Day 2 & 3 in Kenya

Okay, so it's Michelle again. Yesterday, Friday, we went to Lake Nakuru for a safari. We left around 3:00pm and arrived a little after 7:00pm. On my way to Nairobi, I flew thru Heathrow. I had a 3 hour layover that turned into 7 hours. During that time, I met a very nice woman who owns a safari company in Nairobi. I called her and she hooked us up big time. We stayed the night inside Lake Nakuru park at the Lake Nakuru lodge. As you can see from the pics above, it was beautiful! I was too lazy to take out my good camera, so the pictures of the dining room, our room, and our wonderfully tiled bathroom were taken with my point and shoot camera. Sundi has become the "owner" of my point and shoot and has changed all my settings. Didn't know this until after I took the pictures. So, they are taken "Sundi-style".
We got up at 5:00 in the morning to meet our driver, Peter, at 6:00am in the lobby. Yes, for those of you who know me, I got up early - amazing! It wasn't too difficult as we all shared the same room and I think all 4 of us were too excited to sleep. I think I only slept for about 2 hours. Didn't get to see the sunrise liked I had hoped - we were high up in the mountains and the clouds hadn't burned off yet. The best pic I could get of the morning sun was the pic above.


One of the very first things we saw was this lion. He was actually walking on the road along side the van. He crossed to the other side, found his friend, and they took off together down the road walking the opposite direction. Incredible sight!


Lake Nakuru calls itself "The greatest ornithological spectacle on earth". This is mostly because of the amazing number of pink and white flamingos (see below). This picture was just cool because the white birds were so stunning on top of this really pretty tree.


This antelope walked right in front of our vehicle. They have the coolest horns.
Damon has been cutting new molars, so he hasn't been the happiest person in the world. He had fun seeing the animals, but would probably have been happier at home. As soon as we got home, he just smiled and laughed the whole time.


Water buffalos are not to be messed with. Everytime we passed them (we did this a ton) they would give us the dirtiest look. Peter explained to us that they are very dangerous, especially if they are alone. One was blocking our road and we had to wait a few minutes for it to cross over. It watched us the entire time as we passed.


Monkeys in a tree. Funny creatures that will steal your food. When we left the park, we were just a few feet from the gate and had stopped to use the bathroom before leaving for home. I was left alone in the van with Damon. The door was open, the driver's window was open, and the top was popped open. A monkey appeared and I tried to shoo it away. It kind of pounced in my direction and I yelled for Peter. Peter came and got it away. However, a few minutes later, one came in the side door and took an apple out of our trash bag. A few minutes later, another one (or perhaps the same one, I didn't ask for identification) jumped in the drivers seat and took Peter's banana. He then just sat in the grass and ate the stolen banana in front of us.


Pelicans flying. I didn't know they could fly. Actually, just never thought about it.
More Antelope. Okay, Kim is now informing me that they are gazelles. Whatever. See post below about wild boars.


Lake Nakuru is known for its flamingos. As you can see in the wide-angle picture above, they line the shore all around the lake. As we were driving above the lake, all the flamingos made the lake look pink.
Rhino - wouldn't look at us or charge us. I kept trying to provoke it by calling it names and saying mean things about it's mother, but to no avail. It just sat there in the tall grass.


Zebras under a tree. I actually just like the cool tree. For me, these trees epitomize Africa. They are all over the place.
Baboons. They will also steal your food. When we stopped at the Baboon Lookout (see below) - correctly named - for lunch, they tell you to take all your trash with you to cut down on the baboon looting.
Zebra - duh.

It took us awhile, but we finally found the giraffes. They were the most skittish of all the animals we saw. Most animals just looked at us and ignored us. The giraffes would gallop away most of the time. We came up slowly on this bunch and were able to get off a few shots.


Wild Boars - makes me want to watch "The Lion King" again. However, we are now calling them "lions" because Kim saw one off in the distance and told us and our driver that she was sure she could see a lion. Her exact words were "it walks like a lion". Peter giggled a little as we got closer and he told her it was a wild boar. From now on, we will call it a lion - just for Kim.
The view from Baboon lookout. It may be hard to see with this picture being a little small, but you can see all the flamingos along the coast all the way around. We were down there when we took the above pics of the flamingos.
The clan at Baboon lookout.


Our driver, Peter, rocked! He was amazing with Sundi and Damon. He loved them and was very patient and kind with each of them. He played with them and kept a close eye on them the whole time. We could not have had a better driver.
Another pic of Lake Nakuru from Baboon lookout.


The pic below is the funniest of the entire day. At Baboon lookout, there are water fountains. Here is one baboon holding down the faucet so that another baboon can drink. Hilarious. We couldn't stop laughing.