Day 47 to 51 - 16th to 20th December - Kenya

Point of departure : Amboseli National Park

Point of arrival : Nairobi

Accommodation: rooftop tent - Jungle Junction, Nairobi (email Chris at [email protected]) GPS co-ordinates S 01 17 325E 36 45 635

Km travelled today: 229 km Cum 8 925: km (gravel 68 km cum 2 283 km)

Countries so far: 6/16

Where to next? Rift Valley area

Total number of photos taken: 195 (cum 2 755)

Leaving Tortilis, we were advised of a short cut across Lake Amboseli, now dry due to the drought.It was amusing watching the car icon on the gps heading across the "waters" of the lake.Hilde was very confused.The good news is that it really was a short cut back to Namanga.The road to Nairobi was a mixture of reasonable tar and atrocious deviations and after a brief visit to the Nairobi National Park Services (now Acacia) camp site (we did not have a good feeling about it) we continued to Jungle Junction (an immediate very good feeling about it).After a brief orientation with Chris, we returned to our vehicle to find that Brian and Carol Jones (who Marina has been in touch with) were our immediate neighbours.We also met Bob Foster (his wife Maria flew to SA for a temporary visit) and Peter and Liz from the UK (who travelled down the west coast of Africa and now returning via the east).

Jungle Junction is really a meeting place for overland travellers, from the motorbike fraternity, the landrover/landcruiser fraternity (such as ourselves) and the individual overland truckers (ie not the group overland trucks).The camaraderie is excellent and everybody happy to share stories and information.It looks like we could have travelling companions for the NFD (Northern Frontier Territory) of Kenya into Ethiopia.

Day 48 - a working day!We discovered we could also get a 24 hour service for Sudanese visas so visited the South African High Commission to get our mandatory letter of introduction and then on to the Sudanese Embassy to put in our application.Then onto Junction shopping centre for some grocery supplies, Marina's "service" (haircut and waxing) and lunch at the Java Coffee Shop Nairobi… it felt like our first bit of "civilisation" for quite a while.

Back to the Jungle and a communal dinner with our new found Australia/UK/SA fellow travellers, including a bottle of SA wine which we still had in the fridge.

Day 49 - Service day (this time for the Beast)!We had debated about using the local Toyota franchise a combination of convenience and security and local advice, persuaded us to have the service done at the Jungle… a significant workshop for bikes but also competency for vehicles.We also had the necessary filter spares and believe we will get a good job done here… certainly our fellow travellers recommended it.

Apart from that a quiet day in the shade, with Marina updating the blog, attending to emails and accounting work.Then off to the Sudanese embassy at 15h00 to collect our passports and visas.

We used all our spare oil and fuel filters and also discovered that the one front shock was leaking oil and needed to be replaced again, from our stock.The challenge now is to get the other front spare shock that we have in our garage at home.

We had a very pleasant evening, with a communal dinner with Brian & Carol, Peter & Liz and Bob.

Day 50 - tourist day!First stop the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage next door to the Nairobi National Park is an orphanage for elephant calves and rhinos from all over Kenya.It was founded and, is still managed, by Daphne Sheldrick, the widow of David Sheldrick (one of Kenya's best known Game Wardens). He was at the centre of the 1970's Ivory poaching wars in Tsavo National Park.

Elephant calves (between 1 month and 16 months) orphaned by poaching are brought here from all over Kenya.They receive personal care 24/7 from dedicated staff who become surrogate mothers to these orphaned elephants. At about one year old, the calves leave the Nairobi Nursery with their human family (calves are grouped and the oldest is the "matriarch") and are transferred to the Voi Rehabilitation Centre at Tsavo National Park and are accepted into the still dependent group of larger orphans that have preceded them through the Nursery.There they begin the reintegration back into the wild elephant herds with days spent walking in the wild with their keepers where they encounter the scent of the wild herds and actually spending time amongst them. They then rejoin their keepers in the evenings. Between 1987 and 2009, the Orphanage has successfully hand-reared over 85 newborn and very young calves through the Nairobi Nursery in addition to others old enough to be able to bypass the Nursery. By 2009, 36 ex Nursery elephants from Voi were fully rehabilitated and leading normal wild lives amongst the herds at Tsavo. Similarly the older orphans from the Ithumba Rehabilitation Centre, also at Tsavo, are leading normal wild and free lives.(www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org)

We spent an hour watching the calves (the youngest was 2 months old) being fed milk and playing in the dust and water - a very special moment watching these little ones.

Then off to the Giraffe Centre in Langata, just outside Nairobi.The centre has been set up as a breeding centre for the endangered Rothschild giraffe and also operates conservation/education programmes for school children.The Centre was founded in 1979 by the late Jock Leslie-Melvile, a Kenyan citizen of British descent. His late wife, Betty (American born) had earlier discovered the plight of the Rothschild giraffe- there were only 120 left on an 18 000 acre farm in Kenya. Rothschild giraffes are endemic to Kenya, although some are found in Uganda. Today, there are over 300 - all safe and breeding well in different locations in Kenya.(www.giraffecenter.org)

There is an elevated feeding platform where we met the resident giraffes face to face.We hand fed the giraffes special pellets. Although it was amazing to see how they use their long prehensile tongues to remove leaves from prickly acacia branches. Apart from feeding them, no other human contact is allowed. We then had a 30 minute talk on the Kenyan giraffes (Maasai, Reticulated and Rothschild).The Rothschild is unique in that it does not have "white socks" ie no markings on the lower legs.

Next stop - Karen Blixen (from Out of Africa fame) Museum. Ake Sjogren built the house in 1912 and called it "Mbogani".The 6 000 acre estate was bought in 1917 by Bror and Karen Blixen and was run as a coffee plantation.

Karen lived in her house (renamed Bogani) from 1917 until 1931. Due to various natural disasters, the Karen Coffee Company was on the verge of bankruptcy and the Blixen families were no longer prepared to subsidise so, the property was sold to a Nairobi developer.The house had various occupants until 1963 when it was bought (with 36 acres of adjoining land) by the Danish government who presented it to the people of Kenya to mark their independence. In 1985 the National Museums of Kenya turned Karen House into a museum. This area has developed into a modern suburb and is now called Karen.The house is in its original condition.The film was filmed on location here.The house has magnificent views of the Ngong Hills (in Maasai "Ngong" means "knuckles" - the hills look like the knuckles on a hand) and every effort has been made to decorate the house in its original style (many of the decor and props are from the 1985 film production).

Back to JJ's for a delicious chicken curry dinner with Bob (the chef), Peter and Claire.

Day 51 - Sunday morning John was picked up by Rod (his cousin) and taken out to a local airstrip some 15km out of town. After meticulously preparing the microlight, Rod and John took off for a scenic flight southwest of Nairobi towards Lake Magadi, one of the soda lakes in the Rift Valley.The flight presented a beautiful panorama of the Rift Valley, the lake and at one point a lodge on the side of the escarpment overlooking the valley below. They were in the air for a total of 2 hours. Marina in the meantime met up with Debbie, Rod's wife, (Marina drove in Nairobi!) for coffee and then eventually we all met up for lunch at the Rusty Nail restaurant (owned by Rod's cousin Sue). We then spent a lovely evening at their home and spent the night. Once our again our thanks to them both for their warm hospitality.