This weekend we attempted to get a bit off the beaten path and see some of Kenya’s cool natural wonders - without a safari van. Naturally, this meant a road trip. S., a former BA from the Firm’s Italian office and current b-school devotee, was up for driving all the way up to Lake Baringo and then back through Lakes Bogoria and Nakuru. Of course, L. and I were along for the ride.
Our adventure began Saturday morning at 6:15 AM, when S. showed up at our apartment in a little Toyota sedan. From Nairobi, with no traffic on the road, it was a straight shot to Lake Naivaisha, which we drove right past, and on to Nakuru. The one stop we made on the way was at a rusty sign on the side of the road, next to a big speed bump (the first of many that we hit). The sign declared that we were on the equator, which necessitated a stop, a quick photo session, and a mad dash back to the car when we were surrounded by local women trying to sell us tchotckes.
In Nakuru, a bustling little city, we stopped for much needed coffee, samosas and ndazi (the biscuits we’d been eating since 6 didn’t count as our morning meal). Then it was onwards in pursuit of water. There was some initial hesitation and map checking, but we quickly determined that we were safely on B4 and bound for the lakes. Once we reached the small town of Mogotio, we passed by the local police three times as we tried to decide whether to take the dirt road to Bogoria (our guide book warned us not to) or go up to Baringo on paved terrain. Baringo won, and after a couple fights with the omnipresent speed bumps, it was us and the honey sellers all the way there.
Baringo is a beautiful, secluded fresh water lake renowned for its hippos, fish eagles and crocodiles. There is one little town on the shore where everyone enters, and is primarily a bunch of kiosks, camps, and boat rental places. We stopped at Robert’s camp, probably one of the most well-known of the places on the lake, to leave the car and book a boat ride. The rides are best at sunrise, when the hippos get into the water, but it was a hot day and we were looking forward to spending some time on the water. The big debate for the boat ride was to do 1 hour or 2 – 1 hour was not enough to get you to one of the islands on the lake and to see the fish eagles. We were a bit concerned about time, but decided to get lunch to go and take it on the 2 hour ride.
Unfortunately, none of us quite investigated what the island visit meant, so we gamely set out in our flip flops, and in my case, long shorts and a sleeveless top Our first intimation that this was not quite the right attire came as we were climbing over rocks and huge thorns started puncturing the foam soles of our 100ksh ‘flops. Our guide assured us that we could “use traditional remedies – aloe vera” which we would find on the island, to treat the pain. I also used the non-traditional remedy of purell to kill nasty African tree germs.
Once out on the water, it really was beautiful. Our little boat meandered along the shore, surprising hippos in the reeds and catching crocodiles as they slipped into the lake in pursuit of tilapia. The children playing on the cliffs kept jumping into the water around the boat and splashing us. Birds of all colors and varieties kept swooping around the rocks as we steamed full speed ahead to the islands in the middle of the lake.
There are two islands in the middle of Baringo – a large, lush one with luxury camps and a village, and a small barren rocky one inhabited by 1 man, 5 wives, 20+ children and some goats. We were destined for a walk on the latter. At first, the rocky island was kinda cool – I got Aloe for my multiple thorn wounds and was doing okay scrambling up the rocks. Then our guides started turning over the rocks in front of us – in search of scorpions. Don’t worry, they assured us – the scorpions just hurt - the snakes, those are a problem.
Now, while I’m quite cautious by nature, I’m not a huge scaredy-cat (see: impetuous decision to come to Nairobbery, white water rafting, tiny plane, etc.). But there is one thing that really bugs me, and that is getting injected with poison by natural critters. Bees, scorpions, jellyfish, snakes – not my cup of tea (did I mention I’m a big Indiana Jones fan?). So far, I’ve been able to ignore the fact that these things are common over here through long pants, closed toed shoes, and blithe obliviousness. In my flip flops and shorts, however, all I wanted to do was get the HELL off that island (especially after they found a scorpion) and back into the boat. Luckily, both L. and S. were less than thrilled by the barren rocks, so that goal was easily accomplished.
The final leg of our boat ride involved a futile attempt to feed the fish eagles. We had purchased two fish buoyed by balsa wood from a masai fisherman earlier, and our guides tried multiple times to attract the birds (whistle, hurl fish into air, have mzungos train cameras on fish, retrieve fish, repeat). All the morning boat rides had tried the same trick, so the fish eagles weren’t biting. Our valiant guides kept trying, but by that point we were more excited about floating over herds of hippos (the little ones jump to the surface) and getting back to shore for a cold soda. After the aforementioned drink, it was bye bye Baringo and back towards Bogoria and Nakuru.
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