It’s incredibly hard to decide which photos to include in this blog post. We saw hundreds of animals and more than a dozen different species on today’s safari though the largest city park in the world. Nairobi’s National Park is fully enclosed within the city limits and it’s amazing. The photo above is, I believe, an aerial view of the national park. I took this just before landing and the airport is near the park so I’m fairly confident this is where we were today.
Honestly, it kind of started off feeling like one of those safaris we can take in the U.S., especially Fossil Rim (near Dallas). We were in a raised-top bus, one we could stand up in to see out the roof; it was just Newton, our driver, our Fearless Leader, Reverend Kaburu, Brad and me. The roads were dirt and well-pitted and we drove and drove and drove. There were copses of trees, watering holes and vast acres of grasslands. Once we got to the watering hole any similarities to a U.S. ‘safari’ ended.
Nearing the water we could see hundreds of maribou storks flying circles through the air and alighting on a small peninsula in the water. Zebras and (many hoofed creatures whose name I don’t know) were tentatively slipping towards the water for a drink. They seemed rather skittish and we realized that there was a female lion on the other side of the pond; we could just see her head pop up over a rise every once in a while. Off to the right we discovered 4 other lions, all standing on the back side of the rise surrounding the pond. We drove up further and saw THIS.
And this is how close we could get:
We also attended a “lion wedding,” where the male and female were hanging out together.
Here’s an album I REALLY threw together because I’m tired and we’re heading for Samburu Game Park tomorrow morning. Gotta get to sleep!
3 comments:
Sounds like you are off to an excellent adventure. We didn't go to the Nairobi National Park but we DID go to the Giraffe Center. that was our first real exposure to the animal kingdom of Africa. I know you'll have a great time!!
So cool that you saw eland, they have always been one of my favorites. Wish I knew you were going so soon, I would have recommended that you pick up a copy of the safari companion by Richard Estes. It's a fantastic reference.
Hey I am using my boss's gmail account so I will be llange from now on but it is really me, Granny! Glad to hear you are having a great time and got there safely. Am following your blog...
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