Treetops to Lake Naivasha

The alarm went once during the night. But I didn't get up. Margaret did and told me that it was a herd of elephants visiting the watering hole. I slept well and got up at 5.45am, showered and was back on the rooftop (with coffee) at 6.10am.

We saw the sun rise at 6.40am. What a sight! A couple of large elephants visited. I got some great photos.

We returned to Outspan at 7am where we had breakfast on the garden veranda, overlooking some stunning gardens. Although it was only 7.30am, the sun was hot (certainly over 20C).

We headed for Lake Naivasha at 8.15am. The journey passed through more desperately poor towns and villages. The town of Naivasha was one of the worst. It's really no more than a shanty town. Some of the villages we passed through looked like scenes from the Wild West. And the roads were even worse than yesterday. Another bone crunching journey.

On the way to Lake Naivasha, we did a short safari at Nakuru where we saw lots of monkeys and rhinos - and some stunning birds. There were thousands of pink flamingos.

Lake Naivasha Country Club is beautiful. It's on the shores of Lake Naivasha. We went for a walk before dinner and saw some boys fishing in the water with large nets. The dining room and lounge are in the style of an old colonial house. Stunning. Dinner was excellent. We returned to our lodge (number 45) at 10 o'clock.

The weather wasn't very good today. After a sunny start, it clouded over and the cloud stayed most of the day. Temperatures ranged from 20-30C. We had some light rain at 6.30pm.

Another early start tomorrow. We leave for Maisi Mara at 8am.

Margaret, Felix and Bobby

Sunrise at Treetops.

Treetops

We left Samburu at 8am and headed for Treetops. The journey took five hours. We arrived at Outspan (Treetops reception) at 1pm. We had a lovely lunch there. After lunch we were ferried to Treetops for an overnight stay. The rooms are small and you are only allowed to take an overnight bag.

What a place! It's beautiful! It's completely made of wood and located between two watering holes - one on either side of it. It's situated on a migration path for animals and that and the watering holes ensures that there's plenty to see. Treetops is pretty famous - and it's easy to see why.

I stood on the roof area for several hours watching the animals pass. I saw buffalo, deer and a small cat (not sure what type of cat).

We had dinner at 7.30pm. It was the best food so far and the restaurant was something special. Then some more animal watching (in the dark). This time I saw some elephants and mongoose.

I went to bed at 10.30pm but there's a buzzer in the room that alerts you whenever animals pass. So I'm prepared to get up during the night...

Treetops

First full day on safari

I woke at 6am this morning. The first safari of the day started at 6.30am. We saw the sunrise at 6.45am. Beautiful. The sights and sounds are amazing. The place hums.

We didn't see many animals this morning. Giraffe, elephants and gazelles. Felix told us that you can be lucky or unlucky - and we were unlucky this morning. But I still got some good photos.

We returned for breakfast at 8.40am. The food is great. I was hungry since the drive into the bush is quite physically demanding (you stand almost the entire time and when you're not standing your bones are severely shaken by the terrible roads - an "African massage" as Felix calls it).

Margaret visited the local Samburu tribe while I stayed in the camp. The camp is amazing. A river runs through it which normally attracts lots of animals - although the water is low at this time of the year and the number of animals was correspondingly low. After lunch I went for a swim (in the pool not the river!) and then did a little sun-bathing and book reading. I'm currently reading The Sun: A Biography.

The second safari started at 4pm. There were more animals this time! We saw herds of elephants, lots of impala (two of which were fighting), various monkey troops, oryx and a couple of giraffes. We tried to spot some large cats but couldn't find any. Maybe next time. We returned to the camp at 6.45pm.

I showered then dinner at 8pm followed by a drink. It's 10.15pm and I'm in bed writing this.

Elephants at Samburu.

Trip to Samburu

We left Nairobi at 8.30am to head for our first safari- Samburu National Park about 300km north of Nairobi. We travelled in a seven seater van - with no suspension! What a journey! It took eight hours and the roads were terrible. There are five in our group. Me and Margaret, Jim and Janet Smith and our driver - Felix. Felix is softly spoken and his English is not great which means that I had difficulty hearing what he was saying.

The journey passed through the Equator which was the highlight of an otherwise miserable trip. Everywhere we stopped we were beseiged with people looking for money. You daren't say "Hello" to anyone since the conversation invariably ended-up with them asking for money. We passed through some grim towns. I was surprised at the poverty.

We arrived at Samburu at 5pm - and immediately had a safari. It was fantastic. We saw a giraffe, monkeys, gazelles and lots of birds.

We're staying at Samburu Serena Lodge. It is beautiful. Really stunning. Our house (number 59) is at the very end of the camp. It's very high quality accommodation. Very clean. It was great to get a rest after the long journey to get here.

We had dinner at 8.30pm and went to bed at 10.30pm. I'm totally exhausted.

We passed directly through the Equator on the way to Samburu.

Journey to Kenya

We caught the 1.30pm flight from Glasgow to Heathrow (BMI) and then the 7.00pm flight to Nairobi which departed at 7.30pm. We made-up time and arrived on time at 6.25am this morning. Kenya is three hours ahead of the UK so the total flight time from London to Nairobi is 8½ hours. We travelled on Kenya Airways which was fine.

When we arrived at Nairobi Airport we had to buy visas. This seems a bit of a scam since you can't pay by credit card (or Kenyan Shillings - only US dollars) some of which presumably finished-up in the pockets of the officials.

We drove from the airport to the Holiday Inn during early morning rush hour. Nairobi is a dump. The car polution is terrible, the roads are poor and the driving is crazy. I was glad to arrive at the Hotel at 8.30am. The Hotel was an oasis among the poverty-stricken streets of Nairobi. There were security guards at all of the entrances. We didn't venture out.

The hotel had thoughtfully provided a complimentary bottle of wine, presumably because they knew that it was our Silver Anniversary.

We slept for a couple of hours in the morning then I spent the rest of the day at the pool and in the gym. The gym is excellent - but hot making it very hard work to exercise. I listened to the radio while working-out. The presenter was complaining about the police arresting people on suspicion of carrying-out crimes - no evidence just "hearsay" as the DJ put it. This is legal in Kenya. It looks like corruption is a problem in Kenya.

The Equator runs through Kenya - which means that it doesn't really have seasons. The weather is pretty constant the whole year round. Nairobi is in the Highlands and is "cool" - but you could have fooled me. Today was boiling (about 25C) and I got sunburn. So we've just left one country (Scotland) which gets four seasons in one day and arrived in another country (Kenya) which gets one season all year round.

The swimming pool at the Holiday Inn, Nairobi.

Margaret at Heathrow Airport