Past the Equator: Day 4

We got up early and headed out on another road trip. This time we were headed south, down to Lake Nakuru in the Rift Valley region of the country. We crossed the equator, stopping at a little touristy curio shop. We had a demonstration there that was surprisingly really cool - seeing water spin one way north of the equator, the other way south and, on the equator, no spinning at all.

(A) Samburu to (B) Lake Nakuru

Town along the way

Crossing the equator (several times that day - crisscross)

After the stop, we drove through mountains, along winding roads and through farmland. There were coffee and tea plantations and flower farms. There were huge corporate farms run by "Kenyan Cowboys" - rich white guys that came in and bought up a bunch of land and built gigantore farms. We stopped again to see Thomson's Falls, a pretty waterfall, rather unfortunately surrounded by souvenir stalls and harassing saleswomen. We thought Lidia was a goner when she disappeared with one lady into her back-alley stall, but she finally emerged, chased by the woman still trying to wheel and deal.

Thomson's Falls

It was a long 7-hour drive, but it was neat to see other parts of the country, how the scenery and topography changed from the arid northern area to a more lush area around the lake. We stayed at Sarova Lion Hill Game Lodge. Again, appearing out of the trees, with a beautiful main building and duplex rooms up the hill behind it. We ate lunch and then headed to our room to regroup before heading out on an afternoon game drive.
As we left the lodge, zebras were right next to our van along the road, and baboons were swinging in the limbs above us. There were also a few waterbuck scattered around grazing.

Common Zebra...munch munch

Hark! what's that?

Little baby zebra, curled up and napping (not dead, Julianne!)

Baboon

Baboons on a hill, blending in like rocks.

Baboon vs Waterbuck, not sure who would win

We continued on along the circumference of the lake. We got to some open grassy areas where there was a heard of water buffalo, all muddy and matted. Nearby, we spotted our first rhinoceroses. These were white rhinoceroses (not in color) which are grazers and larger than the illusive black rhino. It was kind of crazy to see them - they were so cool and so prehistoric looking, like giant ancient dinos.

Water buffalo. Muli said they're mean, so watch out

Who me?

White Rhino grazing

White Rhino grazing with BABY RHINO!

After seeing the rhinos, we headed to the lake's edge for a good look at a giant flock of pelicans hanging out at the water's edge. There were so many pelicans with a few storks mixed in. Again, we're not really bird people, but size and sheer number were pretty cool. While over there, other vans pulled up to see the birds, too, including one with a British family in it. That one, from Pullman Safaris (not our Liberty Tours group), seemed to be having issues. It was stuck. Like, really stuck. Our driver Muli along with two other Liberty drivers jumped out to lend a hand. Which became a big, huge to-do. It took a ton of tries pushing, some towing attempts from both the front and back and lots of cheering. Muli pulled it off, towing the stuck van out from the front with Lidia and I cheering him on from inside our own van.

Storks (tall) and Pelicans (pouched bills)

we never saw those photos again

PUUUUUSH!!!!!!

After the Americans rescued the Brits, we continued on around the lake to see the famous pink flamingos. There used to be millions that flocked to the lake, but there are fewer these days. Continuing on, we saw some giraffes walking through the trees - these were Rothschild Giraffes which are endangered and rare. They are a little darker than the ones we'd seen and their ears seemed to be white. And, they also have extra bumps on their forehead; giraffes have 2 "horns", but these guys have extra lumps.

Flamingos

Rothschild Giraffe - see his white ears?

Rothschild Giraffe - see his extra-bumpy head?

Our next stop was up to an overlook to round out the day. We drove up and had a big hill that overlooked the lake. There were lots of baboons and these weird little rodents called rock hyraxes that looked a little like guinea pigs. The view was really pretty - not quite sunset yet, but beautiful none-the-less. After the overlook, we ran into some hyenas and water buffalo on the drive back to the lodge. It was our first look at hyenas - so weird and kinda ugly.

Overlook of the lake

Baboon on the cliff

Spotted Hyena

Back at the lodge for the evening, we had dinner with Julianne and Roylee. After dinner we had drinks out by a fire pit and chatted with others on our trip. A nice end to the evening.