By some miracle, the second full day of our stay was greeted with more blue skies and another fantastic view of the mountain. The thin dusting of snow had now almost totally vanished, but the air was, if anything, clearer than the day before. James had suggested we could visit a local reserve, rather than going back into the park and we agreed to this course of action easily. We headed a few kilometres to the east, now on the opposite side of the Chyulu Hills from Umani Springs.

It turned out that the private reserve that was James’ destination for us was closed. Not just shut for a time, but closed down and abandoned. The gates were open and the buildings in a state of rapid decline and disrepair. None of us were sure what to do next, but we eventually decided that, as we were already in the area, we should at least have a bit of a look around.

There was game everywhere, big groups of waterbuck, zebras and giraffes, along with smaller antelopes were found around every turn. We had moved through an area of woodland and spring-fed streams out into more open savanna when a vehicle approached. The men in the vehicle were armed and wore uniforms and looked like they meant business.

The initial conversation was between James and the new arrivals, and not in English. It soon turned out that we were not, in fact, under arrest. The men were all from the local community and had grouped together to protect the wildlife in the reserve after the operation had gone bust. Local residents had seen us drive into the area and they just wanted to check up on us and make sure we weren’t causing any harm.

I think the fact that we were more interested in the animals than in their arrival was one of the factors that actually went in our favour. Before we knew it, they were coming along with us to show us around. Now, I know they were really keeping an eye on us and escorting us out of the area without causing us to lose face, but they were friendly and genuinely passionate about the animals they felt needed their protection.

They were hopeful that the area would soon be under new ownership and management and we could certainly see its potential. The wildlife was plentiful, habituated and easy to see. Back at the main road, we wished them well and made a small donation to help them with their work.

 

The day’s excursion had been a shorter one. We were back at the Sopa in time for lunch and then Fred and I spent much of the afternoon, despite the heat, wandering round the near-deserted grounds photographing the birds. It really was hot, probably near to forty degrees, and most of the birds were as drowsy as we were.

The gardener was fascinated by our antics and was happy to encourage us to step over the hedges and get as close as we wanted. A particularly drowsy grey-headed kingfisher allowed me to get within just a couple of metres and snap away. The only problem I had with this was trying to get one of him with his eyes open!

We were early for dinner, but we planned to get an early night before our long journey north the following day. Mysteriously, Annie had decided to move us from our usual table to one a bit nearer the middle of the room.

It turned out there was a reason for this. At the end of the meal, before everyone had a chance to drift away, the lights dimmed and what we at first thought was someone’s birthday cake appeared with all the staff singing and dancing.

Fred said “They’re not singing Happy Birthday, I wonder what’s going on.” We soon found out, as they paraded out to surround our table and placed the cake in front of Elizabeth with a flourish.

“What’s this for? It isn’t my birthday,” Elizabeth said to Annie who was by this time holding out a knife to cut the cake.

“It’s because you’ve all been so nice. And, besides, nobody stays here for three days,” was her simple reply. It was embarrassing and wonderful all at the same time. We’d done nothing other than take the time to be friendly and enjoy ourselves but, apparently, this wasn’t what the staff were accustomed to.

It seemed like a good time to have an extra beer and then an early night.

The following morning was our turn to be early away. We were breakfasted and packed before seven and James was ready to leave soon after that. He said there was a knocking coming from under the car that we would have to get someone to take a look at, but it was nothing serious and would only take a few minutes welding from the mechanics we found once we got to Emali.

Our drive north to our next stop, in the highlands west of Lake Nakuru would be more than 400km and take us back through the Nairobi traffic and on down into the rift valley. In the end it was an uneventful trip, the roads are fairly good all the way, but the traffic is very heavy. The road we followed was, for the most part, the main haulage route from the port of Mombasa deep into the interior, a major rout for materials to as far away as Uganda, Rwanda and the Congo.

Once north of Nairobi, we opted to take the scenic route down into the rift valley. The road drops steeply down the eastern escarpment to the valley floor, descending about 500m in just a couple of kilometres of twists and turns filled with trucks. The western edge of the road is lined with little tourist shops and cafes, all hanging out over the edge of the slope into empty space.

It’s a great drive if you have the time to enjoy it. The rift valley in Kenya is pretty spectacular, with walls rising anything up to 1000m in places and the floor of the rift itself filled with lakes and volcanoes. We drove past Mount Longonot, with its mysterious forest-filled crater summit, spied the gorge of Hells Gate National Park in the western distance and skirted around the shores of Lake Naivasha and the much smaller Lake Elmenteita. All the time you are conscious of the steep side of the escarpment on the left as you continue north.

Our destination was still further north and west, past Lake Nakuru and the large town on its northern shore, out to the town of Njoro and then just a little further to Kembu Cottages and Campsite. We eventually arrived as it was getting dark, were shown to our cottage and, after an early dinner, went back in the darkness to have an early night.