This is a short post, covering only the day we arrived in Nairobi. The prior post ended with our arrival at the AeroClub at about 1am after our long journey to Kenya. We had nice warm showers and a short sleep as we had a 10am scheduled pickup for a visit to the Elephant Orphanage and a 1/2 day safari in Nairobi National Park. Before we departed for the day, we had to have a little breakfast at the AeroClub.
Here's what the entrance to the AeroClub looks like.
And here's the breakfast menu. Somehow I forgot to take a photo of breakfast. Breakfast was fine, nothing exceptional. And breakfast was included in our stay.
ELEPHANT ORPHANAGE
The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust was established 45 years ago and is best known for its Orphans' Project, the first and most successful elephant orphan rescue and rehabilitation program in the world. You can visit the Orphans currently being cared for each day from 11am for an hour. You must book tickets ahead of time, and tickets sell out quickly. There's apparently a stealth option to visit the orphans prior to the 11am session if you stay at the top-end hotel Hemingways Nairobi. We met someone who was able to schedule such a visit. They had heard of this special session and wrote via email to the trust, with no response. Only once at the hotel Hemingways Nairobi the hotel was able to do some magic and get them booked. The cost was significant for the special visit but only about $15 for the general session that we attended.
There were 29 orphans at the facility, and we saw each of them get fed one or two bottles of milk. We heard the story of how old they were and under what circumstances they were found. After the age of three, they are brought to other facilities in National Parks and allowed to go into the wild.
Orphans coming for some milk
For the younger ones, the handlers hold the bottle
The older ones hold their own bottles
The elephants do get close to the spectators. You may see two hands in the right of the photo touching the elephant
It was quite hot this day, and we both got a bit of a sunburn after being in in full sun for about 90 minutes.
LUNCH AT SAKINA'S BBQ
Next stop was a 1/2 day safari in Nairobi National Park, but before we got started with that, we wanted to stop for some food. I'd found a local Barbecue place run by a Pakistani lady that had some great reviews. The restaurant was near the orphanage and in a high-end residential area of Nairobi. The food was quite good. The restaurant was called Sakina's BBQ.
1/2 DAY SAFARI AT NAIROBI NATIONAL PARK
After lunch and a very short drive we arrived at Nairobi National Park. The park it pretty large, about 45 square miles. It's somewhat surreal as depending on which way you are facing, you can see Nairobi's high-rise buildings in the background. We had very low expectations and were very surprised by the volume and variety of animals. We were really surprised to see about 7 rhino that day -- the only rhino we would see while in Kenya.
The safari vehicle we were in had a top that popped up. To see the animals best, you stood in the vehicle and looked out of the top. Here we are waiting for the paperwork to be finished for our entry into the park.
And here are a few animal shots from the day. We also saw Hippo, Zebra, Wildebeest, and a variety of gazelles. We also saw about 7 lion this afternoon, both male and female.
You can see the Nairobi skyline behind these zebra
The lions were really moving about as the sun set and we, along with about 8 other safari vehicles, stayed past closing time to watch these large cats come to life. It was a short 20 minute trip back to the AeroClub where after a shower we were ready for cocktails and dinner.
BACK AT THE AEROCLUB
Aeroclub reception:
Some of the aircraft items on display, including an old motor and a propeller
Here's what one part of the club seating area looks like.
Dinner Menu:
Tonight's drink -- Tusker Beer
Fish and Chips:
Hummus:
That's it for the day in Nairobi. We called it an early night as we had to be ready the next morning for a 6:15 check-in with Safarilink for our flight to our first lodge.
The next bit of the journey was all Safari -- either at Hemingway's Green Hills of Africa (Ol Donyo Lodge) or adjacent to the Masai Mara (Kempinski's Olare Mara Lodge). Here's a graphic showing the relationship of these lodges to Nairobi and how close each lodge is to the Tanzanian Border. We could see Mount Kilimanjaro each day from Ol Donyo Lodge.
