opisska
rabid twitcher
I was not planning to do a "real-time report" from this trip, because I was expecting to have exactly zero downtime, learning from the previous trip to Africa - when you have a 4x4, there is always something better to do than stare into my phone.
Well, that's the thing - our 4x4 is now in the middle of Masai Mara, with one wheel slanted under an unhealthy angle and we are sitting in Talek in a camp, while it's too hot for a walk at this time of the day, so let me give you some material to laugh at my expense.
The story of this trip started in October, when we did not really know where to go but knew we won't have this much free time probably ever again. With covidism rampant, I was desperately looking for something reasonably open and found out that several friends have been to Kenya. Upon learning, to my surprise, that self-drive is "easily done", the country really got my liking. However I had to cancel that trip on 48-hour notice because of an MS relapse which left me with no sense of balance (literally almost bedbound for a while). Since Kenya e-visa are valid for three months - and everything was already somewhat planned, we said why not, let's go to Kenya over the end of the year.
Everything looked peachy, until just a few days before departure, when the covid cases in Kenya shot up from next to zero to thousands within those few days. We decide to persevere, obtained a bunch of QR codes and flew over. A second overnight flight within three days took a bit of a toll on me, as did the two-hour process to enter Kenya, but we retrieved the car from Roadtrip Kenya around 3 pm on Sunday finally.
Already there some signs of trouble surfaced - the car turned out to be, frankly, an old beater. With 240k on odometer and many rusty places, the Hilux has seen better days. A bit more annoyingly it lacks A/C and is painted black, so not the coolest place to be in, it also has a "turbo timer" that delays engine-off by 30s and beeps the entire time (so no way to just stop and silently listen when an interesting sound appears), radio comes up randomly and handbrake is more of a decoration ... I don't really want to badmouth Roadtrip Kenya, as they have been nothing but nice and friendly - and they still may be the best option in the country (considering that the other cars we saw white people in on the roads didn't look that much better) - but just so people know what they may be getting themselves into renting a 4x4 in Kenya.
We set out for lake Naishiva to spend the night camping on the shore in Carnelley's, which is a pretty good birding spot and also had Mantled Guerezas. We bought a Safaricom SIM in the town (in like the 5th shop we visited) the next day and drove to Masai Mara. Quickly after obtaining internet we learned that UAE has banned passenger flights from Kenya because of Omicron worries - including transfers - so our return trip through Dubai seems now ... a bit uncertain?
The Mara Triangle visit was simply great though. Compared to Etosha and Chobe, the animals are a tad harder to see, but the landscape is just stunning (not like the endless boring flatland of those two aforementioned parks). And we got a Serval and Oribi - and the ubiquitous Olive Baboons - for our mammal lists. The camping in "Oloololo public campsite" was an experience in itself - the site is just a 50x50 meter meadow, with no kind of barrier around it whatsoever; one morning, Ivana had to abandon a trip to the toilet because a Hippo was passing too close to it ... The park is also quite birdy, but we have no list so far due to lack of time.
And then on the way back, already out of the Triangle, but still deep in the National Reserve, the steering wheel turned upside down and I quickly stopped. The nice thing about safari in Kenya is cellphone coverage (unlike Botswana, where we actually took a satellite phone with us) so I was able to call Roadtrip Kenya and they quickly arranged for some locals to come pick us up. There was some extended discussion about money and what do we pay on the spot, but after like 10 calls, the guys accepted Roadtrip's insistence that we don't pay anything on the spot (as they want to have oversight) and we left for Talek, where we now camp and wait. This is the real test of Roadtrip Kenya - will they try to put blame on us? I am not aware of any hit that could be responsible and I think it's just a tired metal, they said they are waiting for the mechanic to judge it. So let's see. In any case their very quick action that saved us from the middle of the park, paints them in a pretty good light.
Well, that's the thing - our 4x4 is now in the middle of Masai Mara, with one wheel slanted under an unhealthy angle and we are sitting in Talek in a camp, while it's too hot for a walk at this time of the day, so let me give you some material to laugh at my expense.
The story of this trip started in October, when we did not really know where to go but knew we won't have this much free time probably ever again. With covidism rampant, I was desperately looking for something reasonably open and found out that several friends have been to Kenya. Upon learning, to my surprise, that self-drive is "easily done", the country really got my liking. However I had to cancel that trip on 48-hour notice because of an MS relapse which left me with no sense of balance (literally almost bedbound for a while). Since Kenya e-visa are valid for three months - and everything was already somewhat planned, we said why not, let's go to Kenya over the end of the year.
Everything looked peachy, until just a few days before departure, when the covid cases in Kenya shot up from next to zero to thousands within those few days. We decide to persevere, obtained a bunch of QR codes and flew over. A second overnight flight within three days took a bit of a toll on me, as did the two-hour process to enter Kenya, but we retrieved the car from Roadtrip Kenya around 3 pm on Sunday finally.
Already there some signs of trouble surfaced - the car turned out to be, frankly, an old beater. With 240k on odometer and many rusty places, the Hilux has seen better days. A bit more annoyingly it lacks A/C and is painted black, so not the coolest place to be in, it also has a "turbo timer" that delays engine-off by 30s and beeps the entire time (so no way to just stop and silently listen when an interesting sound appears), radio comes up randomly and handbrake is more of a decoration ... I don't really want to badmouth Roadtrip Kenya, as they have been nothing but nice and friendly - and they still may be the best option in the country (considering that the other cars we saw white people in on the roads didn't look that much better) - but just so people know what they may be getting themselves into renting a 4x4 in Kenya.
We set out for lake Naishiva to spend the night camping on the shore in Carnelley's, which is a pretty good birding spot and also had Mantled Guerezas. We bought a Safaricom SIM in the town (in like the 5th shop we visited) the next day and drove to Masai Mara. Quickly after obtaining internet we learned that UAE has banned passenger flights from Kenya because of Omicron worries - including transfers - so our return trip through Dubai seems now ... a bit uncertain?
The Mara Triangle visit was simply great though. Compared to Etosha and Chobe, the animals are a tad harder to see, but the landscape is just stunning (not like the endless boring flatland of those two aforementioned parks). And we got a Serval and Oribi - and the ubiquitous Olive Baboons - for our mammal lists. The camping in "Oloololo public campsite" was an experience in itself - the site is just a 50x50 meter meadow, with no kind of barrier around it whatsoever; one morning, Ivana had to abandon a trip to the toilet because a Hippo was passing too close to it ... The park is also quite birdy, but we have no list so far due to lack of time.
And then on the way back, already out of the Triangle, but still deep in the National Reserve, the steering wheel turned upside down and I quickly stopped. The nice thing about safari in Kenya is cellphone coverage (unlike Botswana, where we actually took a satellite phone with us) so I was able to call Roadtrip Kenya and they quickly arranged for some locals to come pick us up. There was some extended discussion about money and what do we pay on the spot, but after like 10 calls, the guys accepted Roadtrip's insistence that we don't pay anything on the spot (as they want to have oversight) and we left for Talek, where we now camp and wait. This is the real test of Roadtrip Kenya - will they try to put blame on us? I am not aware of any hit that could be responsible and I think it's just a tired metal, they said they are waiting for the mechanic to judge it. So let's see. In any case their very quick action that saved us from the middle of the park, paints them in a pretty good light.
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