28/03/2019: Hippos on the lawn






























Today (Thursday 28th) we moved on from Amboseli to Lake Naivasha.  The weather was overcast but we were reassured that it does not rain until April.

George sped out of the park as we had a full day's drive ahead of us.  We only stopped to take a photo of three hyena.

Back on the main Mombasa- Nairobi highway, traffic was once again heavy.  At certain places there are Police check points with vicious looking spikes.  We saw the new railway from Mombasa to Lake Victoria.  It costs about 5 pounds to travel second class.

We stopped at a craft shop for a comfort break, felt obliged to buy a gift but were not keen on the haggling system, and prices were very high.

On we went to Nairobi where we ate lunch in a delightful restaurant wat was built on the former farmhouse of Karen Blixen. However in two days we have now had curry, rice and chapattis four times.  Not quite the pizza experience in Bolivia but Kevin reacts badly to spice.  The wine was pretty extortionate too!

There is a balcony road down to the Great Rift Valley, and we saw a Nyrex scavenging in a tyre.  Nyrex are rodent like but related unbelievably to elephants and manatees. Naivasha is north of the capital and we passed the "senile" volcano of Longinot.  There was an earthquake near here on Saturday - 4.8 on the Richter scale - and it had cracked the road surface.

Our hotel, Sopa Lodge, overlooks the lake and is famous for hippos coming on its lawns in the evening.  There were giraffes as we entered its highly guarded gates.

Our chalet was somewhat plush and we are beginning to wonder if we came on someone else's holiday by mistake. After dark  you must ring for a guard to escort you from your chalet to the main complex.

 We had a walk in the grounds and a herd of zebra were grazing.  Kevin tried to take a photo of some of the zebra but a big one came and shooed him off.

 Down by the lake there were waterbuck drinking and monkeys jumping through the trees.

 A man came to light an anti-mosi device and turn down the bed.  He then escorted us to the palatial lodge with burning log pits.


 Surprisingly dinner was curry, rice and chapattis so we rebelled and order omelette and chips.  

Escorted back to our chalet we had missed the hippos but watched and tried to photograph the other wild life sleeping on the lawn and foraging.  This place was wonderful but we're only here for one night.


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