Home again

Back in Chinnor! Hope you have enjoyed the blog.


The Bobs

Masai Mara pictures

Our driver Titus

sunset

Sunrise

Bobby looking out of our van

Topi - indigenous to Masai Mara and Serengeti National Parks

Bobby in Tanzania - this marks the border, so he got a quick step over into another country.

The Mara River, where you see all those documentaries shot about wildbeest migrating and getting eaten by crocodiles. This picture shows loads of wildebeest bones washed up on the bank.

Bobby getting to see Cheetah!!

Lions feeding on a Hartebeest

Bobby with some Masai men. Daniel on the far right took us for a walk in the forest.

Masai toothbrush. Cut from a special tree, chewed until brush-like, and then our teeth were the whitest they've been in a long time.

Mida Creek pictures

Bobby on the mud flat at Mida Creek. This is an area that A Rocha Kenya has started an ecotourism project that will benefit the local community by providing bursaries for local children to attend secondary school.

a skink at the Mwamba centre

Bobby on our snorkeling boat with new friends Ernst and Jean from Lincolnshire

Mida Creek, a tidal mangrove creek

Masai Mara

It was a 5 hour drive from Nairobi to the Masai mara.We drove through the Rift Valley, which is famous for being the place where the oldest human skeletons were found.When we got to our camp we ate lunch and read our books for a bit, then went out on a drive.On are first drive we saw about 9 Lions at a kill, it looked like a small Zebra.We also saw lots of Gazelle, Cape Buffalo and Giraffes.The next day we left at 8am and came back around 4:30pm.In the morning on that drive we found two Cheetahs lying on the grass and they went under a tree,we watched them there for a while then went to find some more animals.Just before lunch we went to Mara River,we saw lots of Hippos and a Crocodile.We went to a crossing point for the Wildebeest migration, some movies were made here about it.There are lots of bones by the side of the river.In the hottest part of the day we stopped by a pair of lions, and because our van gave some shade the Lions came right next to it.They were about a metre away from us.After that we went back to were the Cheetahs were and drove rite up to them,I could almost have reached and touched them!The day after we went for an early morning drive,we didn’t see very many cat save some Lions eating a Hartebeest, a big antelope with horns in the shape of a heart.We went out again at 3 O’ Clock and saw more Lions and Gazelle,loads of Zebra and Wildebeest.All together we must have seen about 15 Lions, and by the 10th one we were like “O, another Lion.” We only saw the two Cheetahs and no leopards, but it was great.We also saw hyenas, Jackals,Warthogs,mongoose and Topi gazelle which you can only find in that area.There were lots more things, too many to list.There were also lots of animal skeletons lying around some with the hair still on but bones sticking out, I’m sure all the Girls will like to hear about that, not!   

Snorkeling wound

Skype

Big Bob here. Had a great talk with Cindy just now. The wonders of Skype. We sitting here at the beach, cooling off with some calamari and she freezing cold deciding whether or not to take the kids sledging (sledding for those Americans reading).

We are going to try and get back online Sunday and update. But in case we can't, we fly to Nairobi on Monday and stay the night. Then leave early Tuesday for a 6 hour drive to Masai Mara game reserve. Hoping to see lots of Cheetah. Will be there three nights, then back to Nairobi where we will be staying with some good friends from India. Then back to the UK on Saturday the 11th.

This is a picture of the view from our internet connection site - fills in the bright light in the picture with Bobby at the computer

Transport to the Internet

some pics from our week so far at Watamu

Our week

Wednesday, we saw a shark just by the beach, it was a Black-tipped reef shark. On our way out on a boat, we saw a sea turtle. On Thursday we went for a swim near where we are staying. There were some rockpools, but it was very rough and we only saw a few things. We have seen two Guitarfish and three Stingrays. Loads of Lionfish and we saw four of my favourite fish, the Emperor Angelfish.

We went to the Bio-Ken Snake farm. There are lots of poisonous snakes here in Kenya and this centre studies them and prepares anti-venom for people who get bit. We held three snakes and a Chameleon.

I beat Daddy in Monopoly!

I tried Ugali, which is a maize sort of mashed potatoish kinda thing. I didn’t like it very much. There was some spicy sauce that the cook made, but I told him it wasn’t very spicy. So now he is going to try and make something that will blow my head off.

I learned how different the climates are here in Kenya. Now it is the complete opposite from where we were last week. We are always sweating here.

Oops a daisy, I am supposed to be dead.

Internet

We'll try and post again on Friday. We can get an internet connection at a hotel on the beach, but have to walk an hour to get there. Not bad, though, as its along the Indian Ocean, looking out over the reefs. Sorry, had to rub it in :)

Beachside

We  flew on a small plane to a city called Lamu and then on to Malindi where we picked up a taxi to the A Rocha centre. We went swimming in the Indian Ocean right after arriving. We eat rice, rice, rice, just rice. Rice for lunch, rice for dinner and toast for breakfast. But the monkeys are nice. We went snorkeling the next day in the morning and in the afternoon. There is a marine park, so we had to walk a long way down the road in the hot sun to get a permit to be able to get into the park. The second day, we hired a boat which came and picked us up on the beach in front of the study centre. I saw a shark, a turtle, fish, starfish, and corals. The first place we went to was on the main coral reef and was about 40 feet deep! I saw my favourite fish, an emporer angelfish. We saw a big anenome.

Our room is quite nice. We sleep under a mosquito net and it is boiling hot. There are lots of lizards here. Everyone here at the centre are very nice and I made a new friend. We played top trumps together. I have to wash dishes! Every morning there are monkeys outside and on our roof.

I also got stung by a jellyfish and have five minutes to live, goodbye.

Heading to the Coast

On Sunday the 28th we leave the mountains and head to the coast. We're staying at A Rocha's Mwamba Field Study Centre. Have had great internet connection here, hopefully will be ok there and will update with pictures and stories as we can.

Commenting

Have heard from a few that it is difficult to comment on the blog, not sure why as it is the first one we've ever done! If you have trouble, but still want to get a message to Bobby, feel free to email us bobsluka@hotmail.com. If you put "message for Bobby" in the subject, then I won't delete as junk :)

Learning to Bargain

On Friday we went to the Masai Market.I was looking for one of those little wood carvings.My Dad told me that here you have to bargain,because there is no set price.I wanted a medium sized Gazelle.A guy came up to us and showed me one we asked the price,KSH 3500(Kenyan Shillings),My Dad put on the voice that he normally puts on when he is talking to someone from a different country or language and said,"no,no,no,no,a lady over there was selling something the same size as this for KSH 500." So we walked away and the guy shouted for us to come back,so we came back and walked away again a couple of times.Eventually he offered us KSH 1000 and my Dad said "no, no, no. We'll pay 600." He said "800!" Then my Dad said "you say 800, I say 600, let's make it 700." So we agreed on this price. I walked away happy.

Note: 1 Pound is worth about 130 KSH. So the starting price was about £27 and the final price was about £5.

Our cottage

The skink

Lizard

At last!We've seen a lizard. It was dark grey with two white stripes.We have just gone for a walk and I caught a yellow-black beetle with a trunk like nose as well as a large black creature with huge fangs and a stinger at the end of its tail.Our backpacks still weigh a ton.

Out of Breath

Big Bob here. I was just walking to our room and noticed how out of breath I was. Now, I am unfit right now, but not that unfit! Then I remembered, we are at about 2300 m elevation, which for the Americans reading this is 7352 feet. By contrast, Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the UK is 1,344 m (4,409 ft). The higher you go, the thinner the air and therefore the lower the concentration of oxygen. Hopefully we'll adjust soon.

Some pics from our safari at Nairobi National Park