Our 42-day overland tour with Intrepid Travel began with an overnight hotel stay in Nairobi, Kenya. From there we drove about three hours south to Lake Nakuru National Park for our first game drive. Before heading into the park we stopped in the town of Nakuru and made our lunch on the roadside. Our group consists of 18 travelers, a tour leader named Darlene, a cook named Peace, and a driver named Ben for the overland vehicle we will call home base. This tour is a participatory camping trip, which means all the travelers help with preparing meals, cleaning up after meals, keeping the overland vehicle clean, and we set up and take down our own tents, which are provided by Intrepid. Most nights we will be tent camping with some hotels stays sprinkled in here and there throughout the trip.
Shortly after we entered Nakuru National Park for our game drive it started raining, which did not make it easy to see but we still spotted plenty of wildlife, including a dazzle of zebras sitting right by the entrance to the park.
The rain subsided after about an hour and the forest looked so lush and green after the rain. On our drive we spotted many groups of impalas, baboons, warthogs, monkeys, waterbucks, gazelles, zebra, giraffes, and buffalo.
Some of the birds we saw included Egyptian Goose, vultures, pelicans, eagles, and flamingos that congregated in groups around the lake. We happened upon two white rhinos lying on the ground side by side which was a special treat. We also witnessed two female lions lazily laying on the ground together. Typical of cats, they were napping and paid us not much attention. It was amazing that we were able to see so much wildlife in around four hours.
After the game drive, we went to a private campsite inside Nakuru National Park that was reserved for our group for the night. We set up the tents and then enjoyed a group dinner around a campfire prepared with assistance from some of the travelers and by our wonderful cook. After the sun went down, two huge buffalo wandered up to our campsite. After looking at us for a while they slowly sauntered away. The buffaloes are quite large but seem like mellow animals so they are not very threatening. When we shined our torches into the darkness around the campsite and we saw eyes looking back at us in a few spots. After dinner we washed and dried dishes together and then retired to our tents to get some rest. Sleeping in a National Park in Kenya knowing there were wild animals all around for the first time was a pretty wild feeling.
The next day we enjoyed some breakfast prepared at our campsite and then set out for another game drive in the overland vehicle. On this drive we were treated to beautiful weather from the start and we were lucky to see several large groups of giraffes munching away on acacia trees, their favorite food in the area. The giraffes were so elegant and fun to watch. Another special treat on this drive was seeing about a dozen white rhinos. They are amazing creatures to see in person and I could not believe how large the horn was on some of them.
After our game drive we stopped and made another roadside lunch, then stopped for snacks and drinks before heading out for the five or so hour drive to the next town in Kenya.
Lovely description of your journey!
Coexisting with these exotic animals must seem surreal! Would love to hear about some of the meals prepared at camp. Happy travels!
Thank you! So far a typical breakfast is bread (or toast if we’re lucky) with bananas and maybe some peanut butter. Once we had very yummy pancakes and once we had homemade donuts. Sometimes beans or potatoes are served. There are also usually eggs, cereal, and sausage available.
For lunch we usually have a veggie / fruit salad and sandwiches.
For dinner we have had curries, soups, stews, stir fry, beans, rice, and chapatis. We are the only non-meat eaters in the group so we get a different entree and everyone else is served some sort of meat. Our cook is very accommodating to everyone’s dietary needs.
Most of our meals have included a lot of fruit and veggies, which is wonderful! They are feeding us well – perhaps a little too much!
Sounds yummy and healthy!
Wow! Such awesome and amazing photos of all the wild life! And l love hearing all the details about the camping, food, and the glowy eyes. I would have a hard time sleeping I think!