kissing giraffes

All you have to do is put a giraffe biscuit between your lips and you get a big sloppy kiss from Kelly the Giraffe!

Apparently a giraffe can eat up to 65kg per day so that's a lot of kisses it get's to give out.

Patting cheetahs!

Yesterday turned into a very good day! After a very uninspiring game drive around Nairobi Central Game Park we were feeling a bit flat and somewhat bored with what Nairobi was offering us. At the same site there is also an animal orphanage where you can see animals that have been rescued in cages. Having seen all these animals on our game drives we were feeling fairly reluctant to part with more cash to go in there and see them sitting in cages, but we had heard from Summer who had worked there 3 years ago that they sometimes allow people to pat the cheetahs.

So armed with this knowledge I tried my luck at the entrance office by asking if it was possible to pat the cheetahs. The guy looked at me and said, "No. We don't do that here." I said, "Are you sure?" and he replied a definite NO and looked at me with that look of someone who is breaking every wildlife law that has ever been made. I went for a third try of "I really love big cats, are you sure I can't pat them" and he said no and left the office. Hmm, cheetahs were not looking good.

So, not to be perturbed about half an hour later Scott, Ryan and I went back to the office for another try. This time round I did a lot of talking and pleading and said we weren't going to pay the entrance fee unless we could pat them. And would you believe it, but success!!!

So ten minutes later we were in the cheetah cage patting our hearts out! They are beautiful animals with really short hair and the most amazing long tails. . Having thought that was the most amazing thing to happen all trip, I was feeling quite excited and it must have been showing as the guide then turned around and asked if we would like to see the baby cheetah that are kept in the nursery off limits to regular visitors....well YES of course I did!!!

So next thing we are led behind the scenes into the nursery and each handed a 2 month old baby cheetah to hold! They were about the size of a very small house cat and covered in tufts of spotted hair. SO CUTE!! After 5 minutes with them (and a 200 shilling bribe to the nursery manager) the guide, who was clearly enjoying our excitement, then asked if we wanted to go into the Forest cat enclosure and pat them too!!

So off to the forest cats we went and had a play with them as well. They are fairly similar to a regular domestic cat but a bit more muscly and broad. They even liked the same patting technique as Squirt, Fatty and Ginge.

On the way through we even had the chance to poke a lioness through her cage so we could feel her fur...but there was no way I was getting into her cage after our lion experience in South Luanga game park and hearing the male lion roar!!!

So for 10 us dollars and some tips we got to pat 4 different kinds of wild cats! Score!!! Definitley worth it!

Life on the truck...

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I've finally got the time to jot down a few thoughts about life on the truck. Before we set off on this adventure we spent a fair bit of time speculating about how the truck would be - would we like the people, would we survive 5 months of camping?? So here is a download at week 8!

There are currently 11 passengers on the truck which is smaller than many of the groups we meet (the Kenya - Vic Falls circuit is very popular and some trucks carry up to 24 people!) . On the upside this gives us much more room on the truck and often on the long drives we can all lie down and have a snooze if we are tired. On the downside it means there are less people in the group and therefore less personalities.

The camping part is surprisingly fine! We are very fast at setting up our tents and hauling our sleeping gear to and from it each day. We sleep on some thin foam sleeping mats, topped with a self inflating air mat we've got sleeping bags, pillows, blankets and the latest acquisition is a fluffy sheep skin to keep me especially warm!! Actually that is something that has really surprised me...at night it is FREEZING cold!!

In terms of food we have toast or cereal for brekkie, and then get our own lunches along the way at local restaurants or supermarkets. For dinner we have four cooking groups and we each take it in turns to shop for and cook a meal. We often try to buy in local markets and some of our more exotic efforts have seen roasted goat, stir fried flies (that was for Chris the 13 yo!!) and local fish (which you can see Gavin buying in the picture). We cook on small charcoal stoves (see pic) and carry water cans to provide drinking and washing up water.

The cooking is actually one of my favourite parts as you never know quite what you will find in the markets to work with. It isn't Steve's favourite though...he focuses more on the eating!!! I am not however a fan of the cleaning! Nathan where are you when we need you????

One thing that has surprised us is the amount of time we spend driving. In some parts we have done some really long days on the road - starting at 5.30 some mornings and carrying through until 7 at night. Usually the roads are really bad and we go quite slow. The saving grace has been that we don't seem to get car sick in the truck so we can read books easily. We have a bit of a library on board and we have both been churning through some novels!

The highlights have definitely been the game drives and time in the villages. Interestingly it seems that if you pay a local a dollar or two to go on a village walk you get a much better reaction from the locals and can take pictures and talk to people with no problems. If we don't take a guide it isn't always so friendly.

Ok the PEOPLE...generally we have been lucky and our group is good. Of course sometimes we all have our moments and if we were at home I don't think we would choose to hang out with some of the people on the truck! Most of the time though we are happy and having a good giggle! We've got a new guy arriving on monday so it will be interesting to see how that all works as we all kind of have each other worked out!

Ok, that's enough for now! Got to go to the supermarket before we leave!

xxx

More game drive pictures

A few more of my fav pics from the game driving.

We've got flamingos,giraffe, hyena and the cutest baby elephant!

Spotting lions in the Masai Mara

We've just had two days in one of the most famous game parks in Kenya - the Masai Mara. It's actually an extension of the Serengeti park in Tanzania and the two are separated by the river Mara which I think is also the border line between the two countries. We saw all the usual game animals, but best of all was on our early morning drive when we saw a pride of 10 lions munching into a fresh catch of Zebra. The pride had 2 males, 4 females and 4 cubs and it was amazing to watch them (and hear them crunching into bones).

We also visited a very touristy Masai village where we got escourted around and shown their houses and learnt about their culture. The only good side of being very touristy is they loved posing for photos and I've included one of Steve wearing a lion's mane on his head! Later in the evening at the campsite we also had a Masai dance around a campfire and that was great to see (and do). For those who aren't "up" with Masai culture they are the ones who jump really high and practice female circumcision...nice.

Here are a few random animal facts we learnt...

1. If a lion attacks a herd of wilderbeast, then all the wilderbeast scatter rather than helping out their mate.
2. Black rhino hang out in bushes whilst white rhino roam the plains.
3. Male zebra try to rip each other's nuts off to prevent them from breeding with the females and to exert their dominance
4. Male ostrich are black and females are grey and they use these colours as camo to help them protect their eggs. During the day the female sits on the eggs and blends in with the landscape, and at night males sit on the egg and so blend in with the night sky.

Back in Nairobi

I've been a bit slack writing what we've been up to recently...we've just done a two week circuit in Uganda to see the gorillas and are now back in Nairobi for a 10 day layover away from the truck. I haven't got loads of time now but will stick up a few photos and write more in a few days time when I have time.

In a nutshell we went across to the triangle point where Uganda, Rwanda and Congo meet and trekked in a national park called Biwindi (whichmeans impenetrable darkness). Ok, so the honest truth is that the Gorillas were ok...but not the most amazing thing I've ever done personally (especially when theycost $535 US ). It only occured to me after we saw them that we are not actually huge primate lovers (they all kind of look the same to us) but other people we have met swear they are the best things they have ever seen. We also lucked out and had to do a mega 9.5 hour trek to see them across some really difficult jungle terrain. Steve loved it!! haha!!!

However, the Rhino at Nukuru National Park were very very cool to see (and they cost $65). I also really enjoyed visiting a pygmy village where they put on a show for us...and yes some of them were quite small in stature!

Ok, will update lots more soon when we get back from the Masai Mara game park.

Doing well and all is good!

xxx