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We broke camp, ate breakfast, and picked up an armed escort all before 9:30 am. The armed escort? Oh, well, in the 80s and 90s, bandits used to attack tourists traveling in the Chyulu Hills between Amboseli and Tsavo West. Finally, the military disguised themselves as tourists, got attacked and killed 9 bandits. Ever since then, tourists have an armed escort to the gates of Tsavo West.
As we left Amboseli, we were once again met by multiple Maasai salespeople, selling their wares. The last month had certainly dulled our consciences and we usually just said 'no' and avoided eye contact. Margaret had reached a point of hating the experience, so she decided not to hide in the truck, looking the other way, but got out and began to interact with the ladies, asking them about their jewellery, and then about their kids, their names, and their ages. She asked if the club they tried to sell her was for keeping one's husband in line. In the end, when the truck started to leave, she didn't get in until the ladies pushed her and said," you'd better go" instead of begging for money, which is what usually happens as the truck pulls away. They all laughed and waved as she left, so we hope they enjoyed the visit as much as Margaret did. "Lucy" even offered to be Barry's second wife.
At one point in the drive, we came upon a bizarre black landscape. It was the Shetani Lava Flow and we stopped to explore this natural canvas of black swirled on black. After a few pictures, we got back in and headed back on our bumpy way.
Soon thereafter, we arrived safely at the park gate. We bid farewell to our armed guard and headed to our campsite. No one else was there, as we were in the low season, so we could set up camp anywhere. We had lunch, a shower (after Connor and Barry shooed the bats out, specifically one that was actually hanging from the shower head) and then we had a free afternoon. Margaret washed family socks and Connor built a Bocce Court framed with lava rocks, complete with some interestingly shaped balls. The kids beat the adults 13 to 12.
At 4:00 pm, we took a game drive to Mzima Springs. The water from Mt. Kilimanjaro feeds this fresh spring which, in turn, supplies water for all of Mombasa. A Park Ranger took us around the walking trails, past informative signs and labelled trees. We were the lucky witnesses to several hippos with their calves as they were enjoying the luxury of the crystal clear upper pool. At the lower pool, there was an underwater observation chamber from which we could see the local fish. We even caught a glimpse of a hippo underwater! We also saw a large crocodile while walking on the bridge to the chamber. The new animals today included some cool birds, bats, and lizards as well as the Sykes monkey.
David had another great meal waiting for us upon our return, and we spent the evening comparing Kenya and Canada and enjoying a star filled sky, with nary a town sound in the distance. Joseph explained to us that we shouldn't leave our tents during the night without a lamp and then went on to tell several "night time encounter" stories. After Joseph's wonderful stories, Tessa looked around at the deserted camp site, four sides of dense scrub, and the jet black night, and asked what time it was, eyeing the "safety" of her tent. When we replied that it was only 7:30 pm, she gasped in dismay at the long night ahead and we all laughed at her.
October 11, 2007
As our safari started to wind to an end, we knew we still had two of the big five animals left to see. Both would be difficult to spot - the leopard, because we were in low season so there weren't a lot of other game drivers to help look; and the rhino, because there are only 60 in this entire huge park and they are just plain shy.
That morning, we got up at 6:00 am and were on the game drive by 6:30. Tessa had a close encounter with a bat in the bathroom to start off her day so she wasn't impressed.
We went out at 6:30 am, returned at 9:30 am, had breakfast, went back out until 12:30 pm and then relaxed until 4:00 pm when we took our third game drive of the day. Our explorations uncovered kudus, a monitor lizard, and several cool birds but no rhino or leopard. Joseph asked us, over dinner, what we wanted to do in the morning and we agreed on another 6:00 am start. We used the laptop to look at pictures and watch a Mr. Bean episode which actually made a reference to Kenya, if you can believe it. As we were getting ready to go to bed, Joseph had a face-to-face encounter with a hyena at the edge of the campground. By the way, on this safari, the Lewis family was sleeping in 2 two-man tents, boys in one, and girls in the other. Once in bed, we heard lions moaning in the background, and we all considered the security of our nylon shelters. Needless to say, no one took the big walk to the bathrooms.
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