Amboseli

Because we’d booked our safari over the phone, we had a free pickup at the airport, which was a nice little treat (especially as we arrived after dark). The safari company also provide basic dormitory accommodation free if you want it, and since we were arriving late at night and heading off on safari early the next morning it was really convenient to just stay there (and there was only one other person staying there anyway).

So 9:30 the next morning and we’re on our way to another safari, this time Amboseli. As nobody else had booked for that day we had the whole minibus to ourselves, which is both a good thing and a bad thing really. Obviously we had loads of room, so it’s more comfortable, but its nice to meet other people too. It also meant the safari was more expensive – the more people on the bus, the cheaper it is for everyone. We had three days in total, although it takes half a day to get there and half a day to get back.

Amboseli isn’t as scenically beautiful a place as the Masai Mara park, as it’s much flatter. There also wasn’t as much wildlife to be seen either, although we still say plenty (including lions with a kill, and a couple of very large pythons), especially elephants, for which the park is famous. In fact at one point we got caught in the middle of a large herd that were crossing the road, and a couple of them trumpeted, which is mighty impressive when your only a few feet away from them.

There were also a couple of rocky outcrops, one of which had very impressive boulders that you can clamber up and over, and then look down on a tiny local village. But really the safari was all about just relaxing and cruising around at leisure, and it’s weird how quickly you become complacent about seeing zebras and antelopes and buffaloes and elephants, etc.

Unfortunately Sarah got a bit sick on the last night of the safari, and so wasn’t feeling the best on the way back to Nairobi. So rather than stay in the basic safari company place again we booked into a nice new hotel on River Road (a notorious area, but fine once you don’t venture out at night). Sarah was fine the next day.

We’d booked our time in Nairobi with a bit of slack in case the safari dates didn’t work out, so when we got back from Amboseli we still had a full day to kill. I was mad keen to go back to the Carnivore restaurant and see if the Cheesy Dribbler hamburger really was the best burger in the world, or if the last visit was just a fluke. I can now report that yes indeed, the Cheesy Dribbler is the very best burger I’ve ever had, and the next time I’m in Nairobi I’ll be heading straight back to Carnivore for another one.

The following morning it was off early to the airport for our flight to Lilongwe in Malawi. I’d managed to haggle another free transfer to the airport from the safari company (they’d overcharged us a bit for park entrance fees), so we arrived nice and early, although we then had to queue at check-in for ages.