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Nairobi

January 28th – February 1st, 2022

Jungle Jungle took good care of us. Nairobi lies at 1800m elevation, only just south of the equator, and this makes for a very pleasant climate. Evenings are cool enough to warrant a light jacket, and days are sunny and warm but not humid. After a nice doze and lazy breakfast we got to working on our various to-dos.

We had only just gone through one of our two gas cylinders since we last filled up. They normally last us four weeks, but this one was a bit shy. We’re not sure why. Nairobi is one of the few places in E. Africa that will fill our South African cylinders, with their odd thread, and we wanted to top off. Normally the owner Chris dispatches a boda boda to courier the empty cylinders across town for filling, but in this case he happened to already have a matching full 3kg cylinder on hand, so we just swapped. 

Being in the big city we wanted to treat ourselves to a night out at a nice restaurant. Manager Chantal recommended Ankole Grill, which sounded fantastic, but it was a fair ways across town, and even in a taxi we didn’t want to suffer the Nairobi traffic. She advised it for a late lunch stop if we found ourselves that way.

Instead we settled on the well reviewed Talisman, a short Uber ride away in the Karen neighborhood. Donning some respectable-ish looking clothes, we hit the town. The evening confirmed what we’d heard, that Nairobi takes covid precautions pretty seriously. Our Uber driver wore a surgical mask, and upon arrival at the restaurant we were given hand sanitizer, and all staff were masked up. 

Talisman was wonderful. The staff were professional but also friendly, the food was excellent and prices not as high as I feared. Costs were similar to what you’d pay at a California gastropu but with better service. The clientele were a diverse crowed of what seemed to be all Kenyan residents but young and old, black, white, Indian and Asian all hobnobbing and comfortably chatting away.

We sat outside, and they brought over a little hopper in the shape of a frog full of hot coals to keep us warm. The evening was a success. We were relaxed and enjoyed the novelty of this dining experience all the more because it had been so long since we’d had anything similar. 

Back at JJ’s we met a few other travelers, but it was not the bustling hub of travelers of the Before Times. One German women, probably in her 50s, is cycling through Africa, having already spent years on the road touring other parts of the world. Another Dutch couple here spends 10 months a year on the road as a roving production company, doing small films and work for NGOs and whoever needs their services. It’s always interesting to hear everyones’ stories.

With the luxury of having all the laundry done, we did a thorough clean, tidy and repack of the Cruiser. After that we felt prepared to go for a big provision. Being here in the big city, we would be able to find all those things that are a bit harder to come by when wandering the countryside.

Chantal advised us to avoid the larger mall and to instead go to “The Hub” in Karen, which was still plenty big enough for us. It’s a short drive through the the Karen neighborhood, bougainvilleas and leafy vines hiding the high walls of all the various compounds. When I drive through a place like this, I can’t help but wonder who lives behind these razor wire topped walls and in some very big mansions? 

At The Hub, a polished looking shopping complex, our vehicle was politely searched by security personnel before we were allowed to enter. You’re not in Kansas anymore. These are the differences that fade into the background after a while but at first can be a bit of a surprise. 

Nairobi, and Kenya generally, has had security issues at times. In 1998 the US embassies in Dar Es Salaam and Nairobi were simultaneously bombed by Al Qaeda, killing 224 people and injuring many more. More recently, in 2013, the Westgate Mall in Nairobi was attacked by Al Shebab, resulting in 71 deaths. 

That incident in particular struck home more closely, as I had shopped at the Westgate Mall in 2009, it not being far from the head office of my employer at the time. Of course all that was a while ago. More pressing, our Dutch camping friends had been notified by their embassy contacts that all the western embassies were on high alert due to a terrorist threat to attack a large venue in Nairobi.

Being caught up in a terrorist attack is not something I spend time worrying about. One would have to be spectacularly unlucky to get caught in the middle of that. Still, we thought we’d not dally. This tidbit of info, added to our general disinterest of big African cities, tipped the scales towards our heading onwards fairly quickly. 

Those in the know might think we are missing some of the sites in the city, but I have been to the national museum before, and Jenny had previously eaten at the famous Carnivore restaurant and also been to Giraffe Manor. The one thing we did miss a bit was Nairobi National Park, a big five park where you can reportedly see rhinos fairly easily. In all of our travels we have never endeavored to “do it all.” It puts too much pressure on the trip. We also do not consider any destination “once in a lifetime.” In our travels together and for work, we’ve frequently been brought back to destinations where we can fill in the gaps if needed. 

The Hub has a large Carrefour supermarket with western products at western prices. Everyone at the mall was masked up for covid, and at the entry to the supermarket, a thermal scanner and hand sanitizer greeted each customer, with a security guard watching to ensure proper procedure. Inside, every customer was masked, with fewer noses sticking out than I’d find back home in California. 

Carrefour had everything, and soon we’d loaded up a shopping cart with all sorts of luxuries. Good cheese, bacon (we’re told bacon is the caviar of Africa), frozen meat, novel herbs and vegetables not sold in the open markets. This was a modern and well stocked supermarket. 

Our Nairobi chore list was getting pretty short. Originally we thought we’d end up in the city longer. JJ’s was treating us well, but it’s still the big city and we decided to move on to relax out of town. We’d heard good things about Lake Naivasha, and specifically Camp Carnelley’s. 

Lake Naivasha and Camp Carnelley

Naivasha is only a 100 kilometers or so from the city, so it wasn’t too long a haul to get up there. We miscalculated a bit as it was a Friday, and apparently lots of Nairobians also thought it’d be a good idea to get out of town for the weekend. Still, even with the Friday traffic, it wasn’t so bad. There are two routes to Naivasha, and we stayed on the main highway, the A104, wanting to see the view down into the Rift Valley. Sadly a haze hung in the air, and we could only see vaguely down into the valley. Later we met some expats, who advised us that the alternate route, the B3, is a more scenic route to take.

It was a relief to get off the highway and lose all the traffic. We drove around the southern lakeshore, home to lots of small lodges and campsites as well as many commercial flower farms. 

Carnelley’s has bandas tucked back in the trees, but wonderfully gives campers lakeside priority. A number of picnic tables and shelters are scattered across a wide strip of lawn along the lakeshore. There are no assigned sites. Campers can just pick a spot that suits them. We staked our claim by a table with a nice view of the lake.

Just as we were settling in, we noted two hippos munching on the hyacinth that grows rampantly along the shoreline. The campsite sits behind a fairly inoffensive electric fence, to protect us from the hippos at night. Birdlife was excellent also, with herons, egrets, hammerkops, superb starlings, fish eagles and a flock of lovebirds, all in attendance at our arrival. 

Lake Naivasha has suffered similarly to many of the other Rift Valley lakes, the lake level having come up considerably in the last few years. This means that a ring of dead trees line the lakeshore, mostly fever trees that have drowned in the flooding. 

As it was Friday, the campsite started filling up, and we were glad we got our spot. It was a nice mix of campers, mostly Kenyans. And not just Kenyans but a nice mix of society, all races and ethnicities, couples, families, a Ukrainian cyclist, a little bit of everything. I mention this because it is in contrast to the less diverse crowds we have seen in southern Africa, and it struck me as a positive sign. Everyone was so nice and clearly happy to be out on the lake for the weekend. It was a really good vibe.

Over the next few days we got to know our neighbors and enjoyed Carnelley’s. This included a troop of black and white colobus monkeys, new primates for us. They are bigger and much less graceful than the ubiquitous camp thieves, vervet monkeys. Colobus monkeys hurled themselves from tree limb to tree limb, crashing into their landing zone with a ruckus of thrashing limbs and falling leaves. They all look like grumpy old men with big lamb chop sideburns.

Camp Carnelley’s is also home to the Lazy Bones Bar and Restaurant. On one day, after an afternoon of lounging around and bird watching, a sizable thunderstorm came through and brought an afternoon of heavy rain. We retreated, along with everyone else, to the Lazy Bones to test it out. It was busy, but the staff were running around like crazy, and everyone was having a good time. We ordered pizza, and I pronounced it to be the best of the trip. At seven o’clock sharp they started a big fire, and we huddled nearby as the rain had cooled things off considerably.

Music from a nearby club blared into the early hours of the morning, and sleep was elusive. Sometime after one in the morning the voice of Kenny Roger’s “The Gambler” drifted through the night. This was followed by the crowd heartily singing along to Dolly Parton’s “Nine to Five,” and I recalled that Kenyans love country music. This club had a whole country music set to round out the evening. These classic songs mixed with the wheeze and honk of the resident hippos made for a uniquely Kenyan Saturday night. 

Sunday morning came, and nearly everyone packed up and headed back to Nairobi. We have been the only campers at so many places it was nice to have some company, but after the busy Saturday night a little peace was okay too. But peace was not to come, the whole day was spent listening to a preacher from a nearby church haranguing his congregation on a loudspeaker. It was incessant, going on for hours, and drove everyone in camp to the brink.

It started to rain again in the afternoon, and mercifully the preacher finally had to pack it up. We again retreated to the Lazy Bones, though a much more tranquil version. We sipped beers and played games as rain drops pattered down. It might be unconventional camping, but we were having a nice time.

During our time in Nairobi and Carnelley’s, we started to confront an unexpected challenge, allowing ourselves to confess a wee bit of travel weariness. We’re finding ourselves lacking the usual verve for early dawn wake ups to search for lions as well as for tackling the daily logistical uncertainties of African travel. Those myriad of tiny decisions that seem so mundane, where to buy food, what road to take, do we have enough cash on hand; they all seem to add up to more than they really are when you are tired at the end of a long day on the road in an unfamiliar place. 

These things can be novel and interesting experiences, but sometimes we don’t have quite enough information, and winging it all the time takes its toll. We’ve noticed that the longer we spend in each country the less this is an issue, as we become familiar with the small nuances of each place.

With over three months on the road, we are now past the duration of any previous travels. It’s not clear to us the exact source of all this malaise, though I stress that it is modest, but we both agreed that we were missing our friends and family back home more than anticipated. Jenny is an extrovert, and all the campsites we’ve had as the only campers has also taken a toll. Camping here at Carnelley’s has been a treat, with so many campers to chat with, and our long distance travels are always of interest to those we run into and good for striking up a conversation.

In hindsight we noted that although the parks we have visited recently have been unique in their own way, they are all variations on a theme, that is wildlife in savannah parks. We love the animals, but we both thought mixing things up a bit for a more varied itinerary would reignite our sense of wonder. With that in mind we schemed on our next few weeks, building out a rough sketch of a plan. 

You might be interested in knowing how we plan such a long trip. More or less we have a heap of notes gleaned from friends, the internet and books. Over many many hours of fantasizing about this trip, we’ve sort of narrowed down the highlights we want to see, and then we use the notes, T4A and iOverlander to add in the missing pieces. 

We didn’t want to be constrained to planning out each day of almost an entire year. Instead, every once in a while, we sit down with a calendar and roughly map out the next leg. We always tell ourselves that we won’t hold ourselves to this schedule, that it’s just a rough plan. In practice though, we feel some invisible compulsion to stick to the calendar. 

That is ridiculous, and we made a pact with each other to be better at being more ‘go with the flow.’ To stay when we weren’t ready to move, to go when we weren’t feeling a place was what we needed at the time. This might seem totally obvious to everyone, but we still need to practice. 

Our sketch is roughly: Aberdare, Samburu Nature Reserve, Lake Turkana (!), Marsabit National Park, Ngare Ndare Forest, Mt. Kenya, Kembu Cottages, the Masai Mara Conservancy, Kakamega Forest, Baringo, Barnley’s, Mt. Elgon and to Uganda via the Suam border. 

I know I was just complaining about game parks and the astute reader will note that Samburu Nature Reserve is just such a park. Although Samburu NR is a conventional game park it is supposed to be excellent and not so enormous a park to tackle. Sometimes the likes of Serengeti, Masai Mara or Okavango are intimidating in their size and reputation, but Samburu we felt we could get a grasp on without too much pressure. 

Lake Turkana will be a sojourn through the remote and rugged frontiers of northern Kenya. Heading to isolated Turkana really piqued my interest, the antithesis of visiting some of the classic safari destinations we have just been to. We’ll have to be on alert for security concerns and take it easy on the Cruiser. The remote and rocky roads will be torture on tires and suspension, with no easy rescue in the event of vehicular issues.

You’re probably thinking that this does not sound at all like an antidote to travel weariness, but the brain craves a curious mix of novelty (Lake Turkana) and security (trusty Land Cruiser) at the same time. We were keen to strike out to the north, truly a place where the journey is the destination.

Back home when we planned this entire African journey, the war in Ethiopia relieved us from having to consider whether we wanted to tackle any sort of “Cape to Cairo” type route. As of now there is no viable route north. Turkana will be as remote as we will and can get on this trip. 

In the terrain of Southern and Eastern Africa currently accessible to us, the only other place we can imagine that is even close to this far on the fringe is Kaokoland of Namibia. At least there, should you have issues, you’re likely to meet a fellow overland 4×4 traveler in not too long. Perhaps parts of Angola, where we have not been, might approach Turkana’s status on the fringe, but landmines notwithstanding, there are no armed tribesman to contend with. 

Generally we felt this would be a good mix of classic safari destinations and some wilder times, and of course we can adjust on the fly to suit our needs. We shall see how it works out!

Some friends and family back home are going through some big life events and it feels strange to be all this way around the world. Having this new plan in place, some time to call home and some pizza in our stomach have already invigorated us to a degree.

Aberdare National Park

Monday arrived, and we thought it was time we’d better get rolling. Our sights were set on Aberdare National Park. Most of this park lies at fairly high altitude, 2500-4000m, and promised to be very different from a “normal” African savannah ecosystem. It has high moorlands, misty mountains, cold weather camping and wildlife. 

In addition to various antelopes, elephants and a few other regulars, Aberdare has, albeit very rarely, seen black rhinos, the very elusive and endangered forest bongo, the giant forest hog and melanistic (black) servals and leopards. How can one resist the lure of these tantalizing animals, rare though they may be? We have yet to see a rhino on this trip, a testament to poachers’ unfortunate efficiency. And who doesn’t want to see something called a bongo? The melanistic cats are very rare, Aberdare being one of the few places they are seen if they are seen at all. With these novelties hidden away in the hills, I was keen to get started.

Aberdare is also well known for trout fishing in its many pristine clear mountain streams. I was kicking myself for not learning at least the fundamentals of fishing. I harbor romantic notions of afternoons spent fishing a mountain stream to hunt and forage a trout dinner that I could cook for Jenny over the coals. This dream will remain unfulfilled for the time being.

Monday morning the traffic was light. Not far from Camp Canelley’s we were able to stock up on some inexpensive and quality firewood by the side of the road. You’d think there would be a glut of firewood here, with so many trees down from the rising lake level, but we didn’t see firewood for sale anywhere else. Knowing that it’d be cold in Aberdare, I loaded the roof rack with a lot of wood. From there we cruised in light traffic along into Naivasha town proper, stopping at the Buffalo Mall to snag a few provisions. Here there is a well stocked supermarket, Foodplus. 

It’s worth noting that while in Tanzania western style supermarkets are few and far between, really there are none other than in Dar and Arusha, here in Kenya they seem to abound. The old Nakumatt chain has disbanded. Now it’s Foodplus, Naivas, Carrefour, and Quickmart. This particular market had two rare nuggets for us, Nik Naks, Jenny’s preferred cheese snack from South Africa. They also had rusks, our preferred simple breakfast option to accompany a boiled egg. We’d run out of rusks long ago and not found them until now. We were quite enthused.

From Naivasha we started east and up into the foothills of the Aberdare range. Aberdare National Park is relatively high altitude. Even the campsite is just shy of 3000 meters, so we had much climbing to do. The road wound its way up and ever higher. In not long we were seeing pine trees. The locals were clad in heavy jackets and wool hats even though it was not cold out. This goes to show you how the human body can acclimate. 

The trees got bigger, and there are some forestry tree farms at the fringe of the park. Finally we crossed into the park proper, marked by a fence meant to deter wildlife from raiding nearby crops. 

The farmed trees at the edge of the park looked curious to us, and I couldn’t place why at first. It was because there is absolutely no undergrowth, no saplings or ferns or beds of needles like we have back home. Then we saw that the undergrowth is grazed by livestock, cattle, goats and sheep trimming everything down to short cropped grass. 

As the road winds higher, it narrows and the trees gave way to thick bamboo forests. As we rounded bends, we got glimpses of the Kenyan countryside below us, but the haze still hung on, and in the distance the view was obscured a bit. 

The Matubio Gate is quite high and far into the park, and we had already been treated to some mountain views. The rangers at the gate were welcoming and happy to see us. When we asked if we could pay by credit card, they assured us we could, but we had to walk 200m or so to where the machine could get the faint mobile signal. On our walk we had a friendly chat with our happy ranger. 

He gave us various tidbits of info, confirming that the bongo is never seen, hardly even by the bongo research team. Mostly their presence is confirmed only by tracks and camera traps. (Side note: contrary to sources you might read, the bongo is now, sadly, extinct in the Cherangani Hills. You can read up to date information on its status in this report.)

You can see forest bongos more easily than the critically endangered mountain variety, but only if you happen to find yourself in West Africa. Someday I hope to visit Dzanga Ndoki National Park in the CAR, where one can see forest elephants, lowland gorillas and forest bongos all in the attractive Dzanga Bai.  

The ranger gave us another dose of reality. We were very unlikely to see any rhinos. On the brighter side someone had seen one of the melanistic servals just the day before. I hadn’t really expected that we’d see a rhino, but hey, one always holds out a little hope, right? 

We had decided on two nights in the park. The ranger concurred with what others had recommended to us, to stay at the Reedbuck campsite, almost at 3000m elevation, in the moorlands for our first night. After that we weren’t sure if we’d spend a second night there or drop down to one of the campsites in the lower elevation forest on the east side of the park. The ranger said we didn’t have to decide now, We could play it by ear.

Game driving isn’t really the name of the game in Aberdare the same way it is in the savannah parks. There are few loops to be driven. Several waterfalls and streams are in the high altitude part of the park, and we wanted to do these short hikes. The first we visited was Karuru falls. Up here at altitude even the modest hike to the falls left us a bit winded, nothing at all to do with the minimal exercise of sitting in the Cruiser day after day I assure you. Nevertheless it felt great, and in the cool misty climes it was invigorating. Mossy beards hung from the branches of trees that were new to us, and the view at Karuru falls was spectacular, looking out over a gorge with another tall waterfall in the distance. The whole environment had a very Lost World feeling to it. 

We also stopped at Magura Falls, which vaguely reminded us of one of the Zambian waterfalls. The whole time Jenny had to listen to me lament my lack of fishing skills and equipment. 

By the time we arrived at Reedbuck campsite, we’d seen only a buffalo with calf and a bushbuck for wildlife so far. We had startled the bushbuck, and it had given a loud warning bark, just like a dog, as it crashed into the brush and down a hillside. All antelopes have a warning call, and the bushbuck’s is the loudest and most startling in our experience. There were signs of elephant around, and I was keeping my eyes peeled for the incongruous sight of an elephant in these rolling moorlands, which would be like seeing a pachyderm in the hills of Scotland. 

Reedbuck actually has two campsites about 50 meters apart from each other. Both are similar with a large patch of grass, small lumpy hummocks and a decent view of the surrounding moors, mountain peaks obscured by mist in the distance. The park fishing bandas lie close by, some few hundred meters further down the track.

We selected the upper Reedbuck site. It felt slightly more wild and had a teeny bit better view. There is a rustic but clean pit toilet shared between the sites, and otherwise you have to be self sufficient. 

One good thing about wildlife being more scarce here is it takes the pressure off game driving. With no compulsion to stay out to the bitter end of daylight hoping for a glimpse of lion kill or what have you, we settled into a very pleasant late afternoon in camp. It was already cooling off, and I promised Jenny a large fire, free from wood rationing. 

Water is available from the fishing bandas down the road. I started to walk the short distance to refill our five liter jug of “utility water,” for washing dishes. Not far down the track I spotted some fresh buffalo dung and uncertainty crept upon me. I could see the fishing bandas not far ahead, but the danger of a mother buffalo with calf that we’d seen lingered in my mind for a few paces, then I turned around. Better to use some of our drinking water and not risk a run in with her.

After the fire was crackling away, night closed in on camp, and the mist turned to rain. We had positioned the Cruiser well, and with the awning out, we could sit close enough to the fire to stay dry without being so close as to melt the awning. It turned out to be a very pleasant evening by the fire, novel to be cold and in the mountains. It was almost like camping back home, but with the minute chance of being gored by a buffalo to keep things interesting.

It was getting cold, so we busted out the sleeping bags. Normally we sleep with sheets and a blanket up in the tent, but we carry sleeping bags in reserve for cold nights. It seemed it would be one of those. Up in the tent, all zipped up, we were in fact very cozy despite the just above freezing temperatures. After we went to bed, it rained in earnest for a while, but tucked in tight we were very comfortable. 

There was no rush to get up in the morning. When I finally did emerge, I could still see my breath. As there was no urgency, I stoked up the fire, a morning fire being the very definition of camping luxury in our book. Jenny was very excited to have tea by the fire as the chill of the night tapered off. A couple bushbuck tentatively came to the permitter of camp to graze. We’ve noticed that many camps seem to have resident bushbucks, who have learned that it’s not so bad to be near humans. 

The mist had cleared for the most part, and for a while we had brilliant blue skies although this did not last. We packed up and headed out to explore these highlands. On the way to check out the next waterfall we also inspected one of the other campsites, Gukururu.

Gukururu was marked as a public campsite on the very old park map, but I don’t know if this is still accurate. The track was fairly overgrown, though tire tracks proved it had been recently used. We parked and walked the 500 odd meters to the campsite. Trudging down this rough track I pondered the buffalos again, but before anything happened we came out into the clearing and saw a beautiful campsite. 

Gukururu is a campsite big enough for one or two vehicles, set alongside a perfect clear stream. This crystal clear water tumbles over a small waterfall just a few meters away from camp. The whole glade makes a stunning picture. If we come to Aberdare again, we will certainly try to stay at this campsite, and I will while away the hours fishing for trout.

We spent the rest of the day wandering the moors of Aberdare, inspecting waterfalls and appreciating the views. We drove the road up towards Satima Peak. From the end of this road hikers can summit the peak, but we turned back at the T-junction in the interests of time. The road does provide amazing scenery though the Honey Badger was not happy about it. We reached about 3100m elevation, and the naturally aspirated 1HZ engine, like me, does not operate so well in the thin air. 

Other engines, including the 1HZ in some markets, are sold with altitude compensators on the fuel pump, a simple and clever little bladder that deflects with barometric pressure and adjusts the amount of fuel injected. Ours, and most African models, does not have this, and the engine becomes anemic and weak at altitude, particularly noticeable over, say, 2500m. When you put your foot down, black smoke comes out of the exhaust, unburnt fuel from the poor mixture in the cylinders, and the Cruiser goes no faster. 

With a wee bit of black smoke from time to time we wound along the edges of ravines, through mossy forests thick with first growth mountain trees and across open moorlands. Wildflowers abounded, and the whole day was a wonderful outing, just the change we needed I think. 

Given our ambitions to head to Samburu Nature Reserve the following day, we decided camp in the lower eastern part of the park that night. This would also show us a different ecosystem and give us a chance to perhaps see some more animals.

Heading down down down on the narrow track, we saw black and white colobus and sykes monkeys. This lower forest is sometimes called “The Salient” and is known to have higher animal densities. In not too long we saw a giant forest hog, giant indeed. He crashed into the brush once he caught sight of us, but it was nice to see this new to us species.

The growth here is dense, and you can’t see much beyond the road. There was elephant dung everywhere, and yet they still eluded us. A small herd of buffalo were wallowing in a muddy red stream where we turned up toward one of the picnic areas. 

At the picnic area we saw more forest hogs, as well as what looked to our untrained eye to be an old rhino midden, so they are here. This spot had a wonderful view and in the distance some sort of clearing or meadow. I had my binoculars out, scanning, and what did I see in the meadow but a cat! Jenny and I took turns and after some hemming and hawing, decided that we’d broken our unlucky streak, sort of, and it was a leopard. We hadn’t seen a leopard since Zambia, and this one in Aberdare was lounging around in the clearing thinking nobody could see him. It was very far away, but still nice to see. 

It became time to go to camp, and we realized that we had not clarified with the rangers which camps we should stay at in this part of the park. We had already inspected the well signposted Prince Charles Campsite, and decided that if it was a special campsite, it would be signposted as such or noted on the map. 

Prince Charles Campsite, has a single large tree in a large open grassy clearing, surrounded by thick brush. I could easily imagine a buffalo materializing out of the bushes, but at least the camp was big enough to give you a bit of notice. There are no facilities at all, just a clear spot to pitch a tent and make a fire.

We imagined (though have no actual information to suggest this) that this is the camp that Victoria was staying at when she discovered she was now Queen, as she was visiting Aberdare at the time.

The evening was wonderful and a bit warmer than our night at Reedbuck, though still cool. After dinner and a fire the rain came again and rushed us into the tent. It sure seemed to be raining a lot in this supposed dry season. We have heard that increasingly the traditional short rains of November and December and long rains of April through June are less consistent, and so it is proving to be true on this trip. At least it was mostly raining at night.

Morning was beautifully clear, and we could even see the craggy peak of Mount Kenya off to the east. It is a long day from here to Samburu, so we had better get a move on.

The Nitty Gritty

Refilling CADAC cylinders 

Nairobi is one of the few places in Kenya (only) confirmed to fill CADAC bottles. I suspect that there are quite a few more places in E. Africa that it’s possible to fill CADAC bottles, it is just a matter of finding the actual filling depot and not the regular spots that swap bottles. I’m sure they won’t all do it, but we have been hoping a fair number would. However we haven’t been patient enough to actually find those depots and so far we are skating by. I’ve been avoiding buying an E. African cylinder just because it is another thing to haul around that takes up space, but that is our plan B.

I spent far too much time online before the trip trying to find the thread specification for CADAC bottles and East African bottles and never managed to get to the bottom of it. I even emailed CADAC on this issue. They did respond, forwarding an internal email thread that quoted advice from the 4x4community forum to buy an East African bottle! Not much help there. 

I plan to buy a regulator here in East Africa and one in South Africa in some months time I’ll bring home. Then I’ll have the correct thread specs and solve this mystery once and for all. Hopefully. From there I can start churning out CADAC-E.Africa adapter fittings and I’ll make tens of dollars in profit.

Aberdare National Park (Buffalo Mall in Naivasha to the Gate was 55km, 1h 46m)

Aberdare is totally different to any other park in Africa that we have visited and we thoroughly enjoyed it, I would highly recommend it to anyone touring Kenya. Kenya continues to impress with its incredible variety, and with what we have planned I suspect will continue to do so.

When we checked into the park there was a faded poster on the wall of the ranger’s office with a stunning view. I asked about it and he said that is the viewpoint over Dragon’s Teeth, in the north of the park. To go there you have to use the northern gate, you can’t get there from the central part of the park. At the northern gate you can arrange the required guide to go to this stunning lookout. 

If  When we come back to Aberdare we’ll spend two nights at the stunning Gukururu campsite, where I will fish away and prove my manhood to Jenny, and after those nights at altitude we should be in decent shape to go to the northern entrance and make a day hike of going to Dragon’s Teeth. There are no campsites in that part of the park as far as I know, but there are places to camp outside those gates.

Park entry fees are a bit steep, the same as we had at the Tsavos. $52 pppd plus 20 pppn camping. We are greatful for this, as this is the covid discount. Official fees are posted on the handy KWS website, here.

The Buffalo Mall in Naivasha is modest, but has the Foodplus with most anything you might need. There is also a Java House where we got meat pies and coffee to go. Java House is Kenya’s answer to Starbucks, or maybe more accurately SA’s Mug & Bean. Reliably decent coffee, if not amazing. A huge leap better than what use to be available in Kenya during my 08/09 stint, where all the best coffee was exported and what remained was either instant or just bad.  

Another mall is being built on the west side of the A104 as you come down the hill into Naivasha, but it’s not done yet. 

Camp Carnelley’s (The Hub Mall to Carnelley’s – 103km, 2h 10m in some traffic)

We thought this was a wonderful setting and campsite. The bandas might make for a nice respite for those that need a break from camping. Ablutions here are simple, but there are flush toilets and piping hot water from a donkey and we were very satisfied with them. Camping was 1000 KSH pppn. The restaurant was good, though not particularly cheap. 

They serve a very excellent gin and tonic, not the tepid sip of warm gin in a barren glass, no ice and a bottle of tonic on the side that one gets in so much of Africa. Obviously that is no G&T at all, everyone knows a proper G&T must also include ice and lime (lemon allowable only under duress).