This is the one you should have received from Mombasa

Our time in Kenya has been split into 3....... Safari, packing up the truck and WAITING!!!! At present we are in the waiting phase. We went through this when we were leaving South America. There each day we heard "mañana, siempre mañana", tomorrow, always tomorrow. Here we get the same sentiment, only the words are slightly different, "maybe even tomorrow!" I first heard these words over 20 years ago when I visited Kath, my youngest daughter, during her gap year in Tanzania. I had hoped that things would have changed. Well, maybe even tomorrow! Still, there could be worse places to be waiting.

The swimming pool with a view of the beach just in front of our hotel room.  From this position we were able to see our ship both arrive and sail carrying our motorhome.

Before coming down here we took the truck north for a safari with Mickey and Jane.  This was quite different to the previous safari with them as we were going to camp, them with their roof tent and us in the truck. We had the most amazing time with some wonderful animal sightings, on the last day, all the cats and the rarely seen, African Wild Dog.

 New to use was the Gerenuk, the long necked antelope which reminded us of the lamas and alpacas that we had seen in South America.

The part of the Reserve we visited is know as Buffolo Springs.  This is why! Fortunately, the spring has been walled off to enable people to swim without the fear of intrusion of wild animals. (I was told that there are often crocodiles in the swampy ground just behind the spring - the dark green area just above the pool on the left)

We also saw more elephants in one herd than we had ever seen, between us we managed to loose count at around 100!  Smaller groups of them also made frequent visits to our camp, and as you can see, got quite close to us.

Also new to us were these grevy's zebras, that have many more, thinner stripes than those we have seen in other places and furry ears!

A pride of lions lying in the shade not long after having killed a zebra.  Just out of shot is a single lioness close to the carcas making sure that nobody steals what she and her little group had worked hard to kill!

Mickey suggested as we entered the last day,that he thought it unlikely that we would see any cats as they were somewhat rare in this park!!!! First we saw a cheetah, sitting in the shade under a bush. We mainly saw it in silouhette, but it definitely was a cheetah,just resting from the heat and well camouflaged. What a thrill.

Next a leopard crossed our path,she was looking for some shade as it was very hot, after following her for a short while she decided to sit under a safari land rover.  The poor people sitting in the truck couldn't see the leopard at all and sat there looking VERY embarrassed,occasionally leaning over to see if any part of the leopard was visible!!! (We met them later, when we could talk and agreed to send photos of their experience!) We must have watched for as least half an hour.                                                                                              

Reticulated giraffe, with their much more regular and distinct patterning

Driving along a bit later we saw a giraffe looking very alert and moving from one foot to the other uncertainly. Not far from it was a pair of lionesses,casually lying in the shade but looking alert too. They sat looking at one another for a long while but as there was no real action we moved on.

Our final action of this amazing day was when Mickey stopped to talk to some other tourists and their guide and we had a tip-off about a pack of wild-dogs. These are very seldom seen and are difficult to find as they sleep most of the day and hunt at night. Directions were given,and off we went in search. The track was rough,it was hot and we had had a terrific day,but eventually we saw the rock under which the dogs were resting. Needless to say, they knew we were there and began to snarl and yap and try to send us away.  We stayed for about 15 minutes,watching their behavior,taking pictures and just being thrilled by seeing such a rare sight.

Our final evening beside the campfire was excellent. We had had a fantastic time,seen more than we had hoped and there we were in the African desert feeling about as lucky as could be! What a fantastic day,

KENYA UPDATE

We are just sitting in the airport in Mombasa awaiting a flight with Jambojet (the Kenyan equivalent of Ryanair). 

We have been in Mombasa for just over a week getting the truck sorted and put onto a ship to get it back to Europe.  Earlier this morning we watched the ship sail past our beachside hotel and off intqo the blue yonder.  Next time we see the truck will be the middle of next month in Barcelona.

Meanwhile, back to the cooler and less humid climate of Nairobi, staying with Mickey and Jane until we fly back to England on Thursday evening.

PS.

There was supposed to be a blog from Mombasa with lots of animal photos from our last safari to Samburu - but - the internet service from our hotel wasn't up to it!  Hope to get it out in the next few days from Nairobi.

KENYA AGAIN CONTINUED

During our visit to the Mara we stayed in a lodge on the top of the escarpment overlooking the plains of the Massai Mara.  Our bedroom consisted of a very smart tent with lovely stone tile floors and all mod cons. The veranda looked out over the Mara and we were able to see small planes coming and going with new visitors as well as herds of animals roaming about.

So taken were we with the smartness of our surroundings that we forgot to take any photos ourselves.  These are a bit of a cheat taken from the publicity blurb with our iPad!  The final photo is the view, taken with a proper camera by us.

KENYA AGAIN

Some of you may have been wondering what has happened to our Blog since we last published anything in September of last year.  Well we have been in the UK where we have had some health issues to resolve. Fortunately we are now back on the road again, although we have decided it is time to call an end to this lifestyle and to settle down in the UK again. To that end we have a small house in Devizes backing onto the Kennet and Avon Canal and intend to start living there once we return from this trip.  We are now in Kenya to retrieve the truck and send it home on a ship from Monbassa to Antwerp.  Whilst we are here we a doing a few short safaris with our friends. Mickey and Jane, and have just returned from the Massai Mara.

Unlike our last trip there, where the main animals were wildebeest and zebra, this time it was lion and elephant! On each day we saw lion and on the second day, 31, although there is some discussion about the exact number which could be even higher!. They were in groups of up to 15, lots of cubs and some fierce looking males. Fortunately they were mostly quite docile as they had probably been hunting before we got there and were full!!! 

We saw some lovely warthogs, most of which ran off with their tails in the air, lots of wildebeest and buffalo and large numbers of elephant. One sighting was of about 30 elephants of all sizes making the most of a very large puddle,spraying dirty water over each other....even the little ones joined in even though they got covered in mud!!!

New to us were the topis, a breed of antelope which Mickey says have yellow socks and blue jeans ! They were really lovely and like many other antelopes like standing on a mound to get a better view. Also there were groups of other antelope with a few adults looking after the youngsters...baby-sitting en mass. Hugh crocodiles lay by the river banks,hyena looked out of their burrows,and then disappeared equally fast! We did have a sighting of a leopard but it was up in a tree and all we could see was the tip of its tail. Someone must have seen it go into the tree and when one car stops everyone else stops to see what they are looking at!