I spent one day in Mombasa, wandered around for a bit saw the big tusks that create an arch over the road, saw a big castle and decided it was all fairly pants so caught the night bus up to a place called Nyeri. The journey was something like 14 hours, and I was pretty knackered by the end of it. I unfortunately got the front seat so could see the driver in all his drug induced glory. To keep awake they chew Miraa Leaves which give them bright red eyes and a slightly edgy look, he did however make it without killing anyone which is always a bonus.
Nyeri is north of Nairobi in the Kenyan Highlands, I got breakfast in Nyeri and then caught a shorter bus journey to the town of Nanyuki, which is at the base of Mt Kenya, and a starting point for many trekkers up the mountain. This in turn means theres plenty of touts and guides looking to take you up the mountain, not a good mixture when I’ve had no sleep. I was pretty rude to a few people, but what can you do. I’ve got no intention of climbing Mt Kenya this time round, its the rainy season and the technical routes are a bit dodgy.
I was in Nyeri to meet Brendon and Sandra some old uni friends (white Kenyans) who I have been searching out since arriving in Kenya. It turns out they live and work on a private game reserve - you’ve guessed it free Safari, in fact nearly two weeks of free Safari! Which is just as well because my Google campaign only got me enough money to by one days entry to a National Park and no transport. The ranch is called Ol Pejeta and is about 90,000 acres. Only 30,000 acres are currently open to the public (Sweetwaters Game Reserve) but there are some big changes going on due to some foreign investment and soon the whole park is going to open to the public. Its an exciting place to be and the future is looking pretty promising, Brendon is in charge of all the building and design work going on in the park and has his work well and truly cut out.
Despite this we all found time to take plenty of game drives, often accompanied by Pops (a small Terrier of some sort?) and Kutu (a three quarter ridgeback and one quarter great dame!). Having already been in Africa for seven or so months I hadn’t actually seen much in the way of wildlife. Most of the animals in West and Central Africa have been eaten, and other than a few monkeys and baboons the only animals I saw were hanging on sticks and for sale at the roadside. Being at Ol Pejeta more than made up for it, I spent quite allot of time driving from building site to building site with Brendon and each time it was pretty astonishing for me what we would come across. Over the two weeks I saw pretty much every animal going (Lions, Hippos, Elephants, White Rhino, Black Rhino, Zebra, Hartebeest, Gazelles, Giraffe etc, etc) and only the elusive Leopards and Cheetas stayed hidden. Being in an official vehicle we also had a free reign to stray from the roads should we see something of concern/interest.
The guys are currently living in the Ol Pejeta guest house, while Brendon works on designing and building a new house for himself and Sandra. Fortunately the guest house had a spare room for me which was paradise compared to the normal flea pits I have to sleep in. Kosci the cook was on hand to prepare a tasty meal every night, which normally involved prime beef from the Ol Pejeta livestock. So all in all it was pretty good.
The reserve is pretty far from the nearest town, hence me being quiet for the last two weeks. There aren’t many pubs around but Sandra brought in a good supply of Tuskers, and we also took a trip out to the Ranch House. Some time before it was a game reserve the land was owned by an Arabic arms dealer. He built this massive ranch house, complete with two swimming pools, an absolutely huge bed, and a big bird cage which was suspended over the dinner table. During dinner parties the bird cage would appear from a trapdoor above the table containing naked girls who would then dance and play with food above the eating crowd. It was all fun and games for the arab until eventually he got locked away for his dodgy dealings and the ranch got purchased by a luxury safari company.
Nowadays allot of the funding comes from a rich American who likes chimps, because of this they have a large sanctuary full of rescued chimps. Although not strictly indigenous to Kenya the chimps are good fun to go and visit, due to their often traumatic past its a bit of a chimp nut house and their are some real characters. Including a few moody fellas that throw stones at onlookers, on one occasion they even manged to knock out one of the wardens with a well aimed shot.
The reserve is based in some pretty striking scenery with views of Mt Kenya to one side and the Agerdares Hills National Park to the other. Being the rainy season the weather wasn’t too good but we were often treated to a morning view of the mountain and never passed up the opportunity for ‘Sundowners’ on some on the smaller hills dotted around the grounds.
