The Usual Suspects

The Nairobi National Park is about 30 minutes away from the city centre, so going for an afternoon safari is completely feasible, and a much more exciting Sunday drive than I ever went on as a kid! A couple of friends and I hired a driver (in a little hatchback) to take us to the Baby Elephant Orphanage, the Giraffe Sanctuary and the National Park one Sunday last year. We cruised around and saw wild giraffes, and antelopes and were even able to go for a little walk (escorted by an armed ranger) where we didn't see much more than monkeys and crocodiles, but it was still pretty cool to do a walking safari. 

We then drove through a large herd of zebras, all spread out and grazing in the grass, except for these four, standing equal distance apart, as if in a police line up. 

Slurp!

Wow, I really have been bad with my travel tails over the last year - and there have been so many! I'm committing myself to catching up on quite a few, they won't be in order of when they happened, I'll try to mix it up a bit. Considering I've spent much of the past 12 months in Africa you can expect quite a few exotic animals, and some less so as well.

For something different I'm including myself in one of these posts, as it's kind of the point. The Giraffe Sanctuary in Nairobi, Kenya is a wonderful, magical place because you're able to get up close and personal with these beautiful creatures. The viewing platform is elevated to (giraffe) head height and when the giraffes are a bit peckish they wander over to eat some pellets. These can be fed by hand as in the photo above, or for a really close encounter, you put a pellet between your lips and get your face slurped off by a long black tongue...there's nothing else like it in the world! I went twice to the Sanctuary during my stays in Nairobi and I can't recommend it highly enough. There are lots of educational posters, and the staff are extremely knowledgeable about all things giraffe. And the giraffes themselves are incredible up close, with their flapping ears, long eyelashes and inquisitive gazes.

Refugee Dog

I was working in Liberia a few months ago. Tens of thousands of people had fled from the Ivory Coast due to an outbreak of violence following a disputed election. One of the border crossing areas was outside a town called Zwedru, which was a 10 hour drive from the Liberian capital Monrovia. It was a bumpy, long and hot drive to Zwedru and then another hour or so to get to Dougee camp.

Construction on the camps for the refugees had begun quickly, and the organisation I work for was responsible for installing water and sanitation systems to provide the newly arrived refugees with not only clean, safe water, but also clean hygiene facilities to prevent the outbreak of disease.

This little guy was obviously hungry and poking around the tents for morsels of food. I don't know whether he was a refugee himself, or a local opportunitic dog, but unfortunately for him the refugees didn't have much food to share and he was shooed off from one tent to the next.

Donkey Double

I apologise, it's been so long since I put up any travel tails. There really haven't been too many in recent months, so I'm giving you a double! I'm working in Islamabad, Pakistan and there are a few creatures around the place, but I'm not allowed to get out very much to see them. But I've seen monkeys by the side of the road that leads up into some hills (apparently if you walk up the tracks you can see more of them), and foxes that run across the road at night. And I'd even seen a few donkeys pulling carts along the side of the road. Of course cruising past in a 4WD does not a good photo make.

I noticed these donkeys from the roof of our office, helping with a construction site that has apparently been going on forever. There are about six donkeys that cart dirt up from the big hole in the ground to a spot behind a brick fence. If you stand there long enough and watch them (which I do when I need a break from my computer) it becomes obvious that the donkeys are pretty cool. They stroll down the ramp unassisted to where the labourers are picking away at the dirt, and wait patiently to be loaded up. Then the donkey totters back towards the ramp and makes it about half way up. It just stands there for a while, not sure of what to do next, and the labourers are so busy with their shovels that they don't notice it hasn't quite made it. Eventually one guy will walk up behind it and give it a slap on the rump, and off it will go. It becomes more amusing when there's a donkey pileup on the ramp.

Perhaps now they've brought the donkeys in the building might actually get finished!!

After my wonderful safari in Kenya I spent a week on the island of Lamu, at the far end in a quiet little village called Shela. There is apparently one car on the whole island, but by far the most popular form of transport is the donkey. The walk between Shela and Lamu town takes about 40 minutes, and during the stroll you get passed by men riding donkeys at break neck speed (all calling out a very helpful "excuse me ma'am" just in time to allow you to get out of the way) and other donkeys that are laden with all sorts of food items.

The streets of Shela are narrow and mostly sandy, and around almost any corner there are donkeys. I liked the little ones.

Jambo Junior

The travel tails have been a bit light on of late, but I've got enough saved up to last a lifetime after my last trip. I went on safari in Kenya to three different parks, the Masaai Mara, Lake Nakuru, and Samburu. The 5 days we actually spent safari-ing were some of the best of my life, it truly was a magnificent experience, and I certainly didn't get "animal-ed out" as I had been warned!! Our guide was a man named Justice, who'd been a safari guide for 45 years, and I jokingly demanded that he find me a rhino and baby, along with basically every other baby animal I could rattle off. I'd been joking about all of them (of course, secretly hoping to catch a glimpse of the Big 5) but Justice delivered.

We'd been roaming around Lake Nakuru, marvelling at the sight of the pink flamingos in the lake, and keeping an eye on a distant buffalo. Justice had driven us far enough away from the buffalo so we could get out and walk around a bit, but he was still wary. We got back in the van as the clouds began to darken and the wind picked up. It was after a pack of babboons that we came across our first rhino. It was absolutely huge, and covered in mud, and seemed completely oblivious to our van parked not 10 metres away.

Justice spotted a "crash" of rhinos (I just googled the collective noun for rhinos and this is it!) further on, and as we approached I spotted this baby, and my heart melted. While the older members of his crash paid no attention to us, little Junior was not impressed. He twice attempted to charge us, the sight of his fat little legs propelling him made us laugh, but he'd chicken out and veer off before he got too close. I could have watched him for the rest of the afternoon, but the rain had other plans for us.

Here's a first for Travel Tails, video!


The photos of more amazing animals can be found on my photo site.

Camel caravan

When I was young, my Mum had an old spelling book that we'd use to improve our spelling. I remember one of the hardest words in the book was "Egypt", and I credit that, along with my uncle telling us stories about Egypt, with a long fascination with the country and its history. I finally realised my dream of seeing the pyramids just over a month ago, and like the other wonders of the world I've seen, I was not disappointed.

Of course, the hawkers are out in force, and if you even look at a camel or a horse for too long, the handlers will approach you for money. But this caravan of camels were off in the distance, and the barren landscape, coupled with the mist and mountains in the background, really made me feel like I had reached the mythical Egypt of my dreams.