Friday, October 20, 2017

THU., OCT. 12, 2017 - DAY #3 OF SAFARI - NAIROBI TO SAMBURU GAME RESERVE - Our instructions for the day were to "meet the Pollman's representative with our luggage in the lobby at 7:30 a.m".  So, we were up and around early for breakfast before that.  At breakfast, we met two of our group of six, Hedy & Shelly Stern from Southern California.  After breakfast, we assembled and followed the representative of Pollman's to a small conference room where the Pollman representative proceeded to introduce our driver/guide, Amos, and to review our schedule for the trip.  Next, we made our way, with luggage, to the area outside the front door where the six-passenger van was parked.  Loading the luggage in the van was the first challenge Amos faced. Six "checked" (not to exceed 44 pounds) bags, one per person, were allowed. There was adequate space for those six bags in the luggage area of the van and it was full.  Each of us had our individual carry-on bags which were a specified size (18"X10" X8"), weighing no more than 11 pounds.  It was understood that we were responsible for storing these in our seating/floor area. Two passengers had, in addition to their personal carry-ons, two additional bags, both slightly smaller than the larger "checked" bag that was allowed, but not nearly the specified limited size for a carry-on nor weighing the 11 pounds.  One weighed about 15-20 pounds and the other 20-25 pounds.  Also, one passenger had very large photography equipment that was stored in a larger case.  She had already planned to store the photography equipment in her seat/floor area.  So, with two extra bags and no storage area for hauling them, it fell on the passengers in rows one & two to each have a good portion of their floor space taken up by these two extra ("not allowed") bags.  The presence of these bags was most inconvenient because the floor space allowed for feet & legs was very much diminished, and both bags had to be moved from the floor into seats prior to getting on and off the van.  Once we were all on board along with the bags in place we made a verbal agreement to "rotate seats".  At shortly before 8 a.m. we departed the hotel for Samburu Game Reserve.  In the two seats, row 1, directly behind the driver/guide were Hedy & Shelly Stern.  Sylvia & Jim were seated in row 2.  And, in row 3 were the other two passengers we soon came to know as Jo and Jan both from the Washington D.C. area. With the driver/guide Amos, that was our group of 7 until we returned to Nairobi at the end of our safari.  

The plan was to drive the 200+ miles to the Samburu Game Reserve and arrive at Samburu Intrepids Camp no later than 2 p.m. for a late lunch. That didn't happen.  We had delays of all kinds.  The horrific traffic of vehicles including many 8-wheeler trucks on the two-lane roads in Nairobi was our first delay.  It seemed we would never get out of the city of 4 million people. Then we had a flat tire that resulted in Amos and someone he hired at the site changing and replacing the tire with one of the two spare tires carried on the vehicle.  To get the weight off the vehicle for the tire to be changed, everyone had to get out of the vehicle and wait at the shoulder side of the road while all the luggage had to be unloaded next to the travel side of the road.  Then, I was designated the guard of the luggage while the Amos & helper changed the tire.  With the spare tire in place, it seemed to be the air in the "new" tire was low.  That resulted in more than one stop to get it checked and additional air added.  It was finally determined that the huge amount of weight from the luggage was causing the tire to look "low".  Also, Hedy & Shelly Stern had found in the Nairobi hotel that their electrical converter (220 to 110 volts) was not operational. So, 3-4 stops were made related to locating a new electrical converter for them before a new one was finally purchased.  As time passed, Amos continued to call ahead to the Intrepids Camp asking them to please continue to plan to serve our "late lunch" when we arrived.  That arrival came about 4:30 p.m. with lunch nearer 5.  

The information supplied about this Samburu Intrepids Camp is as follows: Located 345 kilometers (about 240 miles) north of Nairobi, this tented lodge offers 30 modern and newly refurbished tents with a private view over the wildlife-rich riverbanks.  All the tents are large and spacious under palm-thatched roofs with netted screens.  This allows for the river breeze to keep them cool and give you stunning views of Samburu. Each tent sits on a raised deck overlooking the brown river where the elephants sometimes make an appearance or the crocodiles come out to lounge by the river's banks.  You can also choose to have private candlelit dinners on the deck of your canvas villa.  All tents are fitted with fans for the really hot days.  The bathrooms also offer twin washbasins, flush toilets, and sockets for shavers and battery charging.  The main dining room has a seating capacity of 60 and opens onto an outdoor terrace where buffet breakfasts and lunches are served overlooking the river.  Meals can also be enjoyed on your private veranda or at one of a series of specially selected 'bush sites' close to camp.  Intrepids also boasts a spacious lounge and bar area where our naturalists deliver fascinating slideshows on most evenings and an intimate conference room with a television for viewing wildlife documentaries.  Behind the bar, surrounded by a shady sunbathing area, is our free-form swimming pool, a soothing drop of blue in this otherwise arid land.  

One unique feature of this camp is that the electric power to be used is produced by a generator which is cycled off to save fuel during the night (midnight to 5 a.m.) and during the afternoon (2 p.m. - 6 p.m.).  In most situations that does not create problems, but sometimes adjustments have to be made.  For instance, getting up during the night for bathroom visits require that one has a flashlight nearby.  The afternoon we arrived we were "checked in" inside one of the buildings, with no lights.  Completing the proper forms for check-in was somewhat difficult with no light. 













Below, the dark green van is used by a group from other company.
.


Amos, Shelly & Hedy wait for the others to board.



The following pictures are of our room which had a number followed by S, which we eventually concluded meant "suite" because no one else in our group had a S after their room number and no one else had a living room.  

This picture shows the living room of our "suite" taken the night we arrived.

I think Sylvia was very tired the night we arrived.

Here is the "front door" also know as the "flap""of our living room.  The unique detail of this camp was that it had many small monkeys that roamed all areas.  One came inside our tent when we were getting dressed.  Sylvia stomped her foot and it ran away.  Anytime the flap was closed, all three zippers, (bottom left, bottom right, & middle) had to be fastened in a wire clip that was protected from being opened by a spring.  Otherwise, the monkeys could open it giving them access to the room. 

This is the bed inside the mosquito netting.



And, looking into the shower room.  Every shower on the entire trip was a rain shower.  I've always thought of a rain shower as a really luxury addition to a bathroom.  By the end of the trip I was glad to return to a stationary wall shower with the additional handheld nozzle. 



With a break of less than one hour after our very late lunch, Amos said we would meet for our very first game drive.  Here we are getting ready for a game drive. Amos is in the brown pants and behind him is Jan.  That is our 6 passenger van with the pop-up top for viewing and photography.

Visible in this picture:  L to R:  Jan (behind the door), Amos, Sylvia, Hedy, & with his back to the group, Shelly. 

Intrepid's Camp has this sign.  Above the Ranger's Club it has the following information:
Samburu 5 - Reticulated Giraffe, Grey's Zebra, Gerenuk, Somali Ostrich,  Beisa Oryz

 With very limited experience using my new camera, I can truthfully say that no pictures for this initial game drive were of any value.  However,  my skills did improve somewhat by the following day, so stay tuned.  

We returned from the game drive by the time dinner was served (about 8 p.m.).  Lunch at 5; dinner at 8.  Sylvia & I were not the least bit hungry, so we made our way to our room for the night as the following morning we had an early departure for another game drive.


No comments:

Post a Comment