MBWEHA CAMP, SOYSAMBU CONSERVANCY - NAKURU GREAT RIFT VALLEY SEP 25, 2012

WHITE RHINO WITH BABY, NAKURU NATIONAL PARK

MBWEHA CAMP, SOYSAMBU CONSERVANCY - NAKURU KENYA, GREAT RIFT VALLEY 

- Wednesday Sep 25, 2012

Mbweha means JACKAL in Swahili,  Jackal Camp.

Well it was very chilly when we woke up this morning!  If we opened the front flaps on the tent there was a very cool breeze blowing in, so we shut those up pretty quick!  I was awake by 4:30am and busy working on the diary for the blog which we managed to post before we went to breakfast at 7:15am.

We had a quick visit with GM James Odenyobefore leaving Sweetwaters Tented Camp at just before 8am - the camp is just 10 minutes from the main Rongai gate where we exited so no game drive on the way out.  SAFIRI SALAMA - Swahili for Travel Safe.

The drive was expected to take about 4 hours but ultimately we arrived at Mbweha Camp at 130pm - 5 1/2 hours, stopping along the way.  The roads were mainly good with several bumpy stretches and a couple of diversions - the best diversion being in Nyeri town (home of the current President of Kenya) where we turned down a vey narrow with a huge petroleum truck trying to turn down behind us - not sure he was going to make it.  At the opposite end we came face to face in gridlock with a Police truck - the Policeman who was driving very unhappy since he could not get the car behind him to reverse and the matatu (mini bus) in front of us refusing to depart!  Eventually all was resolved and we were all on our way.

There were several markets in the towns along  the highway (including the town of Chuka where the Chuka drummers come from who do such a great performance at the Fairmont Mt Kenya Safari Club), with all sorts of goods and produce offered for sale - the huge avocados looking very tempting!  The vegetation is healthy - including the huge euphorbia candelabra trees (they look like massive cactus) and the wild aloe vera with their red flowers.  The euphorbia are also called milk trees due to the milky white rubbery sap (latex) which they produce which is toxic.

CROSSING THE EQUATOR

We stopped for Steve to top up his National Parks smart card at the Aberdares HQ around 930, this would save us a 20 minute detour on arrival at Nakuru National Park later in the day.  The smart cards have been introduced for the Kenyan Gov't to control the cash from the substantial park admission fees averaging $80 per day per International visitor and included in the safari price by all good tour operators who then pay the fees for their clients as they enter each Park. The Aberdare Mountains  (Nyandarua Mountains in Kikuyu language).

The weather was sunny with some clouds about but pleasant for the drive.  We stopped at Point 79 (79k from Nanyuki town) on the Highway, right on the equator just after 11am and used the clean toilet facilities, shopped a little in the curio store where Benson was selling his hand made banana leaf pictures of scenes of Africa.  We also  watched the clockwise versus anti-clockwise, versus static display of the water and matchstick depending on whether we were standing dead on the equator or South or North of the equator - I always find this fascinating!  You can give the demonstrator a tip, and also buy an "EQUATOR CERTIFICATE" with your name on for $5 USD each. Every village, town and corner has the motorbike taxis, known as 'bonda bonda" the name for blacksmith who is always repairing them! 

THOMSON FALLS

We reached the town where the Thompson Falls are located - this is the Wasa Nyeri river which we had spitted wildlife along in Samburu just two days prior.  The town is no longer called Thomson Falls but is now the Kikuyu name: Nyahururu.  The admittance fee is 200 Ksh per adult (about $2.40 each) and we also had our photo taken with 3 colourfully dressed young folks at the Falls and at a cost of 200 Ksh per photo for all 3.

Just after 12noon we reached the spectacular SUBUKIA viewpoint at an altitude of 2550 metres overlooking Subukia town and the Great Rift Valley which runs 9600km from Israel to Mozambique.  This is a great place to stop and admire the view and participate in bartering with the local vendors - they actually draw and paint some fine soap stone plates here showing the complete map of Africa and showing the Great Rift valley.  We paid 1000Ksh to a young man who was busy painting the plates in his booth.

After the viewpoint you descend into the valley down a steep road and the valley is beautiful - full of tea trees looking like a solid field of green (groomed carefully short to maximise production) and coffee bushes which are all grown in straight lines with space around them, quite different than the tea trees which can grow t over 15 feet if not groomed.  We saw rows of ladies at the Berea Farm Tea Estate all bent over picking the tea - back breaking work all day long. 

We continued on our way and passed the town of Nakuru and took a side turn for the Mbweha (jackal) Camp arriving at 210pm into the most beautiful cultivated grounds and such a serene and peaceful setting!  The welcome was warm as our bags were unloaded and taken into the lounge which this awesome half circular sofa and pillows with about 40 or 50 seats - it was massive.  In the centre there was a massive fire place, a bar on the opposite end, along with gift store, bathrooms, and more smaller tables and sofa - all under a very tall thatched  grass roof.  We drank a glass of wine while we had our orientation and then after being shown to our tents we returned to the dining room for our lunch before the game drive.  The menu was hand written on a large 5 foot by 3 foot white board and there were way too may selections - we settled for avocado salad, followed by vegetarian crepe/vegetable marsala, and for dessert centred on a plate with Karibu Nyumboni written in chocolate around the edges - 'welcome home" in Swahili  - so special.

GREAT RIFT VALLEY

We left at 2:30 for our game drive in Nakuru National Park - we were staying in the SOYSAMBU Conservancy adjacent to Nakura NP but you have to go out on to the main road and back into the main gate - about 20 minute drive.  The weather was very threatening - major black clouds and there was a huge deluge while we were on the game drive but fortunately all on the other side of the park to where we were!  As we pulled into what we call the "back entrance" (not used so often) there were 20 vans pulled ut of Nakuru Lodge in front of us - traffic jam in the Park - but pretty soon evryone went there own way and we had a lot of time on our own in the Park.  By the way more than 50% of these vans (maybe as high as 80% were filled with Asian clients!).  We had a very interesting and successful game drive, at least 15 white rhinos including a 1 1/2 year old rhino and a 2 month old baby! Burchell's zebra, baboons, Grant's gazelles, Thomson gazelles, amazingly large herds of Cape Buffalo,, a black backed jackal, the very large eland,, spotted hyena and many birds: the beautiful pink flamingoes that Nakuru is know for - the lesser flamingo which is very pink, and the greater flamingo which is a much paler pink, African spoonbill (white and red), black Glossy Ibis, crested crane (National bird of Uganda), and all too soon it was time to head out of the park before the cutoff time of 630pm when everyone has to be out of the Park or the guides get fined and banned from the park (the same in all of Kenya's national Parks).

CAPE BUFFALO WITH BABY

On the short drive back to Mbweha suddenly a huge spotted  hyena jumps out of the hedge by the side of us and runs across the road in front of the Land Cruiser - it was a female, you can tell because of the size of it - the females are 20 to 25% larger than the males.  It stops on the other side of the road and turns around and looks at us - just standing still long enough for a photo in the fading light.  Jackie and Neil had really wanted to see a hyena and the hyena in the park earlier that afternoon was quite a ways off - so what a bonus!

Back at camp we sat around a huge (read HUGE) campfire under the thatched roof drinking wine and eating excellent fresh cheese and crackers before dinner - at the same time charging all our electronic devices at the central charging station at the bar.  Each room has solar power but not enough electric for charging.  They are circular stone cottages with thatched roof, large beds, spacious bathrooms with very hot showers and monsoon shower heads - decorated very nicely - the Mbweha was built in the conservancy 10 years ago.  The SOYSAMBU Conservancy is owned by Lord Delamere - third generation of the Lord Delamere's.   The white wine I chose was Gato Negro sauvignon blanc right out of the fridge and perfectly chilled - 2600 Ksh.

LALA SALAMA - GOOD NIGHT WITH VANILLA SLICE

Again the dinner menu  was presented to us by the wait staff and 4 courses were offered along with 4 choices of entree!!  We chose the tilapia fish with chips and fresh vegetables followed by brownie and whipping cream - again this was presented on a large white dinner plate with Lala Salama written around the edge of the plate in chocolate sauce "sleep well Good night" - such a special touch. We have really enjoyed this camp.  We all headed back to our own "tent" or stone cottage and had a nice early evening and a sleep interrupted only by the hyenas who were very active all night long!

Nakuru to Maasai Mara Thursday Sep 27, 2012

Well I was awake again at 4am so we were soon showered (lovely and hot!) and off to the dining room at 545am to do a little work on the trip diary before breakfast - eggs cooked to order with fresh fruit and cereals - the mango juice was excellent!  Steve (our driver) found a flat tire when he went out to wash the land cruiser so he had that fixed before we were scheduled to depart at 730am - we were all ready and even a few minutes early!  We said our farewells to the GM James Odenyo and headed out  "Safiri Salama " - Travel Safe.  (By the way they sell amazing to the floor bathrobes at Mbweha Camp made from the red checked shucru Maasai blanket with bead trim, and lined with red terry towelling $125 USD each).