We were up early with raging hangovers and were packed and ready to leave by 8.30 a.m.. We said goodby to Stu and Nat who were still in their roof tent and we set off, knowing they would catch us up on the second leg as they covered the ground much quicker than we did. The second part of the journey was actually not as bad as the first as the rocks and boulders gave way to more corrugations and potholes. We made good time and Stu & Nat caught us up just outside the village of Samburu which is the entrance to Samburu National Park where we had decided to spend Christmas. We didn't really have enough food with us, only tinned and packet stuff, with which to make Christmas food so we stopped at Samburu to do some shopping. In these remote Kenyan villages you soon get a 'Mr Fixit' who takes you around all the various shops and stalls and makes sure you get what you want for a good price and we found ourselves a massive young Kenyan by the name of Tony. We mentioned that we wanted meat and he took Nat shopping in the butchers lounge to find lamb whilst Peter & I bought some veggies. We also wanted some beers but in the villages they are always reluctant to let you take the bottles as they must pay a deposit on them. Tony managed to sort it for us and soon we were armed with everything we needed and we waved goodbye to our helpers wishing them all a Merry Christmas.

We entered the Park and immediately we started to see the animals, at last we had arrived, this is what we had travelled all the way to Africa to see. Never having been in a game park before we were totally mesmorised as we drove along the tracks in our own vehicles and elephants just walked in front of us or stood at the side munching leaves totally ignoring us. We could pull up alongside, turn the engine off and just watch them so close we could see their eyelashes. We saw many gazelles and other small animals as we tried to find a place to camp along the river. Eventually we were happy with our camp and set everything up whilst Stu built a fire. Nat being the wonderful cook that she is produced all the ingredients from her huge to make a fresh pizza and we had poratoes cooked in the fire. Whilst we were eating an elephant came by the came very closely and as it was dark we couldn't see it but could hear it trampling the bushes. We sat quietly so as not to scare it so it didn;t come trampling through the camp.

On Christmas Eve we went on a game drive leaving at about 7.30 a.m. and spent hours driving round watching the elephants, crocodiles, water buffalo , zebras, giraffe, impala, orxz and numerous other animals it was amazing. The elephants were wallowing in the mud in the river and then rolling in the dust to clean themselves and keep cool. We called into one of the fancy game lodges for a coffee and had the idea of asking if their chef would be kind enough to sell us some chicken so we could make Christmas dinner. We bought wine and champagne and went out with a box from the chef which included bread and 3 whole chickens!!!

Dinner on Christmas Eve was a delicious lamb curry with rice and potatoes again done over the camp fire. We manged to get to bed early that night and rose at 6 a.m. to go in search of the elusive lions. We asked if anyone had been lucky enough to see any and were given directions to where they may be hanging out. We saw many lion prints and group of about 5 lions but couldn't track them down. In the afternoon we went back to the lodge for a lunchtime drink and were back in our camp ready to make Dinner which again turned out to be a delicious meal. Sitting later in the evening we had quite a scare because there was a lion in the bushes near us at first we could hear him roaring but later he was so close somewhere we could actually hear him breathing in the bushes near the camp. It was an amazing experience and I'll never forget that sound, it was so close it made the hairs on your arms stand up.

We were woken on boxing day by a family of baboons using the 2 vehicles as climbing frames and we watched quietly from our beds for an hour as they played in the trees and inspected all our chairs, tables and everything that we had around camp, even putting their hands into the burning embers of the fire to pick scraps. We had had a bit of trouble with them later as we made breakfast because a huge male stole some bread and they can become aggresive at times

Peter had to change the front wheel on the truck as yesterday we found we had a slow puncture. We had managed to get along the bad road without any punctures when some people have had numerous but managed to get one whilst offroading in Samburu. The truck was parked in the sun and Peter was very hot and sweaty by the time he finished.

We left by lunchtime and travelled to Aberdere National Park to stay at the country club which is an old British Officers Army Barracks set well into the Park. We enjoyed our last meal with Stu & Nat and had a couple of drinks in the bar and it felt just like we were in the officers mess. When we arrived at the country club both vehicles were an absolute mess full of dusk and mud,in fact we had wondered whether they would turn us away we all looked such a mess. When we got up next day the staff had washed both our truck and Stuart's Landrover which was a welcome sight. Peter & I went on a game walk and walked up cloe to many giraffe and zebra in fact I think the giraffe watch us as much as we watch them and our guide told us that sometimes white men can get closer to the animals as they don't have as much fear of them as they do a black man who may be a poacher.

We set off for Nairobi and Peter became ill along the way. He hadn't felt too good when we arrived the day before and had slept for the afternoon. The nearer we got to Nairobi the worse he got, so much so that as he sat shivering in the passenger seat, aching and turning blue I began to fear he may have malaria or something. I had not driven inany of the large cities before but didn't have an option and decided to drive him to a hospital. When we found one and went to casualty the waiting time was an hour so decided to get to the campsite and he could sleep again and see if he got any better before going to hospital again. He slept all afternoon and night and in the morning felt a little bit better. Eventually he recovered and we put it down to heat exhaustion or dehydration as he had drunk many beers over Christmas and not much water, it was very hot and then he had the exertion of changing the wheel.