Day 1 - Friday, Feb. 13 - We left Fort Wayne at 1:25pm and arrived in Detroit about a half hour later. Then at 6:05 we began our flight to London.

 

Day 2 - Saturday, Feb. 14 Arrived in London at 7:00 local time in the morning. We then rested at Jurys Inn Heathrow could see airplanes coming in to land over the horse farm outside our window. At 7:00 in the evening we left Heathrow Airport on Kenya Airways our way to Nairobi.

It was fun to look out the window and see the horses across the road.

 

 

 

Day 3 - Sunday, Feb. 15 We arrived in Nairobi a little earlier than the 6:30 expected time. We were taken to the Safari Park Hotel and Casino where we would stay that day and night.

No animals yet. This is a Nairobi skyline.

 

 

We soon arrived with a bus full of our 19 fellow travelers at the Safari Park Hotel and Casino. It did not take long to realize that we had just met a wonderful group of new friends who would be spending the next 11 days with us on this great adventure.

 

 

 

It took us a while to get accustomed to the massive size of the complex we were at. Even though we were in Nairobi, being there seemed a hundred miles away. It was a good introduction to Kenya as we were slowly becoming accustomed to experiencing this new country.

The food and service was excellent and it continued to be on the rest of our trip.

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Rachel found many flowers around the Hotel complex. . . . We had a very nice room and put the mosquito net up at night.

 

 

Something we had read about, but had no understanding of, was the matatu - the privately operated minibus system that carries most people to where they need to go all over Kenya. Nairobi does have city busses, but the matau goes way beyond what those busses can offer. Some of the drivers even have drivers licenses. One person told us that they are disproportionately responsible for a large number of crashes and he was frustrated by their independent disregard for rules and regulations (my interpretation of his words.)

We saw them all over Kenya. They are essential to moving people from place to place and are recognized by the yellow stripes under the windows and all around. It is a simple example of doing what needs to be done.

 

 

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We went to an animal orphanage that was part of the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust compound where they care for orphaned endangered species, including elephants and black rhinos. Some are there because their mother has died or been killed. The little rhino in the picture was abandoned because it was born early and not large enough to reach up and get milk from it's mother. By 2008 the Trust had successfully saved and hand-reared over 82 infant African Elephant calves, two from the day of birth. Currently, over 40 of the Trust’s hand-reared elephants are fully established and living free amongst their wild peers.

 

Then we drove around Nairobi and saw some of the government
buildings as well as many of the businesses complexes.

Nairobi, like all cities, has many contrasts. Within the city lies the biggest and poorest slum in all of Africa. It is called Kibera and has a population of perhaps one million people who have no jobs or very low paying positions.

The name "Kibera" is derived from kibra, a Nubian word meaning "forest" or "jungle."

Learn more about Kibera from Wikipedia.

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+++ NEXT PAGEMount Kenya, Serena Mountain Lodge

We started and ended in the city of Nairobi.

North of Nairobi is Mount Kenya. We were near there at Serena Mountain Lodge on our second day.

Then we went to the Great Rift Valley for three days and two nights.

Near the Tanzania boarder you will see Masai Mara where we spent three days and two nights. From there we could see Mt. Kilimanjaro.

We went back to Nairobi to stay at the Hotel Inter-continental.

Our last stay was at Amboseli National Park in the Sentrim Camp. It was there that we went to the Maasai village.

We returned for a day room at the Hotel Iner-continental, left for the airport and came home.

 

+++ NEXT PAGEMount Kenya, Serena Mountain Lodge