Morning Bird Walk

The hotel offered a bird walk with our guide from the night safari, Denge, and he was SO good that I got up very early this morning to learn more about the birds of Ol Pajeta. I was the best experience of this day. We just walked the grounds of the camp and saw some truly amazing birds. In our pre-child days, Regina and I did a lot of bird watching and it brought back all of those wonderful memories. Like many birders, Denge was an amazing fountain of knowledge and could spot and identify everyone by sight and call and was so good at guiding me to spotting and identifying them. It was almost too fast, they were coming every couple of seconds at first and I had to use voice record to transcribe them later when I had time. My goal for Sunday is to spend some time doing this and do a separate post for all the different species I was able to see while here. I have a few good pictures, but my camera capabilities and skills are not the best for bird captures, so I only have a few usable shots. Here is a picture of Denge and my best photo of the African Lilac-Breasted Roller. There are 7 colors on this bird!

After that, it was a quick breakfast, a goodbye to the 3 couples from Florida I joined for this experience, and the 4 hour, old knee crushing drive back to Nairobi. My only regret is that my students won’ be coming here, especially because I think the rhino conservancy would have been an especially fantastic learning experience for them. On the way back I tried to take more pictures of the transition from open plains to farming, to city and the incredible amount of activity always going on. Kudos to Regina. I usually do the driving and she does the car photography. I never realized how challenging it is to get good pictures from a moving car! Mount Kenya also made an appearance this morning and it was spectacular to see!

After settling back into my apartment where I will be for the next three days, and unpacking. I headed out for a walk to experience the bustle of urban Nairobi. It is intense, especially after the last few days in the bush. It reminded me of my days exploring Saigon, Hong Kong, and Shanghai, power walking through the city, though I am feeling my age being a bit less adventurous, a little more intimidated, and a little less able to power walk on one bionic knee and one that should be replaced. I headed out to dinner in a cross between a hip bar joint and an authentic African Restaurant called Momma Rocks! They serve beef and chicken burgers with African seasonings and toppings. It was great and enjoyable and I made my way back to the apartment for an early to bed night with the most sleep I have gotten since arriving.

One last thing about walking here, it isn’t quite as surreal as Vietnam because they do have a few traffic lights, but it is just as intense as you are walking right next to traffic with motorbikes weaving in and out. You also have to keep your phone safe in your pocket as it is common for them to speed by and grab phones from unsuspecting tourists. However, the added wrinkle is the British influence means they drive on the other side of the road and you have to condition yourself to looking the “wrong” before stepping out into the chaos. I was also the only white face I saw the entire time. I didn’t get hassled any more than I would on the streets in Philadelphia but, as all people of color will tell you, you definitely feel singled out. I wont say more than I think it is something that EVERY white American needs to experience at least once.

Finally, I said goodbye today to our two amazing driver/guides. Jackson, who is Masai, and Timothy who is from a village near where we spent the last few days. They were both amazing and I have exchanged contact information. I hope to be able to see them next year and have the students meet them as well.