On Safari ! Day 1

This past weekend we were the ultimate tourists and went on safari!
We spent the weekend in view of Mount Kenya which is the tallest mountain in Kenya and the second tallest in Africa (next to Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania). We did not get to see the peak of Mount Kenya because it was cloudy and drizzly most of the weekend. The rain did not dampen our spirits and we are so grateful that the water crisis is momentarily over.
Our first night at Mountain Lodge was like being on a cruise ship. The hotel sits on the equator and in the middle of the jungle at a watering hole. You can’t leave the hotel without an armed ranger. There is a large balcony to sit and watch all the animals come to drink and bathe.
We saw dozens of water buffalo and water buck. A family of baboons were hanging out for a while. There was always a stork walking in the water waiting for the Egyptian geese to leave their babies unattended. He had eaten 6 goslings in a week and only two remained. The manager of the hotel, Jeconiah, taught Max and Simon to use a sling shot if the stork got too close to the goslings.
And then a group of 50 monkeys ran through the open area – one at a time. A monkey would run from one side of trees to the other side and then wave for the next monkey to follow. It took several minutes for the whole crew to make it across. We giggled at their personalities as some monkeys ran very fast, some meandered, some stopped half way to pick his nose,…..
The elephants were the most amazing! A group of 9 elephants walked through and disappeared into the trees. We were so surprised to see these huge animals “pop out” of little paths and then squeeze back in. The largest elephant stayed at the watering hole for awhile. We were hiding in a bunker only a few feet away while he sucked up water like a vacuum cleaner and then squirted it into his mouth like a waterfall. Elephants drink up to 50 litres of water a day. As he was leaving the area this HUGE animal got annoyed at two noisy geese. He made an irritated trumpeting sound and waved his big ears at them! They became quiet.


And besides the animals, our “cruise” had the typical delicious food. We were served 5 course meals which included a variety of Kenyan dishes. Max became fond of having cheese to end his meal. Simon was thrilled that he could have pineapple slices with warm chocolate sauce every meal. Tim enjoyed trying new soups – creamed vegetable, squash, carrot. Lisa was thrilled that someone else was doing the preparation and clean-up!
Albert was our excellent host.