The Teenage Lion

On our second safari in Kenya, we were going to see a teenage lion up close and personal! It was about 6:30 in the morning when Joumana and I had left the hotel with our guide Albert. The sun was slowly rising and many animals could still be seen because the weather was still not warm enough for them to want to hide in the shade. Most predators do not tolerate the afternoon heat of the afternoon and prefer to sleep in the shade.

A few minutes after we left the hotel, we saw several jeeps gathered around something. As we approached, I noticed that cameras of the tourists in those jeeps were flashing more and more, and it was clear that there was something interesting to photograph.

A young male lion was lying on the ground. At about 50 meters from him there was a lioness that was resting as well. They did not seem to be hungry; neither seemed getting prepared to hunt a prey. We would also think that they were not aware of the jeeps around them, nor the occupants and their curious glances. The lion was closely focused on the female, his eyes fixed on her, carefully watching every move she made. He was either her son, or he might have been only interested in mating with her. Nevertheless, when the lioness parted, the teenage lion stood up and followed her. They both walked away in the Kenyan savannah.

In French: Le jeune lion

Jungle Night Sounds

We would spend our second night in Kenya sleeping in a lodge in the middle of the jungle. There was no television, and the hotel was almost empty. Joumana and I each did some book reading, and then fell asleep early. But jetlag made us wake up a few times during the night.

Animals growling, monkeys singing, and large insects whistling, were all I can hear in this African wild orchestra. It wasn’t a noise that woke me up. It was more like a calm and soothing jungle lullaby that was melodious. It wasn’t like anything I had heard before, except on some adventure Hollywood movies.

Joumana had confused some of the primate screams. In the morning when we woke up, she thought the neighbours were having sex all night, in a loud and beast-like way. But I am sure that what she heard was jungle sound from the animals, and no neighbour was playing love sports.

Hippos on Mara River

While driving around the Masai Mara, we had an initial introduction to the animals in Kenya. We saw a cheetah, different species of antelopes, hyenas, and many lions that were sleeping in the bushes. We also passed by a site with leftover bones. It was hard to tell which animal was prey to the carnivores.

The sun was starting to set and Albert took us to the Mara River to see a group of hippopotamuses. Joumana screamed from excitement! She was so happy to see those huge round animals with small ears and big behinds. Albert explained how these animals were as dangerous as they were cute. A hippo’s mouth can open to 150 degrees and instantly crush a person that might be standing or swimming in his way. Nevertheless, Joumana’s excitement didn’t subside, and she talked all night about the hippo being her favourite animal!

First Animals in Masai Mara

“Is that a buffalo? What is that colourful bird? Oh my God, look at the zebra!” Those were the first reactions we got, Joumana and I, as we entered the Masai Mara National Reserve. We still had an hour drive to get to the hotel because the road was not paved. Albert was driving and Peter, the Serena Hotel manager, was sitting next to him. Albert didn’t make many stops because we had to arrive quickly at the hotel for the restaurant to serve us lunch.

We arrived at the Mara Serena Hotel at 2:30 pm. The hotel was in the middle of the reserve with a fence around to prevent the animals, all but the baboons, from jumping inside. No one was allowed outside from 6:30 pm to 6:30 am. It was a little like a prison, but what choice do they have, it would be very dangerous wandering outside at night.

We checked in quickly at the front desk and had lunch at the restaurant. Our room was fine and colourful but without a television, which was kind of good.

At 4:30 pm we would have our first safari! If we went earlier, it would have been too hot to be able to see animals, since most of them would be sleeping in the shade. Albert came to pick us up at the hotel’s lobby and off we went. We saw cheetahs, lions, zebras, and many more creatures. It would only be an appetizer for all the other great safaris we would come across.

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.

Safari Park Hotel

Albert took us to our hotel for the night. The Safari Park Hotel was a resort located very closely to Nairobi. We were greeted by the bellman who was tall and had a red uniform. He said: Salam which meant hello in Swahili. But we later noticed that most people use Jambo to say hello instead.

We checked in the nice lobby that had a big statue of an elephant. Then we went through the garden all the way to our hotel room. Everything was beautiful and well set, except that it looked very old and needed serious renovations. The design looked to me like it was conceived in the 70s, because of the colours and choices of material. I had seen nicer hotels.

We walked around the garden for a bit. There was an outside restaurant, almost empty, with an acrobatic show. We didn’t stay out for long. We went back to the room, watched a bit of news on BBC and went to sleep.

We woke up early in the morning and decided to go for an early workout at the hotel’s fitness center. As we started lifting weights, the gym’s trainer told us that the workout would each cost us 1500 schillings (about $30)! We stayed even if we thought the price was exaggerated, but when we checked out they forgot to bill us…

Picture taken from: Billbarnes01 on Picasa.

First Impressions of Kenya

Seven and a half hours later, the Swiss A-330 landed in Nairobi. It was the first time I set foot on the African continent.

After we came out of the airplane, everything seemed to be calm with no signs of conflict. It was 9 pm and the airport was nearly empty. The terminal was designed in a circular shape, just like I had seen in the guide book. There were a few European tourists waiting for their flights home.

As we were coming out of the gate, I saw a commercial about the Serengeti National Park, which only sounded familiar at the time and I was wondering where it was located and if we were going to visit it. I would later find out that The Serengeti was a Tanzanian park, the biggest one of the country, and it had a section that extended in Kenya: the Masai Mara that we would visit.

We took our luggage and went outside the airport to be greeted by Albert, our guide in Kenya. He was a calm and smiley man that spoke French very well. He had safari hats for Joumana and for me that he gave us.

Albert was to drive us to our hotel. He briefed us on Kenya’s political news. Things have seemed to calm down compared to a few weeks before, but the tension was still felt, and tourism in Kenya has suffered greatly.

It was dark outside so it was hard for me to see what Kenya looked like. There was a warm tropical sent in the air that wasn’t too familiar. I did notice that people drove on the other side of the road, just like in the UK. There were also a lot of nids de poule on the roads. Albert called them nids d’autruche, because some were very big!

Picture taken from: Fotolia.

Empty Flight to Kenya

After leaving the VIP lounge in Zurich’s airport, Joumana and I embarked the airplane and were soon flying on our way to Nairobi.

The airplane was almost empty. Many tourists have changed their plans after seeing the images on the news about the violence in Kenya. We had good first row seats. I didn’t feel like reading a lot, so I watched two movies: The Nanny Diaries and The Bourne Ultimatum. They were both very entertaining.

On the airplane, I was very excited because it was the first time I was travelling to Africa. Joumana had been to Morocco, but not the core of the continent yet. I watched the map on the airplane screens that showed where we were flying, crossing the Mediterranean Sea, going over Egypt and then Sudan.

I was also worried at moments because of the political instability Kenya was living at the moment. After the president Mwai Kibaki was declared winner of the Kenyan elections on December 27th 2007, supporters of the opponent Raila Odinga staged violent and non-violent protests throughout the country. The political and humanitarian crisis that had erupted was calming down, but aggression was still present in certain parts of the country.

Hopefully the crisis would subside, not only for the sake of our trip in Kenya, but also for the Kenyan population who would suffer mostly from the hostilities and the economic predicament.

Picture taken from: Marc Pichette's Blog.

Zurich’s Airport and VIP Lounge

We woke up very early, even before receiving the hotel’s wake up call. We packed quickly and went to the lobby to check out and have breakfast. We arrived at 6:30 am and the restaurant wasn’t supposed to open before 7:00 am, but we were served breakfast anyway, the cook even made us omelettes, and we ate quickly so we can leave the hotel on time.

A taxi took us to the airport. It was early and still dark. A few people were going to work but there was no traffic.

The girl at the Swiss checking counter talked French in a cute way. She gave us good seats in the economy section. She was kind to answer all my airplane questions about our flight. Joumana was patient enough to wait, not without adorably rolling her eyes!

Zurich’s airport was beautifully designed. I remembered it was ranked among the 10 best airports in the world. It was clean, practical and cosy. A subway train took us to terminal E. On our way, Joumana and I spotted a handsome tanned man in his early 40s, who had a child with him. We nicknamed him papa.

We waited for our flight in Swiss’s VIP lounge, where we had cookies and tea, checked our emails, and read the newspapers. The lounge was very spacious, with high ceilings covered with solar panels. It is always pleasant to sit in a well designed lounge before taking a long flight. If there were shower facilities, I would have freshened up, even if I had already washed myself in the hotel room about two hours before!

Picture taken from: Salons en Suisse.

Fondue Restaurant

After walking around, Joumana and I were hungry. The hotel had recommended a restaurant that had the best fondue in town. Since we were in Switzerland, it was only natural to have fondue for dinner!

We found the restaurant and went inside. It had a chic clientele and I was afraid I wouldn’t be allowed inside because I was wearing jeans. But there was no problems having a table. The waiters were all nice, except a particular one that had a proud personality.

We would have loved to appreciate the fondue plates we were served. But next to us were sitting two women wearing lots of makeup, who were chain smoking one cigarette after the other. I was sure that the laws in Switzerland didn’t allow smoking in public places, but I guess I was wrong. We ate quickly and left the restaurant, smelling like oil and cigarettes.

We took the tramway back to the hotel. I showered while Joumana tried the spa, and then as we were exhausted, we both went to sleep.