On checking my blog, I realised that it is almost three
weeks since my last post! Well, tonight I have free wifi (and fast – a rare
find in Africa) so I had best maximise on this opportunity.
Had a busy day in Nairobi. First stop, the High Commission
of India to make my application for an Indian visa. I naively thought that
travelling to India would be straight forward. Apparently not. All British
passport holders have to obtain a visa before they arrive in India. Not
surprisingly being a British passport holder not currently resident in Britain
makes matters even more complicated. Despite the fact that you make your
application on line, you are still required to print the application and visit
the High Commission of India in Nairobi in person to submit the form and
photos. Time taken to queue up to do this – approximately two hours. To make
the system even more inefficient, you are then required to go to the Bank of
India to pay for your visa and then wait a further week for it to be issued.
Fortunately, you are allowed to send someone to collect your passport on your
behalf so I am saved the expense of a further visit to Nairobi next week!
Kenyans always talk about how bad the traffic is in Nairobi
– having experienced it at first hand today, they are not exaggerating. An hour
and a half taxi journey to get from my lodgings (admittedly in the suburbs of Nairobi
but still less than 10 miles into the city centre) to the High Commission. Then
another hour to get back out to Karen by which time I felt I had deserved an
afternoon of pampering. A hair cut, lunch, massage and pedicure later, I am
feeling fully rejuvenated. My feet have not been so clean in a very long time.
It is hard to comprehend the dust and the dirt that is part and parcel of
living in Kenya unless you have experienced it first hand.
Very much enjoying spending a couple of nights away from
Lewa actually. A much needed break from horses and guests and I wish I was
staying longer. But back to Lewa tomorrow. For the first time ever, I am flying
from Nairobi to Lewa and looking forward to seeing more of Kenya from the air.
An hour’s flight rather than the long tedious 4-5 hour journey by road.
Yesterday was a long day. Starting with a biplane flight at
6.30am with mum for her last morning on Lewa. I love the biplane! Watch “Out of
Africa” if you want to get a feel for what flying over Kenya in a tiny open
cockpit plane is like. It is a very special experience. It is amazing to fly
over some of the northern landscape, especially now in the midst of the dry
season. It is incredible how simply and remotely some Africans still live. Just
a basic mud hut and a corral for their animals (mainly goats). Most of the
river beds are completely dried up so they must walk for hours, if not days, to
find water. How they and their animals survive is beyond me, but many Masai
claim to be happiest living in the bush this way often surviving on milk from
their goats or cattle for days on end.
After the biplane, mum and I went for a last horse ride
before breakfast then the long tiring drive down to Nairobi to drop mum off at
the airport for her night flight home. Did lots of riding whilst mum was
staying, as well as going out on a few drives (cheetahs, lions, elephants, serval
cat, etc. etc), and visiting Pombe Rocks. Pombe Rocks provides one of the best
views across Lewa and is where some of my grandfather’s ashes are scattered as
Lewa was one of his favourite places in the world. He loved Kenya and visited
many times during his life.
Just a final note on serval cats. Very rare – normally only
seen at night and I’ve now seen two in the day time in the space of one week.
Their body is a bit like a cheetahs but smaller. The first occasion, I was out
riding with a guest when one jumped out in front of us across the track,
spooking the horses. Wasn’t actually entirely sure what it was at that time and
had to look in the book and discuss with the local guides when we got to bush
breakfast. Incidentally, that was a very cool ride – we even saw lions.
Fortunately, my spotting skills have much improved and I saw them from a good
distance off so we were able to avoid the horses seeing them. That said, whilst
keeping my eyes on the lions, we almost bumped into three rhino so may be my
spotting skills still need some work….
No comments:
Post a Comment