Pre-dawn over “our” watering hole.

Dawn visitors to “our” watering hole.

Similar to most facilities in the national parks, our lodge was surrounded by an electrified game fence. And by electrified, we don’t mean tickle-your-cow-electrified; theses fences have current strong enough to discourage adult Elephants! In the included image, you will see what looks to be a standard cattle-guard built into the ground –  that’s electrified as well. What you don’t see is the gate over the ele-guard; it is high enough for large delivery trucks to pass under but has long wires trailing down from the cross-piece to about SUV roof-height… yep, these are electrified too. The guides told us we were completely safe if we drove through in a grounded vehicle… just in case, we kept all toes, fingers, and assorted limbs INSIDE the truck whenever we drove through one of these gates.

Electric game fence and ele gate at lodge.

We had our last planned game drive this morning and saw a couple of Cheetah and other residents of Tsavo East.

Ele having breakfast.

Southern Ground Hornbill.

However, the high-point was watching a solo Lioness stalk a small group of gazelles. While she didn’t have her toe-shoes and tutu on, she was definitely on tippy-toes as she slunk across the open savannah. She dipped down into a dry river bed, using it to get closer to her prey. We watched her emerge ever so slowly from the gully, a millimetre at a time, using fallen trees and small bushes for cover.

We wanted to stay and watch the stalk to its conclusion but it might have gone on for hours. Unfortunately, the Kenyan Wildlife Service (KWS) was also on scene and checking everyone’s park entry time-stamps. The visitor-entry fee is only valid for 24 hours, after that, a substantial fine is incurred. We had entered the park yesterday morning and were rapidly running out of time. Patrick started the truck with only seven minutes to go. We had to travel 12 kilometres (a little over 7 miles) over a rough dirt road to make it  to the Voi Gate. We held onto our cameras with one hand and clung desperately to the truck’s OMG handles with the other as we luged and bounced our way to the gate. We made it with two minutes to spare.

A short distance outside the Voi Gate, we stopped for lunch at the Lion Hill Lodge (http://www.lionhilllodge.com/). The view from the top made up for treacherous road up the hill. At one time, Lions used to be frequently seen on the hill, using the height to scout for prey in the valleys below.

View from Lion Hill.

Duh!

Patrick – our driver/guide from JT Safaris.

The Great Mombassa Safari: ah, Mombassa… reminds us very much of Dar es Salaam… same, same but different. We drove headlong into the same brick wall of traffic that seems to signal the outskirts of just about every sizeable settlement in Africa. Fortunately, we had an expert urban-safari driver at the wheel and, bear in mind, they drive on the left side of the road over here. First, he crossed he drainage culvert that serves as the centre line, traversed the on-coming lanes, and proceeded against the flow on the opposing shoulder. Then he wove his way back across four lanes of traffic, ending up on “our” shoulder. He then battled his way around and past others doing the same and plodded through deep ruts and puddles of muddy water alongside the road for almost 7 kilometres (about 4 miles) before he could work his way past the gridlock. Roger commented that he has driven like that before, but never without lights and siren. If it hadn’t been for our driver, we would have been stuck in that traffic for hours (or days?).

Safety-first! Notice the driver has a full-face helmet and a reflective vest.

Mombassa’s landmark Ele tusks.

Our cross-harbour ferry towards Diani Beach.

Our room at the Jacaranda Indian Ocean Beach Resort (http://www.jacarandahotels.com/index.php/indian-ocean-beach-resort.html) was our reward for completing phase three of the trip: our private safaris. It is quaintly Swahili with a second story balcony offering a stunning view of the Indian Ocean and its spectacular sunrises.

View of Indian Ocean from reception.

First cigar on Diani Beach.

Our first dusk at Diani Beach.

Dusk view of ocean from our balcony.

Ahhhhh… ensuite shower and tub, air conditioning, AND a ceiling fan. The small pleasures in life….