ten dollars verses 200

[Ross]

As I said in my last post, having traveled through India and having seen the poverty there, I wanted my African safari to be a little bit more meaningful and since I am not the "luxury" kind of a guy I wanted to experience Africa for what it is and that means roughing it a little bit. Sleeping in a tent is not a problem but at the same time, which safari company to travel with.

Well, Planet Kenya safaris of course!

They are not the best company and the driver somehow seemed to have lost his sense of humor in the bush somewhere but at the same time, the company was set up to fund Njaaga's home of hope for children and sometimes it is the only source of income that keeps the fifty five children alive.

Staying in big resorts is fine, I am sure of it but where exactly does your dollar go, back to the US, the UK or does it actually go towards helping the local people???

Well, something to think about

 

Using Planet Kenya Safaris, I went o Amboselli park. I have known about this park and it's many elephant herds and was very much looking forward to finally getting there. If anyone has travelled to Kenya, they would know that the roads are shocking but the road to Amboselli is even more so. Eighty kilometres of corrugated surface which has forced all drivers to drive to the side of the road which is slowly widening the road it self.

On the way, many locals have taken filling in the potholes for any loose change travellers are willing to depart with. Imagine all day filling in holes with dirt and only having the next vehicle drive over them and forcing the dirt to fly everywhere....

Finally we arrived at the gate and excitement was building up. Maasai women were selling their souvenirs and surprising the prices were very good. We just had to stop on the way out.

Driving through the park reminded me of a desert for that is exactly what it is in the dry season. Just dirt flying every where, mini twisters popping up every where and of course the mirage right in front.

Animals in the distance looked as though they were disappearing in to thin air.

 

this was the Africa I came to see.

 

we arrived at the camping ground and we set up camp. The camping ground was surrounded by an electric fence which would make one feel more comfortable knowing that we were sleeping in tents, BUT....

during the nigh there is no back up battery to keep the electricity going and the elephants have learned this and I found out the hard way at 4am one night.

My first night in a tent, in an African desert and I could not sleep for I was too busy listening to the lions roaring and the hyenas laughing. "music to my ears"

Then at 4am I heard branches being pulled off the tree my tiny tent was under. I sat up wondering what was happening then I heard the elephant's burp. A bull elephant decided to feed around ten feet away from my tiny one man tent. It is amazing how tiny we, the humans really are when next to a Majestic giant like a bull elephant.

My heart was racing though and it was racing faster than I would have liked it to but this is what I came to experience. looking through the entrance of my tent, I could see the out line of his body against the full moon but what was I to do????

My guide was asleep in the bus. (smart man, he's done this before)

Finally I grabbed my camera and the torch and took off running towards the trunk of the tree for I knew that if he tried to charge, I could climb it. five minutes later the couple I was traveling with did the same thing and there, we were, the three of us huddled under the tree and feeling the COLD African night.

Amboselli may be a desert but it gets very cold at night.

We survived the event and we even had a laugh during breakfast.

Amboselli really is beautiful and with Mt Kilimanjaro in the backround, it makes it truly spectacular. Unfortunately though when we were there, there was too much dust in the air to I could not take a clear picture of the mountain.

On our way out of the park, we stopped at the gate to check out and of course the Maasai were there selling their goods. One guy did get my attention but he was asking for too much for what he was selling but out of the blue he asked to swap with the "Australian cap" I was wearing. He halved his price which I managed to bring it down further and he agreed. He got my cap($4aus) and 1000 shillings and I got a carved Maasai spear, a Maasai knife(the one that is concealed in a tube???) again, carved to perfection

 

what a way to end the weekend but we still had the eighty kilometres of corrugated iron road up ahead

 

Oh well, it's all in the fun of being on a safari

 

Ross

[Atravelynn]

So you ran out of your tent in the night with a torch? Did you consider you might frighten the elephant or was that the lesser of two evils in your mind at that point (the other evil being crushed by elephant or falling tree?) How long were you three huddled around the tree trunk in the cold? Did the elephant seem to even notice you?

 

What a middle-of-the-night adventure!

[Ross]

So you ran out of your tent in the night with a torch? Did you consider you might frighten the elephant or was that the lesser of two evils in your mind at that point (the other evil being crushed by elephant or falling tree?) How long were you three huddled around the tree trunk in the cold? Did the elephant seem to even notice you?

 

It was roughly around 4.30am and it was a full moon so torches were not needed to see where we were going.

Frightening the Elephant was the last thing I would think about for my concern was "my tuny one man tent with me in it".

The Acasia tree we took shelter under was the biggest I have ever seen and we would have no prpblems climbing it for the branches were low to the ground. We would have been under the tree for roughly around 45 minutes before our cook woke. The Elephant did not even blink an eye lid and kept on eating.

 

Ross

[Atravelynn]

The Elephant did not even blink an eye lid and kept on eating.

 

I don't know how often people camped where you did, but this could be a nearly nightly routine for the elephant. He eats near the tents and the occupants scamper out and head to the big acacia tree. No need to blink or interrupt your meal.