Day 2 - 3 - Lake Nakuru, Kenya

19th Aug'2012 & 20th Aug'2012 - Amboseli to Lake Nakuru via Nairobi -
After the morning game drive in Amboseli, we moved on towards Lake Nakuru. Stopping over for lunch at Nairobi, we still had a good 4 hrs drive ahead.
I was really looking forward to see the Rift valley though I was not sure what to expect.
As we were passing the Rift valley, Isaac stopped the car telling us that the East African Rift valley was created due to a massive volcanic eruption which resulted in dividing mountains and created a rift that eventually created all of the lakes in Kenya - Tanzania.
We were amazed at the landscape views that a combination of - the valley - green in its lushness, the mountains - in the distance and the azure sky - with its puffy clouds presented.
What was also interesting was the play of light creating areas of shadow and light as also the quick variation in the cloud colours contrasting between grey and white.

We were behind schedule and had to really rush through the rest of the journey with no halts whatsoever.
We reached Lake Nakuru and stayed at Hotel Chester - a modest, relatively nice place. It was very thoughtful of them to prepare Indian food for us which included Chapatis, Dal, Veg.curry and rice.
With nothing much to do for the evening, we lazed around and were warned by Isaac that we had an early start the next morning. So off to bed.

20th Aug'2012 - An early morning 6:00 am start took us towards Lake Nakuru. We really had no idea what to expect though I was excited that I would be seeing a lot of birds - esp Flamingos - greater and lesser ones.

As we entered the park, we came across a few Baboons. While we didn't catch one baring its teeth or yawning, we did manage to get a few pictures.

The completely different lush green landscape encompassed by trees unlike Amboseli was breathtaking. 

Our first sight of the lake was spectacular as the sun was in front of us and the trees were silhouetted and the water was shimmering in the light.

Moving ahead we spotted a herd of Impalas. Their bright brown shiny coats against the backdrop of pristine natural green was a visual delight.

Continuing our journey through winding, bad (understatement!!) roads, we could not get enough of the landscapes. All we could think of was "Windows" and more "Windows" {The screen on a computer:)}

As we moved on we saw the first set of birds - flamingos. I was disappointed as there were not many of them like I had imagined. Isaac told us that they normally come to Lake Nakuru between Dec - Feb. But I was happy that I could get better pictures of the birds in a more pristine environment than the ones at Mumbai.

My heart skips a beat as the light changes and I see this gorgeous play of sun light flirting with the clouds taunting the waters below. I think to myself - the world's perfect!

Isaac's getting impatient as he wants us to quickly see the Rhinos so we can move out of Nakuru and head towards Mara. As we move towards the flat landscapes leaving the trees behind, we see Egyptian Geese, Great White Pelicans, Yellow Billed Storks, African Spoon Bills, Cormorants and other birds.

The trees end abruptly and we are still clicking landscapes, when we see a herd of Rhinos. We ask for Isaac to stop but he goes on ahead telling us that he'll take us to the other side for a better view. We had realised by then that the driver knows best and will do what's good for us.

Near the Rhinos we saw a Silver backed Jackal staring at us and then settling down in the grass for probably a snooze. Even a jackal can be so handsome / beautiful {I think it was a female as it was very graceful:D}

We had to stop the vehicle for clicking more visually stimulating shots despite irritating Isaac and you will understand why!

As is the case world over, we also spotted a Yellow billed stork perched upon a Wild buffalo's hide. Its the same stork and buffalo story that we see in India.

As we head out of Lake Nakuru, we spot some Giraffes and lots of Zebras. We close up on a Giraffe eating out of its favourite prickly plant (Acacia I think) and we are amazed that its tongue does not get pricked.

The Zebras were positioned perfectly in their white and black suits against the green grass and the blue sky. Their crossing the road in a single file one behind the other reminded me of kids at school playing the train game.

The last landscape, as we move out of Lake Nakuru ready to embark on another long but bad road drive towards the Masai Mara.

Wish I could fly like the yellow billed storks and soar over vast plains and great mountains. I'll see you in Mara (not the storks!)

Day 1 - 2 - Amboseli National Park, Kenya

18th Aug'2012 & 19th Aug'2012 - Nairboi - Amboseli - We landed at Nairobi airport and were met up by our tour operator. Our driver and tour guide Isaac was introduced and we started our safari sojourn filled with excitement and anticipation. 
We were warned of our long drive ahead to Amboseli National Park - about 140kms away from Nairboi which would take almost 6 hrs to reach. It was around 8:30 am (Kenya time) that we left the airport. I had my request laid out in terms of breakfast (I need to be fed at regular intervals). We stopped around 11:00 am at a small cafe where we spotted a crow with a white neck and breast. I got to know later that it's a "Pied crow" and these are what is found across Kenya generally.

We moved on towards Amboseli (a few kms of bad road) and then turned onto the actual route to the National Park.

Sweeping plains, spectacular landscapes were my first thoughts....wow!

At the first sight of a Wildebeest, the 4 of us (me, TJ, Sneh & Radhakrishnan) screamed at Isaac to stop the car. A bewildered Isaac was not sure what went wrong until he saw us frantically clicking pictures of the Wildebeest and Zebra. He had a smile on his face......little did we know what was in store for us.

We checked in at Amboseli Kibo wildlife lodge for a quick-lunch and moved on to our first actual game drive.

We saw lots of Elephants, Thomson's gazelles, a few giraffe and a couple of Masai giraffe (darker than the regular Giraffe)

We were nearing the end of the evening game drive when we spotted a herd of elephants with babies amongst them. As they crossed the road in front of us, one of the teenagers was left behind and came charging towards the vehicles in confusion making furious noises. A call from one of the elder elephants redirected the teenager towards the path of the other elephants. Phew! Now we know what a "Close call" means!

As we headed back towards the lodge, we spotted a waterbuck and just about managed to grab a picture in the fading light.

As we headed out the next morning checking out of Kibo after breakfast, we spotted Crown crested cranes dancing. The pair was a very pretty picture posing beautifully. Too bad I can't put up many pictures here:(

Superb Starling male and Hildebrandt starling - brightly coloured birds, an Oriole? (not sure), Sparrows or finches (not sure) were also spotted. 

Male Ostriches trying to woo the female as also Grey Herons were some of the birds spotted during our trip at Amboseli. 

We also spotted an Eagle (not sure which one) in the twilight zone the previous day.

Interestingly, apart from the baby elephants,we also managed to catch sight of a baby giraffe, a baby wildebeest and a baby gazelle (have to check out what all these babies are called??) Honestly they do not look like babies at all!!

Before departing the early morning views of Mount Kilimanjaro (the prime reason for me being in Amboseli) and the snow-capped mountain view on our way out of the park gave me hopes that I was going to return soon.

But for now we were on our way to Lake Nakuru via Nairobi. Get set for another long drive to another spectacularly beautiful and amazingly different landscape.

Evening sky at Amboseli.