OK, so due to a lack of Facebook reach we've decided to go ahead and start wht the kids today are calling a blog. So here it goes
Hey All,
Quick check in from Kenya. Made it here all safe and sound via Dubai on a layover. Landed in Nairobi the next morning and got ready to start the safari. Nairobi is a pretty packed city, and the traffic makes NYC look tame. Left the next day for the Masi Mara and got to see some incredible things. Got 3 of the big 5 out of the way on the first day, saw elephants, water buffalo (mean bastards, more on that later) and lions (real close up) Visited with some Masi tribes people and checked out there village and handiwork. Houses made of cow dung and Man United bracelettes all around. (We're all a lot closer than you think)
Back to Nairobi for another night then off to Uganda with stops in Olpajebi game reserve where we saw black and white rhinos. These things are as prehistoric as they get.
Went to a chimp preserve and while we were walking to see the hippos that live in the river encountered a big male water buffalo. Well he didn't like the looks of us or the fact that we surpirised him so he decided to charge our group. So we're pinned betwenn a 20 foot drop to a river that had a mamma hippo and a baby, an electric fence (that obviously didn't work too well) and a 2000 lb buffalo. We scatterd and dove behind trees and anything else we could get in between and luckily the beast passes about 4 feet from us,Nicky swears she could see the evil in his eyes. The guide caught up with him just as he was turning around to go after a Canadian lady that had fallen over a log and distracted him by throwing some sticks at him. That bothered him enough to make him run off a couple of minutes before the guys with guns showed up. Apparently they had to kill one earlier that charged them too!
So with that getting our hearts racing we set off back to camp where we were visited in the middle of the night by an elephant about 20 yds from our tent, looking for food.
Needless to say it was a slightly restless night sleeping from that point on.
We are now in Nakuru and went on a game drive this morning and got to see the last of the big 5. A beautiful leopard with her young cub. They were cruising around and the mother was teaching the youngster how to stalk, it was just incredible!
At lunch one of our bus mates decided to take his lunch with him to baboon cliff (the guide told us not to) and was immediately mugged by a huge baboon for his sandwich, it knocked him to the ground and just grabbed it out of his hands as if it was his! The cheeky bastard was bold. Everyone was OK, and we had a good laugh about it after. Tomorrow we start the 8 hour drive to Uganda to do some whitewater rafting on the Nile, then to Kampala and them to the border with Rwanda to try and find the gorillas! We're all pretty excited about the prospect of seeing some up close and personal, but not too close judging from our experiences so far.
I got some good shots and I'll share those with everyone when we get back.
I'll check in when I get another chance, not sure when, but stay tuned.
Peace.
Mike and Nicky
