Last weekend Megan and I decided to travel to 2 rarely visited lakes in the northern Rift Valley. Since they’re off the beaten track, getting there by public transit would have been quite the production and we decided to splurge and rent a car from one of our co-workers at FACES. We had a brief moment of delirium and considered driving ourselves but then came to our senses and were able to arrange for Michael, who works for KEMRI as a driver and mechanic, to accompany us and drive. After some unexpected last minute rental price re-negotiations we were on our way. We left a lot later than planned, and finished the last 2 hours of the 5 ½ hr drive in the dark. The descent into the Rift Valley is supposed to be spectacular; as we barreled along down windy roads in the pitch black I could imagine the scenery that was unfolding before us in the dark.
We arrived safely and checked into Roberts Camp – a campsite next to Lake Baringo popular with European camping safari groups; we stayed in a nice little banda. Two of Lake Baringo’s main attractions are the groups of hippos and Nile crocodiles that live there. I couldn’t wait. In fact, at Roberts Camp there are signs up telling people not to pitch their tents too close to the shore and to avoid leaving their tents after dark unless absolutely necessary because the hippos come out at night to graze and they’re really not very friendly.
The next morning we went on a boat trip for a couple hours around the lake. Despite having grown up on Lake Victoria, the grandson of a fisherman, this was Michael’s first boat trip (he had a traumatic childhood water experience). He was initially excited, then started to freak out and reconsider the sanity of our plan. We were finally able to talk him into coming along by showing him how to make that orange life jacket nice and snug. The Lake is beautiful, one of only 2 freshwater lakes in the Rift Valley; there are tons of birds everywhere, most unlike any I’ve seen before. I really need to get an African bird book – continue on my rapid course to early geriatric-hood.
Then, right off the shore at Roberts Camp we found a family group of hippos poking their eyes up above the water and eyeing us suspiciously. The huge male kept making angry snort-grunt-splashing noises, clearly displeased at our existence. Off in the shade there was one hippo by herself; we thought she might be sick, but then Megan’s OB-dar went off and we realized she was likely giving birth. Later that evening we walked past her from the shore and saw a teeny little hippo head right next to her.
We spent the afternoon lounging by the pool at the hotel next door, and had a nice dinner with Michael. Megan and I got up early the next morning and went on a cool hike up and over some of the cliffs nearby. From there we set out to Lake Bogoria, about an hour south.
Lake Bogoria is a saline lake with scorching geysers at the water’s edge; it’s known for its flamingos. The lake is surrounded by a national park, and pretty quickly we started seeing all those animals that you just can’t imagine actually live out in the wild. A couple of fat zebras were grazing at the water’s edge. We stopped to look at the flamingos and were about to get out of the car to take a closer look (you’re allowed to get out of the vehicle at Lake Bogoria) when we saw a cranky looking ostrich. We drove on a bit and stopped to get out. The flamingos saw us coming pretty much as soon as we opened the car door; they nervously started flocking away as we took a couple steps towards them. This edginess is understandable when you know there aren’t a lot of fish in the lake because of its salinity, and the fisher eagles have adapted by developing a taste for flamingo. Luckily didn’t have to see any of that.
We looked at the geysers along with a bus full of high schoolers, then as we headed back we saw some dik diks, Thompson’s gazelles, a warthog family (!) and another ostrich. Very cool. All in all a really fun trip despite the years taken off my life by the crazy drive out there and back; and I finally got to see my hippos!
The next morning we went on a boat trip for a couple hours around the lake. Despite having grown up on Lake Victoria, the grandson of a fisherman, this was Michael’s first boat trip (he had a traumatic childhood water experience). He was initially excited, then started to freak out and reconsider the sanity of our plan. We were finally able to talk him into coming along by showing him how to make that orange life jacket nice and snug. The Lake is beautiful, one of only 2 freshwater lakes in the Rift Valley; there are tons of birds everywhere, most unlike any I’ve seen before. I really need to get an African bird book – continue on my rapid course to early geriatric-hood.
Then, right off the shore at Roberts Camp we found a family group of hippos poking their eyes up above the water and eyeing us suspiciously. The huge male kept making angry snort-grunt-splashing noises, clearly displeased at our existence. Off in the shade there was one hippo by herself; we thought she might be sick, but then Megan’s OB-dar went off and we realized she was likely giving birth. Later that evening we walked past her from the shore and saw a teeny little hippo head right next to her.
We spent the afternoon lounging by the pool at the hotel next door, and had a nice dinner with Michael. Megan and I got up early the next morning and went on a cool hike up and over some of the cliffs nearby. From there we set out to Lake Bogoria, about an hour south.
Lake Bogoria is a saline lake with scorching geysers at the water’s edge; it’s known for its flamingos. The lake is surrounded by a national park, and pretty quickly we started seeing all those animals that you just can’t imagine actually live out in the wild. A couple of fat zebras were grazing at the water’s edge. We stopped to look at the flamingos and were about to get out of the car to take a closer look (you’re allowed to get out of the vehicle at Lake Bogoria) when we saw a cranky looking ostrich. We drove on a bit and stopped to get out. The flamingos saw us coming pretty much as soon as we opened the car door; they nervously started flocking away as we took a couple steps towards them. This edginess is understandable when you know there aren’t a lot of fish in the lake because of its salinity, and the fisher eagles have adapted by developing a taste for flamingo. Luckily didn’t have to see any of that.
We looked at the geysers along with a bus full of high schoolers, then as we headed back we saw some dik diks, Thompson’s gazelles, a warthog family (!) and another ostrich. Very cool. All in all a really fun trip despite the years taken off my life by the crazy drive out there and back; and I finally got to see my hippos!
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