stopped at a road side fruit stand so Leonard could pick up some potatoes for his wife, children, mother, brother and brother’s children who he said all live with him. He bought a huge amount of potatoes! So many that Ryan was worried all the luggage wasn’t on the back of the van because there was no way he could fit all our bags and the potatos 😂

Leonard explained that in Nairobi the big bags of potatoes are $8.00 but at this roadside stand, they are only $4.00. Sounded like a darn good deal to me!

When we finally arrived at the Nairobi airport, said our goodbyes to Leonard and reached the end of our journey, I was shocked by the amount of security. When Leonard drove us on the grounds, we had to exit the car and go through security. I assume they searched the car while we were inside the screening room. After that we got back in the car and drove to the actual airport.

Inside the airport were two more full screenings (bags open, electronic out, shoes off etc. . .) followed by an additional screening to get from one section of the airport to the other. Until now, Turkey had the most security we had ever seen at an airport. Nairobi definitely wins the award for most security checks now though.

Josh was very excited about our flight. We fly KLM business with our travel points. This plane was a Boeing 747 with an upper deck for the cockpit and business class. Josh has been wanting to score and upstairs seat on one these giant planes for a while.

I’ll have to admit, it as the smoothest plane ride I’ve ever been on. I didn’t even feel us land.

Today, we are had a long layover in Amsterdam, Netherlands. We checked our luggage at the airport’s baggage storage and went out into the city via the train. Josh and I went to the rejiivcks museum and had a great time exploring about half of the museums before we grabbed a quick lunch and walked along the canals back to the train station in the city center.

We should be landing in Atlanta in a few hours and then one more flight will get us to Greensboro and then home. This has been one of the most exciting travel experiences yet and certainly ranks as one of our best vacations.

We used this trip as an opportunity to celebrate (our anniversary, friendship, and the highly evident undeserved blessings we’ve had in our lives). We are coming back home rested, humbled, inspired and more prepared to take on new and exciting adventures that may come our way.