Ilomon Kumok (more visitors!)

For the past week we’ve had some visitors from the States.  Just a week and a half after my dad left for PA, Ned and Steph Rauch-Mannino joined us and are staying through Easter.  Ned and Steph are old friends from High School and we had reconnected at a wedding.  We told them about our assignment to Kenya and they were immediately interested in coming to visit.  Now just over a year later, they are here with us. 

The first part of Ned and Steph’s visit was a trip to Lake Nakuru National Park and Hell’s Gate National Park.  The four of us hired a tour guide and vehicle to drive us from Nairobi to Nakuru where we camped in a tent just inside the park.  Overall the park was great, a large saline lake is the centerpiece, fringed with enormous flocks of flamingos. All around the lake roam various animals including one of the world’s biggest herds of White Rhinos. 


We started our game drive around 3 and were done by sunset (7pm) and we were blessed to see so much beauty.  The lake was very pretty and views from the nearby cliffs were spectacular.  We saw numerous black and white rhinos, including a white rhino sleeping about 10 feet from our
vehicle.  Other animals we spotted included various gazelles/deer, cape buffalo, zebra, baboons, giraffe, flamingos, rock hyrax, secretary birds, and lastly a leopard.  Steph and I had yet to see a leopard and Ned spotted one sleeping on a branch in a tree next to the road.  Leopards are such beautiful animals, and we watched this one for about 20 minutes.   

We returned back to the camp happy, having seen so much.  After dinner we built a campfire and sang praise songs together.  It was a good night and a day we all will treasure.The second day of our safari started early as we wanted to pack up, travel to Naivasha, see Hell’s Gate park, get groceries, get lunch, and travel to Najile all before it got dark.  As we got out of our tents, we saw a troupe of baboons walking through our camp as well as a large gazelle.  Breakfast consisted of eggs, fruit, sausage, and tea and we quickly packed away our tents.  As we left Nakuru, Ned spotted a lion sleeping in a tree, upping our “big 5” count to “4” in Nakuru (there are no Elephants in the park).  By noon we were at Hell’s Gate national park.   

Hell’s Gate one of the few parks where you can walk around, and there is lots of excellent hiking paths that take you through a river gorge.  One of the reasons its named “Hell’s Gate” is because of the geothermal activity.  Hot springs are ever-present and you’ll often find small “faucets” with hot and cold water pouring side by side.  We all enjoyed the hiking which was at times technical, and appreciated having our driver guide us through the gorge.  On the way out, there were also some open fields where we saw more zebras and got to get out of our vehicle and walk close to them (not allowed in most parks) 

After a quick lunch and shopping we were headed home.  Despite some un-necessary detours we made it home before dark and were happy to be in Najile.  Overall, our safari with Ned and Steph was a wonderful trip with friends.