Tuesday, June 19, 2012

May 27th: Weekend getaway

We spent a wonderful weekend away at Lake Naivasha and Hellsgate National Park. Leaving early Saturday morning, we drove through Nairobi and to Lake Naivasha. Before heading over to our accommodations for the night, we headed out on the lake for a Hippo Tour! We went out in two boats for about an hour and a half. We saw a couple different families of hippos and a few species of birds. We headed for land and shelter when the rain came down hard and fast and then back out on the boat to take us to a piece of land that was used during the filming of Out of Africa. An unexpected perk for a hippo ride - there were zebras, wildebeests, gazelle and giraffes (not our volunteer Twiga...the real deal)! We got to walk right along the same paths they use and actually got pretty close to where they were browsing. It was a terrific afternoon! Later we stayed in cute little cabins and had our first experiences sleeping under mosquito nets as they are not required at the altitude we are used to near Mt. Kenya. We woke up the next morning ready to ride! Bike ride that is. Six of us took the opportunity to go on a cycling tour of Hellsgate National Park. We rode by baboons, zebras, impalas, gazelles, and funny little warthogs to name a few of the animals. By the time we were ready to meet the van and head home it was a quick sprint to the gate of the park and we did end up with two bike riding casualties... but they wore their scrapes and bruises proudly!

DWC Team
Kenya, May 2012

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