Nairobi & Masai Mara - Kenya

Because all the rooms in main house were taken we  spent last night in a room attached to Indaba's dorm near the workshop's. Luckily no one was in the dorm itself but we couldn't rely on it staying that way so today we were moving back into the house. Unfortunately it was just for tonight as tomorrow all the rooms were booked again so we would have to spend our last night in the roof tent, such is life on the road sometimes.

To be on the road for as long as we are you need a lot of gear which takes up all available space. Consumables like food, drink and valuables like the spare parts, tools, camera gear & clothes we carry in the back box. Bulky items like the roof tent, camp beds, chairs, tables, second spare wheel and recovery gear sit on the roof sealed in a canvas zip bag.

We had the bag specially made in Johannesburg back in early 2006 and it has proved to be a great asset, easier to pack and store stuff it is also more secure as everything is hidden from view and held down. The bag is exposed to the elements whilst the contents remain largely protected but recently the single large zip, which goes all around the bag, had started to split in places and was becoming a problem. We needed to replace it ASAP, however replacing a 13 foot long continuous heavy duty zip is easier said than done especially in Africa where materials are few and far between.

Apart from acting as a base for various overland company trucks Indaba also has it's own fleet and at the back of the property there is a large workshop and parking area where at any one time there is usually up to a dozen trucks parked up waiting to go out on trips to Cape Town, Cairo or just within East Africa. The overlanders on these trips come from all over the world and they mix camping with staying in lodges or hotels.

Each truck carries twenty or more tents so Indaba employs guys who are kept busy repairing and sewing all day. When we mentioned our problem to Paul, Indabas operations manager he said they could replace our zip for 3,000 Kshs (~  £25) which was great, the only problem was it could not be done while it was in situ so we would have to completely unpack it and take it off Rupert's roof, a pain in the ass but it had to be done.  

The problem was storing the stuff while the bag was being repaired, we had faced this before in Lusaka, Zambia when we had taken the whole roof rack off to get it repaired, then we had had no choice but to put the ground tent up and use that as a store room, luckily this time Indaba had a lockable container we could use.

The inside of Rupert was full of Samburu dust so while the zip bag was being repaired we cleaned him out then by the time the bag was ready and we had repacked it it was dinner time so we went out for Pizza, tomorrow we would get our food and other provisions for the Masai Mara.

In the morning we were out bright and early, the first port of call was to get Rupert washed, in Africa garages don't have automated car washes, labour is so cheap everything is done by hand, 200 Kshs (~ £1.50) for a full body jet wash, we only ever get the outside done as the Nairobi method of washing the interior is to let lose with the jet wash and leave the doors open to let it dry!   

Next stop was the big Hypermarkets Uchumi and Nakumatt to buy food and drink for the Mara plus a new paraffin lamp to replace the one the guard broke in Samburu.  Final stop was to fill up with fuel after all this we just had enough time to get back to Indaba, pack away the provisions then have a drink and a shower before dinner.

As we were sleeping in the roof tent tonight and Indaba was full of noisy overlanders we were going out for dinner to the Karen Blixen restaurant. It is one of our favourite eating places and we hoped by the time we got back most of the overlanders would have gone to bed so we could then put the tent up in peace and get a decent nights sleep before the long journey to the Mara. 

As usual we had a lovely meal at Karen, it was about 11.30pm when we got back to Indaba so we expected most if not all to be in bed, however as we arrived our hearts sank, the bar was still open and to make matters worse someone had parked in the spot were we planned to put the roof tent up!

There was nothing for it but to go in the bar to find out whose car it was and politely ask if they could move to allow us to get to bed. As we walked I knew we were doomed, sitting at the bar was Thiemo & Debs, two old friends who we hadn't seen since New Years Eve. Normally we would have been delighted but we knew from experience that there was now no way we would be getting to bed for a good while.

Thiemo is German and Debs a Kiwi, both overland drivers for many years, Thiemo in particular was doing trans Africa in the early days and knows Africa like the back of his hand, he's also an expert mechanic and knows where to get parts in virtually any place you can name. Debs is six foot tall, swears like a trooper, as does Thiemo, and both are great fun, if you get into a drinking session with them you know about it.

It was clear a few drinks had gone down already and we would not get off easily, the car in our spot was Thiemo's and he wouldn't move it until we had a drink with them, it was no good pleading we had a long way to go tomorrow, to these guys a drive to the Mara is just a jaunt. Shaun & Tim a driver and guide off two other trucks were with them. As we were having a drink two guys who we didn't know came in covered in oil, smelling of diesel and laughing their heads off.

They were pretty drunk so it was hard to make out what they  were saying until we realised one had a part off one of the trucks, a fuel lift pump to be exact. It turned out he had removed it off a truck going out at the crack of dawn, the driver of the truck was Dammo a dour South African who we had seen about the place but who never said a word, he certainly didn't give us the impression he would see the funny side of this!

To the others however it seemed hilarious, Thiemo said in the old days much worse tricks were played, like brakes being sabotaged, everyone expected something to be done to their vehicle before they were due to leave and if Dammo was any good he would soon realise what the problem was and fix it, as we listened I began to worry what might happen to Rupert while we slept!

The lift pump had a small glass cover and even though it had traces of diesel in it, it was promptly put into service as a shot glass so things got even worse, it wasn't until Effjie, Indabas camp manager came in at 2am and closed the bar did the party end and Thiemo & co went home, at last we could put up the roof tent and get to bed.      

At 6am we heard movement outside and peeking out we saw the overlanders on Dammo's truck starting to load their gear in readiness for leaving early. Very soon Dammo appeared and without saying a word to anyone started checking the truck, did he know about the lift pump? If he did he didn't seem at all bothered.

We could watch without being seen but we still felt uneasy as to how Dammo would re-act once he realised someone had sabotaged his truck. We didn't have long to wait as he jumped up in the cab and started the engine. At first all seemed well, the engine started first time and ran smoothly, had someone put the lift pump back, we just couldn't see how in the four hours since we went to bed?

Dammo jumped down from the cab and wandered to the back to check how the loading was going, the engine continued running then suddenly stopped, of course there had been enough fuel in the line to start the engine and let it run for a while but once that ran out, there was nothing being pumped up to replace it.

By now most of the overlanders had stowed their gear away and were standing around, laughing and joking. It was their first day of their trip, maybe the first time to Africa and all were clearly excited to be off shortly, none had realised yet that the truck wasn't going anywhere at the moment.

Dammo himself seemed very calm as he just walked back to the cab got in and tried to re-start the engine, it was only when it turned over a few times and the engine didn't start that a few overlanders started to take notice. Dammo jumped down and started to jack the truck cab up to access the engine, at this point Tim, the guide who had been in the bar with Thiemo, hoved into view and said something to him, we thought he must be telling him about the pump! 

We expected Dammo to go ballistic but he just calmly walked back into the main house and a minute later Effjie appeared and opened up the bar, within seconds Dammo was walking back to the truck with the lift pump in his hand, he re-fitted it in a few minutes, started the engine and amid cheers from his overland group shouted for everyone to get on board and away they went -  you had to be impressed by his cool response.

We couldn't hang around ourselves as we put the tent down, quickly had breakfast and paid our bill leaving Indaba at 8.45am. The day was sunny and warm as we headed into the city centre to catch the road west towards Narok and the Masai Mara, the traffic as usual was very busy as we got closer to the centre.

We were chatting away so only at the last moment did I realise as we approached a busy roundabout that we needed to be on the inside lane in order to take a left, glancing in the nearside wing mirror I started to move over when suddenly a horn blared out, moving back swiftly another Landrover came racing along side us full of police-shit!     

Winding down their window they shouted at us to pull over, with a sinking feeling I knew this was likely to cost us dear, Kenyan and especially Nairobi police are notorious for extorting money from the public and tourists are no exception, in fact even more of a target for some.

Sure enough they aggressively accused us of dangerous driving and said we must pay a fine. I was convinced they had seen us indicating to move into the nearside lane and had speeded up so it appeared we cut them up but there was no way we could prove it. I tried pleading we were new to Nairobi and only realised we needed to turn left at the last moment in the faint hope they would be sympathetic but it fell on deaf ears.

They said if we went to the police station the automatic fine would be 5,000 Kshs (~£45) but if we paid them now then it would be just 3,000 Kshs ( £26), it was clear we would have to pay so now it was just a question of how much, time to haggle.  After 20 minutes of arguing back and forward we settled on 2000 Kshs (£17) complete robbery but at least we had limited the damage and could now get on our way, the whole episode had lost us nearly an hour.

As we dropped down from the steep escarpment towards Narok the Rift Valley below was the clearest we had seen it but from here the road progressively got worse as the seemingly permanent roadwork's began, it didn't look like much work was going on and with just two months to go before the short rains are due it will be a nightmare once they arrive.

At noon we reached Narok the Masai capital and the last place before the Mara where we could get fuel, we also got cash at an ATM to replace what was taken by the Nairobi police scam.

Finally at 1.40pm we reached the Sekenani Gate and within minutes we were in the Masai Mara, it felt good to be back. We still had over an hour's drive before we would reach the Mara Triangle and our camp for the next week or so, maybe longer depending on what game we came across on the way.

Sure enough within minutes we came across Zebra and Hartebeest then a a big herd of Wildebeest but the best was when we found a Cheetah with a very young cub hiding under a bush. The cub could only have been a few weeks old at most as it's back was still covered in the thick downy fur which baby Cheetahs start out with but begin to lose after a month or so.

There were lots of puddles on the tracks indicating how much rain there had been recently, very unusual for this time of year we just hoped it stayed dry while we were here. At 3pm we reached the Mara Bridge, the gateway to the Mara Triangle, here we had to pay our entrance and camping fees.

This visit we would be camping for the first time on one of the special campsites, Olkeju Rongai, for which we had to pay an extra 7,500 Kshs on top of the normal camping fee of $US10 per person per day. The special sites are hidden away in the bush and not signposted so we had been told we would be shown the way by Cheetah 3, one of the anti harassment patrols, the only problem was they were out in the reserve so we had to wait while they tried to get them on the radio, a delay we could do without at this late stage of the day. 

Thankfully Cheetah 3 turned up quite quickly and we were on our way following their little Suzuki Jeep Northwards along the lower river road. We had driven this road before but we had no idea where Olkeju Rongai was and without the rangers we would have stood no chance of finding it as they took a minor track and we headed off through the bush.

After a number of twists and turns through a heavily wooded area we suddenly came into a clearing, behind us the trees in front the river bank, we had arrived at Olkeju Rongai, our private campsite. It was 4pm, a good time to arrive as we still had a good two hours of daylight left to get the ground tent up and settle in, we had travelled 200 miles since leaving Indaba and we were looking forward to a few Gin & Tonics.

After thanking the guys and giving them a cold coke each they left us to set up camp, their final words being "enjoy your stay", we were totally alone in an area which has the highest concentration of game and predators in the world, brilliant, imagine this situation in the UK with it's Nanny State ethos!

The camp sat on a high bank directly looking over the river which bent out of sight both left and right, directly below us in the water were a few of Hippo and on the opposite bank two big Crocodiles were basking on a sandbank, it was all very peaceful.

By 6pm we had the camp set up and we were just about to sit down to enjoy a few sundowners when suddenly we heard a lot of splashing from around the bend in the river, grabbing the cameras we ran along the edge of the bank and to our amazement found a big herd of Wildebeest on the opposite bank about to cross the river. Some animals had already leapt in and started to swim and as we watched more and more climbed down the steep bank and joined them.

We couldn't believe it, here we were with our own private crossing, crossings take place in lots of places along the river but most are so well known and accessible that scores of game viewing vehicles will wait, sometimes for hours, for the animals to cross, at times it can become a bit of a circus, here we had it all to ourselves, a totally unexpected bonus.

As the Wildebeest swam for our bank huge Crocs started to cut them off, most Wildebeest made it across in one piece but a few didn't and it was horrific to see the expressions on their faces as the Crocs grabbed them and the struggled to keep their heads above water.

Even though it was starting to get dark we watched till the last Wildebeest had crossed over and disappeared out of sight into the bush on our side of the river, then all was quiet again, the Crocs had taken their prey underwater somewhere and the Hippo's had moved off, once again we were totally alone, time to get back to camp light the fire and enjoy some dinner and a few drinks - what a fantastic start to our stay, we had a feeling this was going to be a safari to remember!