Nairobi
Tues 18th Feb
Well, I thought I was going on the 08:00 via Oloitokitok, but after various excuses I found myself on the 08:00 via Voi which left about 30 minutes late. The vehicle was comfortable but the journey took over 9 hours.
There was a lorry crash on the Nbi-Msa highway before Kibwezi. I asked what was generating so much discussion, and it was the constant stream of bodas coming down the highway. There must’ve been well over 50 of them and the purpose was to steal from the lorries…in this case mattresses. Apparently word spreads fast on these occasions, providing an opportunity to steal the lorry cargo.
Actually, prior to that we passed some elephants coming towards the main road, but still relatively far off. However, we did pass an elephant who was walking on the hard shoulder of the highway, which was exciting to see.
We had a tea break at Mtito Andei. There was a lot of trucks traffic between Salama and Athi River and then much traffic in general getting into Nairobi. The whole journey was 9 hours…tediously long.
I worked out a quick way from the OTC stage to the bus stand at the Central Railway station. There was only one other passenger on the 111 Karen bus and we had to wait about 45 minutes for it to fill up before we got going. Being rush hour the journey to Karen was nearly an hour. Instead of going straight to the house, I had a quick drink in the bar at the junction.
From there it’s a 10 minute walk to the house; it was after 6pm by this time. I was greeted by Helen and Elizabeth and shown to my room.
After 7pm a group of their friends came for dinner and drinks. There were 7 of them, and only one of whom I had met before. One lady recognised me from my FB posts…otherwise, a very pleasant evening. I didn’t go to bed too late as I was fairly tired from my travels.
Wed & Thurs 19th – 20th Feb
Breakfast wasn’t until 08:30, which suited me. All I wanted on both days was coffee and toast; I enjoyed the marmite on toast.
I walked up Karen Road to the Waterfront mall and joined Helen and a friend for a coffee, before returning to the house for lunch.
Both days were very relaxing. In fact I enjoyed exploring the garden and the huge variety of plants and flowers. On Thursday I photographed 17 varieties and on Friday another 8 varieties. I had never seen so many different plants in that garden.
After afternoon tea and chicken dinner on Thursday we settled down to watch a film…Exodus I think, with Paul Newman. Earlier I recorded the very loud and screechy calls of a male and female tree hyrax…unfortunately not enough of the male which was incredibly loud. As for the film, a combination of heat, beers and a late start to the film, meant I only lasted about an hour before I went to bed.
On Friday, but not immediately after breakfast, I went to a chemist at the end of the road and bought 4 antihistamine tablets in preparation for my allergy towards Peter’s cat.
I then walked on to the Karen ‘dukas’ and found nothing much has changed. Oh, except the shop signs are brighter and more garish. From there to the Hub and a meet up with Helen,Elizabeth and Susie for a coffee.
Back to the house for lunch…am not used to eating all these meals…but thoroughly enjoying them !! I took more pictures of flowers around the garden…so many and quite spectacular.
Before 4pm Stavro arrived; I hadn’t seen him for many years and we had a good catch-up. He kindly invited the 3 of us to dinner at Matteos, just around the corner off the main road ( 3 minutes in the car). A most enjoyable evening at a lovely restaurant, and my lasagna was absolutely superb.
I was going to buy a bottle of red wine, but Helen said she would open one at the house. It had been a while since I had any red wine…actually the last time was some Dompo in Amani in January…and I went a bit over the top and finished off the bottle.!!
Needless to say I slept well.
Fri-Mon 21st – 24th Feb
Naivasha
Fri 21st Feb
06:30 I left the house to walk to the Ngong road. The matatatu took an hour to get into the City. A 10 minute walk got me to OTC and into a Naivasha vehicle for 250bob. It was about 45 minutes before we got going.
It was a good trip of an hour and three quarters. On arrival in Naivasha I walked half an hour to Buffalo Mall. I told Peter I was there; I had a Java coffee; Peter arrived an hour later, around midday.
There was a little shopping to be done in Naivasha. A slightly different route across Kedong to Peter’s, arriving at the side of the property.
Checked into my loft room.
I met up with Theodora. Gardener Peter went to a local shop for cans of Balozi/White Cap at cheap prices.
Drank and chatted with Theodora at her house.
Dinner of sausages I think.
Sat 22nd Feb
I couldn’t find my flip flops initially, but then found bits of flip flop….and the realisation that Peter’s new puppy dog had torn them to shreds..!!!
To Sanctuary Farm with Peter and Theodora. Giraffes along the way, not far from the house..v exciting.
There was a cassical music event happening. I missed most of it because I wanted to explore the grounds. There were gazelles and zebras and one wildebeest. The zebras were very tame and you could stand alongside them; I just didn’t stand behind one in case it wanted to kick out.
A good exploration. I could see how the lake waters had risen; a 2 storey bar I first visited quite some years ago, was now half submerged. I went back and joined Peter listening to the music and having a beer. A lovely relaxing afternoon.
We went back to the house and just chilled.
I chatted with Theodora and Peter and I watched English football in the early evening. Possibly we had chicken burger for dinner. I had an earlyish night.
Sun 23rd Feb
There was to be a nice day ahead; the sky was blue and Mt Longonot beyond the end of Peter’s garden was looking good. I just had toast for breakfast; I’ve doing that every morning…it’s been sufficient.
Theodora drove me to the lake. We went to Fisherman’s Camp first for a drink and to take in the nice view. From there we revisited Sanctuary Farm and shared a pizza for lunch. On the way out there were a few giraffes by the roadside.
The afternoons tended to follow a similar pattern. But being Sunday Peter and I watched English football again in the late afternoon/early evening.
Mon 24th Feb
After breakfast Theodora took me on a little tour of Kedong Ranch to see how it’s being subdivided and plots fenced off. There were already some structures being built that ruined the once pristine plains. However there were still zebras, giraffes, ostriches managing to find their way onto ranch land, but presumably that won’t last too much longer.
We went to Sanctuary Farm again for a drink. We popped into the Pantry where I bought some beers on a serious offer, with a surprising origin of Ukraine, or somewhere equally unexpected.
A relaxing afternoon and evening ensued, before a chicken dinner. Then Peter and I watched a film before I went to bed.