Kenya day 38 - Water Project completion

This morning I had my first sighting of Mount Kenya as the clouds cleared while I was out for my morning walk.

Mount Kenya - Point Lenana is behind the small peak on the right

Mount Kenya

The Kenyan government have made seven new villages on what was previously grazing land, and relocated groups of people into them. Each family gets a plot of land to build a home and plant a garden, and a bigger plot which can be used as a farm or as the location for a business. Sue's team have been helping to lay water pipes between some of the villages, making trenches so that the pipes are buried and joining lengths of pipe.

Inside the truck which is used to transport the volunteers

The road to the villages

 We spent most of the day at Village 4, where a water tank was installed so that the people don't have to walk 2km to the borehole and 2km back carrying 20 litres of water, four times a day. Understandably, they are very pleased! It's not just that they no longer have the long walk with a heavy load, they also gain a lot of time which can be used more productively, working on their farm plot, for example.

Walking to the new water tank site

Checking the pipes

The water tank was fitted with a water inlet and a tap and then placed on its plinth and connected up. Some dignitaries arrived to see the completed work and we heard some very long speeches. Fortunately we were able to sit down for most of the time! A very old lady, said to be about 100 years old, brought bananas to sell to the crowd and joined in the celebrations, shouting "Hallelujah" in joy that the water tank was operational.

The plinth for the tank

Inside the tank, fitting the tap

Putting the tank in position

Long speeches and some dancing

The old lady was delighted with the water tank

The village school

When we got back to the truck, Eva had made lunch - salad and pasta and fruit for after - which was fortunate as time had run on and we were all rather hot and hungry. It turns out that the team are from Northern Ireland, not far from Banbridge...

In the evening, I was really dozy - it must have been all that fresh air and sunshine!

Kenya day 37 - Heading for the Mountain

This was one of those waiting mornings - I was all packed up and checked out as arranged at 08:00. And it was raining - quite hard, so I waited in reception for a bit, then dodged from one bit of shelter to the next looking at birds and listening for cars arriving.

Nairobi city centre

Eventually Joseph appeared, with a car and driver, and we went to the city centre to find a taxi to take us to Naro Moru where we would meet Sue Best and her group.

Stance for taxis to Nanyuki and Naro Moru

We left Nairobi heading northwards and the scenery changed from plains to wooded hills. We passed an enormous pineapple farm and coffee plantations.

Pineapple plantation in the background

Getting hillier...

Coffee bushes at a tourist shop

Hill country

High and dry

Eventually we were on the rather arid plain where Sue's team had been laying water pipes and passed through Naro Moru town. The Blue Line Hotel is down a side road which is under construction and which leads to the Naro Moru route up Mount Kenya, which was hidden in clouds this afternoon...

I got a chance to stretch my legs after the journey - a walk with Sue and the team to Tigithi School where they will be helping to dig the foundations for a new classroom. Several rooms have been built by volunteers on previous projects, commemorated by plaques on the walls. We crossed a very pretty little river on the way; it's not to be used for irrigation because it supplies water to towns further down.

Looks just like many mountain streams in the UK, doesn't it?

L to R: John, Stephen, Sue and me

One of the classrooms built by volunteers

Rather strange equipment in a primary school...

Original buildings

Addition and multiplication tables...

Kenya day 36 - To Nairobi

As we headed for the main Mombasa-Nairobi road, the cloud over Kilimajaro lifted ad we got really good views of the mountain.

Yes, that is snow...

Nice clear view of Kilimanjaro

However, we had to move on and although we were seeing animals as we went along, there was little time to stop. The main road was busy, with lots of slow traffic and it was hard to pass things with the speed regulator keeping us down to 80kph.

 

Farmland on the way to Nairobi

Very abnormal load!

As we got nearer to Nairobi, the traffic thickened up even more, and eventually we found ourselves driving ever so slowly between two lanes of stationary trucks. Not a pleasant situation...

Sandwiched between trucks

It took ages of crawling along to get to the neighborhood where I was staying, and then the street signs were not very helpful. Eventually, though, we found the Wildebeest Eco Camp and the others dropped me off with my kit and departed, intending to drive back to Watamu during the afternoon and evening.

City traffic

Meantime, I settled in to my tent, repacked my stuff so that the things I needed for the mountain could come with me and the "coast kit" could wait for me to return. The camp is in the grounds of a fairly large house, and the gardens are great for birding.

Common Fiscal

Common Bulbul and Collared Sunbirds

 
Unfortunately, the internet was not working, so I couldn't get in touch with folk or write up the blog as I'd intended to do, so that the safari entries would be up to date - ah well, the best laid plans...

Kenya day 35 - Ambling around Amboseli

A full day in Amboseli National Park - what a treat! Even before we set off we had the views of Kilimanjaro from our base at Kibo Camp just outside the gate. Very fleeting, as the cloud came and went during breakfast, but we could make out the top from a vantage point by the pool.

Kilimanjaro from Kibo Camp

As soon as we were ready, we went back into the park and soon found another big herd of elephants.

Elephant family - all ages!

Three youngsters sticking together...

We came across some birds showing off their finery

Punky Black-headed Heron

Hadada Ibises showing off their iridescent feathers

The Secretary Bird was showing off its crest too

...and a lovely young Thomson's Gazelle

Baby Tommy

The clouds cleared enough to let us see the snow on Kilimanjaro, which got me wondering how much there would be on Mount Kenya...

Snow on Kilimanjaro

There are several large clumps of palm trees

Zebra herd and palm trees

Little Bee-eater

Then we came in sight of Observation Hill, otherwise known as Noomotio, and Lake Amboseli:

Approaching Lake Amboseli with Noomotio in the background

Lots of bird around the lake, of course...

Red-capped Lark

Spoonbills and Egyptian Geese

Glossy Ibis

Black-winged Stilt

Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse family - mum, baby and dad, all with different camouflage!

...and some animals too

Hippos out of the water for once!

Spotted Hyena

We walked up Noomotio to the viewpoint at the top - ou can see a long, long way from up there...

Jesper and Jonathan at the viewpoint

Even elephants look tiny in this landscape

The path back down to the car

 

 

This dragonfly has black squares on the end of its wings - they seem to spin round when it flies

 Next we headed back towards the gate, past the aerodrome...

Ostrich and Kori Bustard

Silver-backed Jackal with Gnus

Silver-backed Jackal resting

Jonathan said, "Look, there's a hippo"

Hippo? What hippo?

...and there it was, but far from obvious - it seemed to have a sore back, lots of small cracks all over it

Hippo hiding in the swamp

Crowned Cranes with chick

Back at Kobi Camp

My tent

My verandah

Brown-faced Mongoose just across the path from my tent

At the end of the afternoon, we went for a walk - just a leg-stretch, and came across some Marabou Storks. They're not exactly pretty, but their blue back feathers are very smart

Nice feathers...

...shame about the baggy bit

Jesper got really excited bout this old truck - a truly ancient Toyota, but it still goes

Tough old truck!

Whereas I was much more interested in this little chap

d'Arnaud's Barbet

I hadn't been able to see it properly because of the bright sun, so it was a great surprise to see the photo had come out so well.