Before leaving Diani Beach, we had discussed a possible day-safari to Lake Nakuru National Park (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Nakuru) with Julius (JT Safaris). JT Safaris did not have anyone in the Nairobi area for July 10. However, Julius was able to arrange for an associate-company to provide a vehicle and driver/guide… at $90 USD less than we could book the safari ourselves.

According to our email confirmation, we were to be picked up in front of the Country Lodge at 6 AM. So, were had an early breakfast and were in front of the hotel by shortly after 6 AM… and we waited… and we waited. By 6:50 AM, we conceded that TIA had finally caught up to JT Safaris and the driver was going to be a no-show. We went back inside, asked the front desk to ring us if a safari company came calling for us, went up to our room, emailed Julius, and went back to bed.

At 8 AM, the email chime from Eron’s iPad woke us up. The message was from Julius; he apologized for the confusion with the other company and let us know that the driver had told him he had just gotten to the hotel. We were just throwing on our clothes and grabbing the camera gear when the front desk called to let us know the driver was downstairs – it was now 8:15 AM.

So, off we went on our last safari of the trip… 2 ½ hours late getting started but off we went. The drive to Lake Nakuru is approximately 3 hours. So, instead of getting to the park at around 9 AM (prime game drive time), we would now arrive around 11:30 AM. The only up-side was that the day wasn’t particularly hot so the animals might still be up and about.

Part of the drive took us along the Great Rift Valley Escarpment (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Rift_Valley,_Kenya). Although it was quite misty, the view was spectacular.

Great Rift Valley from escarpment.

Enroute, our driver explained that the water level in Lake Nakuru was quite high. And due to the high water levels, many of the lake’s famed pink Flamingos had temporarily relocated to a shallower near-by lake. He then half-heartedly attempted to up-sell us on an afternoon excursion by boat onto an island in the other lake… for $70 USD/person, of course. We didn’t show much interest, so he let it drop.

Lake Nakuru National Park.

As stated previously, we missed the prime morning game drive hours. However, having said that, we did get to see the two critters that brought us to this park: Rhinos and Flamingos. We didn’t see any Black Rhino but we did get up close to a White Rhino. And while the infamous masses of pink Flamingos were absent, we did manage to see quite a number of the strange, gangly birds.

Birds on a flooded road.

Impala Doe.

Impala Buck.

Olive Baboon.

White Rhino 01

White Rhino 02

White Rhino 03

White Rhino 04

White Rhino 05

Waterbuck

Great White Pelican

Great Comorant

Greater Flamingo

Yellow-billed Stork

Group take-off.

Marabou Stork

Rothchild Giraffe

Lunch was included with the package so we stopped at the Sarova Lion Hill Game Lodge(http://www.sarovahotels.com/lionhill/). It is an oasis of old-school colonial British-style elegance parachuted into the middle of the wilds. It was a great place to have a relaxed lunch, do a little souvenir shopping, and (of course) for Roger to smoke his last safari-cigar of the trip.

Last safari-cigar: Casa Royale Churchill

After lunch, we were to have an afternoon game drive. But due to the late start, all we ended up doing was driving through the park on the way out to the gate. Then it was 3 hours back to Nairobi. We hope you enjoy the photos of the White Rhino… we jokingly call those our $400 Rhino pics.

Cape Buffalo

Cape Buffalo calf.

After dinner, we got an email from Julius at JT Safaris inquiring as to our trip today. We were quite honest with him and told him he (and his company’s reputation) might be better served if he used the services of another safari company in the future. While we had never experienced anything but exemplary service and value from JT Safaris, the same could not be said for their associate. They had messed up the booking; consequently, we got off to a late start; instead of a morning and an afternoon game drive, we essentially only had a late morning game drive; the vehicle was in obviously poor repair; the driver had to fuel the vehicle twice (about a quarter tank on both the outbound and inbound legs) while we were in the car; and he operator didn’t even provide drinking water – we had to ask the driver to stop at a store to purchase some on the way. But what the heck… we got our $400 Rhino pics!