That is, so long! We are departing for Zanzibar soon.
Now where were we? After overnighting in Nairobi, our next destination is Amboseli National Park.
![](https://randomrambles.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/IMG_5798-1024x640.jpg)
The dominant feature in Amboseli is Mount Kilimanjaro, which looms over the border in Tanzania.
![](https://randomrambles.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/IMG_5786-1024x683.jpg)
It becomes a personal challenge to see how many photos we can get with Kilimanjaro in the background.
![](https://randomrambles.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/IMG_5802-1024x704.jpg)
![](https://randomrambles.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/IMG_5799-1024x683.jpg)
![](https://randomrambles.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/IMG_5823-1024x683.jpg)
![](https://randomrambles.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/IMG_5788-1024x705.jpg)
There are many elephants in this park.
![](https://randomrambles.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/IMG_5850-1024x683.jpg)
There’s lots of water for them to cool off in.
![](https://randomrambles.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/IMG_5808-1024x700.jpg)
Lots of interesting birds, too. We see this saddle-billed stork successfully catch fish in the marsh at the side of the road.
![](https://randomrambles.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/IMG_5839-1024x683.jpg)
We also see a flock of distinctive gray crowned cranes.
![](https://randomrambles.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/IMG_5818-1024x683.jpg)
A gray crowned crane is the central feature of the Ugandan flag.
![](https://randomrambles.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Flag_of_Uganda-1024x683.png)
Our campsite is, um, pretty basic, with sporadic electricity and running water. We really enjoy it, though. The three nights we spend here, we sit in the light of a full moon with a glass of wine and listen to the jackals.
![](https://randomrambles.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/IMG_5794-1024x683.jpg)
A full-blown crisis erupts on our last morning in Amboseli: our car key is stuck in the rear door lock. All our worldly goods are in the car. The key is also the ignition key.
A local ‘mechanic’ is summoned. It takes two hours of patience to fit a length of stiff wire through the window weather-stripping to unlatch the door. It takes another hour and a half to dismantle the rear lock and free the key. Our bacon is saved.
Of course, this draws a crowd .
![](https://randomrambles.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/key_2-1024x654.jpg)
We are finally on our way to Tsavo West National Park. We take a shortcut via an unpaved road to our destination.
Parts of the landscape have well-tended, hand-worked fields. It looks more idyllic than the usual roadside scenery.
![](https://randomrambles.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/IMG_5862-1024x641.jpg)
Other parts look parched and neglected. Water is a big issue everywhere in Kenya.
![](https://randomrambles.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/IMG_5874-1024x683.jpg)
The ‘short’ rainy season is due to start any day now.
![](https://randomrambles.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/IMG_5870-1024x683.jpg)
Finally, we arrive at Jipe Lake. We stay at the delightful Lake Jipe Eco Camp.
![](https://randomrambles.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/IMG_5877-1024x683.jpg)
Next day, we set out through the Jipe Gate of the park.
![](https://randomrambles.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/IMG_5892-1024x683.jpg)
This is an enormous park (9065 square kilometres). One straight stretch follows the border fence for about twenty kilometres.
![](https://randomrambles.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/IMG_5895-1024x683.jpg)
Our goal is Mzima Springs. These springs gush out from under the volcanic mountains and are one of the main sources of water for Mombasa, hundreds of kilometres away.
![](https://randomrambles.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/IMG_5922-1024x680.jpg)
The water here is crystal clear. Besides hippos and crocodiles, there are unusual blue carp.
![](https://randomrambles.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/IMG_5916-1024x683.jpg)
I carry a stick to beat any over-inquisitive monkeys
![](https://randomrambles.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/IMG_5919-1024x683.jpg)
As usual, we get lost. Maria is now on a first-name basis with the park manager, after phoning several times for explicit directions.
![](https://randomrambles.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/IMG_5903-1024x683.jpg)
We come across a giraffe that blends in surprisingly well with the tree he’s standing next to.
![](https://randomrambles.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/IMG_5909-1024x683.jpg)
We cross the Rhodesia Bridge. This has been here since the beginning of World War One, when (British) East Africa declared war on nearby (German) East Africa (modern Tanzania).
![](https://randomrambles.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/IMG_5931-1024x683.jpg)
In the cool forest that lines this river, we see a mamma elephant and her little one.
![](https://randomrambles.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/IMG_5937-1024x776.jpg)
We cross over an abandoned stretch of the Uganda Railway, built by the British (with almost exclusively Indian labour) and completed in 1901.
![](https://randomrambles.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/IMG_5940-1024x683.jpg)
By the time we get back, the hippos are grazing by the lake.
![](https://randomrambles.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/IMG_5942-1024x683.jpg)
Our final day of driving takes us down the notoriously attention-demanding Mombasa-Nairobi Road. According to Wikipedia:
‘Due to the volume of traffic, and the concentration of heavy-duty transport vehicles, the route is accident-prone, accounting for a large number of injuries and fatalities in the region. In 2013 alone, 3,179 people lost their lives in traffic accidents on the combined Mombasa–Malaba Road.’
![](https://randomrambles.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/IMG_5944-1024x654.jpg)
We survive to reach the Wildebeest Eco Camp one more time for our last few days in Kenya.
![](https://randomrambles.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/IMG_5949-1024x659.jpg)
Sight or Insight of the Day
We notice these signs around Kenya wherever public servants are handling money.
![](https://randomrambles.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/corruption_free_zone-1.jpg)
Notably around the Nairobi National Museum. Which is pretty rich, considering the management of the museum have been busted embezzling hundreds of millions of Kenyan schillings recently.
![](https://randomrambles.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/CPZ_2.jpg)
As in most of Africa, people here are very poorly served by their government.