Odyssey Overland - Cairo to Cape Town 2015 : Nairobi

On our last night in Kenya we decided to go to Carnivores, a very famous meat restaurant in Nairobi. However, when we discovered that the cost before drinks would be $50 a head, we thought we could do a better meat feast ourselves. And so Calypso Carnivores was born. Everyone mucked in, so we had a delicious barbeque to celebrate our final day in beautiful Kenya.

Calypso Carnivores!

The boys preparing camp

Sissy & Leanne getting ready for Calypso Carnivores

Ciara at the BBQ

A little pre-BBQ starter

Meat Feast!

Leanne & Tony having a utensil duel with Steve refereeing. At least that's probably what's happening here?

The following day we hit the road again, into country number 7, Tanzania. We stayed for one night in Arusha before leaving Calypso behind and getting into 4x4’s to go into The Serengeti and Ngorongoro crater. Within minutes of entering the Serengeti National Park we spotted 3 male lions. Five minutes later we saw lionesses and a couple of cubs. In all we saw the big five in the first couple of hours – very lucky indeed! The first night we camped in an open camp in the Serengeti. During the night we heard a Zebra foal being chased through the camp by hyenas – only a metre or two away from our tents. Most people were awake and looking at the night time entertainment throughout the night. Later on, a hyena was spotted in camp, looking into Leanne and Ciara’s tent! That night was described as the best worst night’s sleep ever!

Secretary Bird

A lion!

A Zebra crossing!

Camping in the Serengeti

Cheetah crossing

Ciara, Sissy, Tony, Leanne, David and Roberta enjoying the safari

Lee with his animal spotting chart - for ages 3 and above

Lunchtime for a cheetah

On safari

Safari selfie

Steve enjoying the game drive

Serengeti

After another successful day of game driving our second camp was in the Ngorongoro crater. We had been promised that showers would be available. Unfortunately, whilst some of the group were using the showers, a rather large elephant walked into camp, stuck its trunk into the water tank and drank all of the water! Showers became somewhat limited after that, but no-one really minded as seeing such a large elephant in the middle of our camp was pretty cool.

A hippo!

An elephant!

Lee & Tony showing the way to the bathroom

Tony & Ann looking out into the crater

Tony & Lee trying to prove the evolution of mankind

Wildebeest crossing

We headed towards Dar Es Salaam, before catching the ferry across to Zanzibar for four nights of well deserved rest and relaxation. Everyone went their separate ways for a few days to enjoy the stunning beaches, explore Stone Town and its famous architecture and fish market – and have a few days of not being on the move.

Lee

Stone Town from the sea

Stone Town night market

Tour leading is a tough job sometimes...

Zanzibar beach

After a few days away from the truck we were all refreshed and ready to go again.. and so headed towards Malawi.

Even at the border coming into Kenya we could immediately see a difference. After the poor roads, power cuts and hardships of Ethiopia, Kenya seemed very efficient. Electricity, computers that work, tarmac…

We are in the Southern Hemisphere!

Kenyan morning

Kenya - which way should we go?

Kenyan lizard

And Tusker. Together. Forever. When you open a bottle of Tusker you are joining the world in celebrating one of Africa’s great original beers. Tusker has been brewed with care craft and love since 1922. Every crisp clean mouthful summons up the taste sunshine and love of life of its African roots….

A quick overnight stop in Marsabit, then continued driving to Archer’s Post, our home for a couple of days and the place to do our first safari. Samburu National Park in known for its Gerenuk’s, giraffe’s and other hoofed animals. After bumping around we had seen many different animals, then were lucky enough to spot a number of lions having a spot of lunch.

Our first game drive

Safari Bruce with an elephant outside the truck

Everyone looked after Tony really well when he was feeling a bit rough

Lesson for me - never leave your phone unattended with David & Sissy

On the way to Naro Moru the following day we discovered another sign we were in a more Western country. A supermarket! Not just any supermarket, but a fancy one that sold pretty much anything you could ever want. We spent a couple of hours here stocking up on all of the things that are not available in the northern countries - wine & cheese were pretty high on the list.

Naro Moru was pretty underwhelming. But our campsite had a pool and Wi-Fi!

Our campsite

Then to Nakuru, for more game drives, game walks and horse riding. Also staying at our campsite was a group of real estate agents from Nairobi on a team building event. We joined them for a few drinks after dinner, and they showed us how to dance like a Kenyan. It’s all about the bottom apparently… The evening got a little raucous, and so to apologise for the noise, the manager of the camp upgraded us all into beautiful bandas and safari tents for our last night.

How many lions? Tree lions

Impala

White rhino

Horse riding

A very special wine

A long drive brought us to Jinja, the source of the Nile. We camped at a beautiful spot overlooking Bujugali. We spent a few days here keeping the adrenaline junkies happy with white water rafting, body boarding, zip lining, kayaking and stand up paddle boarding. David and Sissy also celebrated their anniversary. They had a lovely romantic dinner for two, with the rest of the group at the table next to them!

Jan & Wilma relaxing by their tents

Lennie has really got to grips with tandem kayaking

Some of the gang after white water rafting

David & Sissy's anniversary

A long drive eventually took us to Lake Bunyonyi, a beautiful spot to stay for a few days. And most importantly Wales kicked off their rugby world cup campaign, and the lodge we stayed at had a TV.

David on a zipline

David jumps in

A couple of Wales supporters watching rugby (Tony & Em)

Then on to Rwanda so trek to the mountain gorillas. Amazing to spend time with these animals and their very human like behaviour. One young gorilla charged Killian and pushed him over. Apparently not the first time he has been rejected by a hairy teenage girl…..

Lee looking excited to see his long lost brother

Sissy with a gorilla

Baby gorilla

Ciara & Lennie stick fighting

Sissy

Tony & Lee keeping themselves entertained in Ruhengeri...

... and getting friendly with the wildlife

Back to Uganda, where we celebrated Ciara’s birthday at a lovely campsite with a swimming pool. Shame it rained all day.. Then onto Kampala, where the sun came back for a few hours so we were able to make use of their swimming pool.

For Ciara's birthday it rained...it was just like being back in Ireland. Except for cooking in the rain...

Another tough day in Africa

Tony relaxing in the pool

Tony wearing gloves at the special request of the office (following his complaint regarding a broken fingernail...)

Little and Large do shopping

Our last stop in Kenya was Nairobi, where we went to feed baby elephants and then kiss giraffes. Some even cuddled crocodiles – a birthday treat for Jan!