Saturday, January 26, 2008

Leaving Nairobi

Albert came to pick us up very early, at 7:30 am. He would drive us all the way to the Masai Mara National Reserve. We drove a little outside of Nairobi, passing by many embassies, including the Canadian one.

When we were in the country side, we saw many farms; most of them were cultivating tea and coffee. The earth’s colour was strikingly red, apparently because it contained a lot of iron.

The landscape changed as we drove across the Rift Valley. There were fewer trees and less green spaces. As we drove by villages, we could notice how some people lived in profound poverty. The roads were not paved and some places were tough to drive on. Our destination was 300 kilometres away, but the journey took more than 6 hours.

We made a stop in a village called Narok to get some water and to answer a bathroom call. When we were there, we picked up a guy who’s name was Peter. He worked at the Serena Hotel, and he needed a ride. He was polite enough to ask us permission if we wouldn’t mind him coming with us. We said of course not. He was a gentle and kind man who looked like the Chief on the television show Grey’s Anatomy.

As we approached our destination, the Masai culture became more apparent. We saw shepherds with their animals who were mostly accompanied by children. Those children were always friendly and they would say hello to the passing cars.

As we crossed the gate and entered the Masai Mara National Reserve, we would soon start seeing animals that we had only seen before on television. And there would start our African safari adventure.

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