4 january 2006: Aberdare National Reserve & The Ark Lodge

Started our safari this morning. My foot is so painful I can’t put any weight on it at all. The hotel found me a wheelchair, which made my breakfast a little easier. The service in the hotel is top notch, the staff was very helpful and worried. It feels like the staff to guest ratio is incredibly high, and so is the security – there are security guards at the front lobby, and on each floor in front of the lifts. Unfortunately, though, this makes tipping extremely complicated, as there are so many people who help you, and you are supposed to tip them all (about $1.50USD each person, each time).
We met our guide for the Kenya portion of the tour, his name is Amarjit ‘just call me Magic’. His grandfather was an Indian and his grandmother a Maasai, which is an interesting mix. He speaks 14 languages and considers himself Kenyan, since he was born and bred here. We filled an esky with ice and since we are the only 3 people on our tour (how lucky is that! A private tour!) there is plenty of room in the mini bus for me to stretch out my bad leg and ice it. (there are actually seats for 7 in the back).
We drove for about 3 hours on very below average roads, full of potholes and bad drivers. Actually I must say that the drivers here are all friendly and non-road rage types, they seem to handle things well. The roundabouts are a bit scary, 2 or 3 lanes without marked lines. Absolute chaos at rush hour. We did notice traffic police at the roundabouts, directing traffic at busy times. Another interesting experience is the police checkpoints all over the place. They block off the road with strips of nail spikes and randomly stop cars. The police are armed with machine guns. We were never stopped, and they always waved with a friendly ‘Jambo’ (hello) when we passed by. Apparently they check cars randomly for licenses and car infractions and cargo between villages. They also check matatus all the time, these are mini bus type vehicles, privately owned, and used as taxis, sort of. They have seats for 12 but we are told they will take upwards of 18 people – and this is when they get fined!
Stopping at a souvenir shop, I wasn’t able to walk around and I kind of missed out on the shopping experience, but Shane and Mum made up for it. Mum bought a woven bag and Shane bought us a gorgeous carved ebony giraffe, it is really incredible.
Arriving at the Aberdare Country Club, we checked in (we actually stay at The Ark tonight, more about that later) and relaxed in the grounds. They organized a couple of nice strong staff members to fireman’s lift me to the lunch area (somewhat embarrassing, but they had no wheelchairs or easy access to the restaurant). The grounds were beautifully kept up and manicured. Shane was interested in the golf course, with baboons on it. On the grounds were baboons, peacocks and warthogs, which are so ugly you have to love them!!!
During lunch we met the GM of the hotel, who was a typical British/Scottish Colonial gentleman. He arranged for us better located rooms at The Ark (because of my foot) and also our own private game tour vehicle when we decided to book the optional extra game drive in the arvo. We met our guide George, and embarked on 3 hours of fun, exciting game viewing, including the Reticulated Giraffe, Zebras, Elands, Colubus monkeys, elephants with huge tusks, buffalo and a hyena.
READ THE NEXT POSTING FOR MORE EXCITING NEWS ABOUT SPOTTING GAME.
Arrived at The Ark Lodge (shaped like you would imagine Noah’s Ark to be like) around 6pm, we saw our rooms (rustic and tiny) and downloaded the day’s images onto the laptop, had a few drinks and endured a delicious dinner spoiled by a horrid Yank woman at our table. (why are so many of them so irritating???)
After dinner we grabbed blankets off our beds and settled in for the night in viewing galley D, which is the ground level in front of the lit waterhole.
The Ark borders a large waterhole which is lit up all night. Inside has 4 levels, each with large viewing areas, and big windows. Gallery D also has a hide next to it, where you can take photos easier.
There are notices everywhere that you are NOT to leave the building at all, as we are surrounded by wild game. We are so tired! But happy to be here…..