Miss Lily

 

After the Masai Mara we had two more days in Naivasha which we spent being very (VERY) active. I found out how unfit one person can be while sitting on a truck or on a game drive vehicle for 6,5 weeks even though she tries to gym when opportunity comes. 

 

We spent half a day in Crater Lake National Park with our Mara guide John who is amazing in recognizing and imitating birds and showed us how to track animals while we walked amongst zebras, foxes, warthogs, elands, gazelles and buffalos. We were able to walk up to a very old giraffe and stood about five meters away from him for a long time. Such an amazing feeling! 

 

We got up to the view point of the lake and later got a four course lunch on a floating restaurant on the lake. Very luxurious compared to the packed lunches we were used to while being on the road or at the camp sites. On the way back the car got a puncture and we got to go home in a Matatu, the minivan taxi that the locals usually is crammed into on their way to and from work. Such a nice addition to our experience. 

 

The next day we had rented mountain bikes and after a sturdy breakfast we sat off at 6.30 just as the sun started to rise. We entered Hells Gate National Park after a 20 min bike ride and me and Ricky were already exhausted after trying to keep up with Stu in the morning mist. We cursed all sorts of things for our unfitness but what we didnt know.. it was only the beginning. ;)

 

Our exhaustion was soon forgotten when rounding the corner of the Elsa Gate and seeing the landscape with cliffs and rock formations and the steam coming up from the hot springs. We biked amongst the animals and went up and down the hills for view points and bird hides and tracked both leopard, hyenas and porcupine, although no luck in seeing more than the tracks. 

 

We came to Hells Gate Gorge and climbed down for an hour and a halfs trek where the rock formations are absolutely breath taking. The way up was tough on our already tired legs but after an hours lunch and power nap in the shade we decided to do a couple of more km on the bikes. Stu came with the brilliant idea to do buffalo circuit with its 14 km but after the toughest uphill and no road to follow we made a consecutive decision to go back and instead head out of the park. 

 

Instead of going home we continued past the camp site to Elsemere with its tea garden and museum. "It's just around the corner" it was said. I think both me and Ricky thought it was a couple of extra corners but once there with coffee and cakes in front of us we just laughed it away. Even when the Colobus monkey stole two of my cakes I still smiled. (It was a eat all you want buffe after all)

 

After watching the documentary about Elsa the lion and the Born Free  foundation that has donated so much money to wildlife in the world I think that not even Stuart were happy about putting the bum on that saddle again but two more uphills and we got back to the camp site where Tim was waiting with freshly caught crayfishes from the lake. Some had escaped from the bucket and jumped out of the truck when we opened the storage locker but we got them all into boiling water and with a bit of garlic butter to dip them in we had a feast for a starter. 

 

Nothing tastes as good as local food and even more so after an active day in a beautiful place like we had.