Shaba Daba Doo: Day 2

We woke up early, close to sunrise. There were monkeys all over the place. The waterhole was empty of animals, save a few water buffaloes every now and then, but the monkeys are going bananas. One stared at our window, breath on the glass, like a horror movie.

watering hole


sykes monkey!

We got in the vans to drive from Mt. Kenya to Samburu and Buffalo Springs. The two parks abut, and are only 90km away from Mt. Kenya. However, that 90km took us 5 hours. Because the roads in Kenya are hardly more than dirt paths. When they are paved, they are potholed and impassable, so even when concrete is present, it is hardly timely to use them. Alongside all the roads are two lanes of dirt tire tracks, and that is what drivers choose to ride on.

(A) Mt Kenya to (B) Shaba National Reserve

town along the way

cute little guys at one of our rest stops

At 2pm we arrived at our first baller resort, Sarova Shaba. It's located 8km off an, ahem, paved road, past a hundred baboons and an electric fence. It's a veritable paradise: thatched roofs, a clear pool, watered and landscaped greens thanks to the natural spring it is located directly above.

At 4:00 we left for our first game drive, to Buffalo Springs. We passed a giant gate, painted in zebra stripes, and enter the first of our 6 game drives. We saw our first real African wildlife here. And in no particular order, it consisted of zebra (Common and Grevy's), giraffes, oryx, impala, jackal, camels (these were en route, and not on the reserve), and a lion that we all thought dead until our driver, Muli, made his lion noise within 10 feet of it and it popped up from it's sleep, stared us down, put the fear of God in our bodies, and then went back to sleep. We also saw birds, but I didn't even listen to what kind cause they weren't make of fur, and that's the only kind of animals I was looking for.

camels - which were stolen the next day by bandits! no joke!


gigantore termite castle


Oryx


Reticulated Giraffe - only found here in Samburu




Common Zebra - the kind you think of when you think "zebra"


Grevy's Zebras - notice big round ears and white bellies and littler stripes


comparison - Common on left, Grevy's on right


Black-Backed Jackal


used to be a water buffalo


Impala


Gazelle

We caught a beautiful African sunset on the preserve before racing to the gate before they closed for the night. Dinner at the lodge, crocodile feeding on the banks of the river, mosquito nets and lights out on day two.