Wednesday 25 April 1984 – Amboseli
Well, what a
day I had today!! Joe the driver turned up promptly at 06.30 and we were off
through the early morning traffic like a rocket. I think the Safari Rally has a
lot to answer for as far as local driving standards are concerned as everyone
seems to consider themselves as would be rally drivers, which can be a little
alarming at times. In fairness to Joe though I must say that he never gave me
any cause for concern in what was about 650 kilometres of high speed driving.
The car was a Datsun 120Y which went pretty well, although how the cars last
after being driven over the appalling roads beats me. Joe said they replaced a
lot of shock absorbers.
It was
spitting as we left, but cleared up as we approached the Game Reserve. The road
was tarred for the first 100 or so kilometres and was in fairly good condition.
There was very little traffic – about the same volume as the Kariba road –
despite the fact that the road led to Tanzania. The border is now open
but there is very little trade between the two countries. The border town is
Namange and consists of two garages and a few mud huts, some rather elegantly
labelled as “The Continental Hotel” and the like.
We went to
the “café” at one of the garages for a cup of coffee. Just as well Rab and Matt
were not with me. Rather primitive conditions with cracked cups and the water
boiling in a pot over a charcoal fire. I was given a warm welcome by all and
sundry after Joe had told them I was from Zimbabwe. When we were driving of
he told me that the consensus off opinion was that I was like a big buffalo
bull.
No sooner
were we out of the town than we hit the
dirt road – and what a road it was. Ruts, potholes and corrugations abounded. The
countryside was quite pretty and the bush fairly thick with a few hills around.
This was quite a contrast to the first 80/90 kilometres near Nairobi where the plain is very flat and
uninteresting. We saw a lot of game on the way down, mainly Thompson’s, Grant’s
and impala plus a few ground squirrels and a couple of giraffe.
Since we
were travelling through Masai country we saw a lot of them and their cattle
beside the road. The herds were usually in charge of a couple of lads armed
with spears twice their size. Joe said one had to be careful driving through
the area at night as there are often lions on the road keeping warm. The entire
area south-west of Nairobi
is just wild country with no farms and only one small settlement before
Namange.
Back to the
dirt road, however. It was almost 80 km before we got to the Reserve entrance
and we were covered in dust (no
air-conditioning of course) which is very fine indeed – like talcum powder
really. Off road now, Joe explained, as we rocketed off across a very flat
plain, that we were actually driving on the bottom of Lake Amboseli
which dries up every year until the heavy rains.
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| A giraffe on the edge ot the "lake" - a mirage |
There were
huge herds of wildebeest plodding along as we drove towards what looked like
the remains of the lake on the horizon. It soon became apparent that it was a
mirage when a touring bus drove straight through the lake in a cloud of dust.
Not that the wildebeest noticed or cared. They just kept on. It was a bit like
a scene from a Western actually, with grim piles of sun bleached bones here and
there. After driving around for a while we spotted what Joe had been looking
for – a cheetah family. As it was now about 10.00 and getting pretty hot they
were just lying in the shade of an acacia tree, panting. But they made quite a
sight.
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| The cheetah family at rest |
Satisfied
with that we drove here there and everywhere during the course of which we saw
a wide variety of animals and got even more dusty and hot. It is difficult for
me to make up my mind which was more magnificent – the pride of lions at a kill
or the enormous herd of elephant which we drove through – but both were pretty
spectacular. The only large animal we did not see was rhino but that was not so
important bearing in mind what we did see.
(One of the incidents that I did not record in my journal, but which stayed in
my mind was when Joe spotted a mother lion and her two cubs in the shade of a
tree. He drove up close to them so I could get some pictures which concerned me
a little because the soil was very sandy. I asked him what we would do if we got
bogged in the sand. His response “One of us will have to push”!)
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| The lion cubs that caused some concern |
One thing I
would have liked was a good shot of Mount Kilimanjaro.
Unfortunately there was a good deal of low cloud about and the peak only showed
a couple of times at neither of which was it possible to get a good shot. It
must be incredible on a good day because even the brief glimpses I had were
really splendid. It simply rises straight up from the plain and the snow on the
top really stands out against the blue sky. I must try and walk up some day. (This was easier said than done at the time
with financial and political issues, but I had carefully finalised a plan,
fully financed only to lose the opportunity when I was transferred to Australia.)
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| Part of the large elephant herd we saw |
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| Giraffe on a lunch break |
We headed
for the Serena Lodge for lunch as it was
getting too hot for comfort and of course the animals were become more scarce
as they sought the shade. Joe casually announced that the right front wheel was
coming off but he would fix it while I had lunch. And he did! I had a very
light lunch – just a very well grilled and tasty pork chop and some very nice
salads. I was very tempted by all sorts of other items, but kept my resolve. I
also had a beer but stuck to one. That’s will power. They had some interesting
stuff in the shop there but I confined myself to buying a rather nice soapstone
cat and a very pretty snake box - $6.00 the lot.
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| Joe replaces the fuel tank |
We decided
to head straight back to Nairobi
after lunch but at the gate Joe explained that an old man had a problem with
his car and asked if I would mind if he joined us. Of course I said not at all
and off we sped. When we got to his vehicle – a Peugeot 404 pickup – the
problem became quite clear. The petrol tank had fallen off! No problem said Joe
and in about ten minutes with only a pair of pliers he had jury rigged a system
which would enable the old boy and his passengers to get back to Nairobi –
stopping every fifteen minutes it is true! What he did was to use the
windscreen washer reservoir as a spare petrol tank. Ingenious.
As we sped
on our way he said it was always possible to make a plan and fix most things.
His best story was about the time the engine fell out of a Volkswagen Kombi he
was driving. Because the road was so bad and he was going so fast he didn’t
notice for about a kilometre. So his tourist passengers had the option of
pushing the Kombi back to engine or carrying the engine back to the Kombi. They
chose the former and in a short time both engine and vehicle were reunited. (Joe told a good story!)
We made good
time back to town and arrived at about 17.30 after a most enjoyable day.
Whether my regular travelling companions would have agreed is debatable. For
the record, Joe’s suggested safari is two nights in Samburu, one in Treetops
and two in Masai Maru. With that he said you would see everything there is to
be seen and as he has been in the business for twelve years he may know a thing
or two.
After a swim
and a shower I felt a new man and was ready for the cocktail party which was
the first item on the agenda of the conference. It was held at the New Stanley
of colonial days fame and as it was not far from the hotel I walked down via a
few of the shops I had not seen before, including Rowland Ward. They had some
pretty nice stuff and if I have any spare cash on the way back I may well acquire
a couple of items and risk The Wrath Of The Rab.
The hosts of
the cocktail party were Kenindia (the local branch of The New India Insurance
Company) and most of the guests were their clients who had been invited to
celebrate the opening of their new office building. Talk about killing two
birds with one stone! The majority of the guests were Asians with very few
black or white faces. The Asians were not particularly communicative, so it was
heavy going at first but in the end was quite enjoyable as I met a few of the
local and “travelling” insurance community.
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