Nairobi National Park

Between mid-May and mid-June, I have spent the majority of my time in Somalia. As the drought worsens and we inch closer to famine, it’s critical that we step up our response. It’s also important for me to see what’s happening on the ground such that I can collect footage and share the information to donors, media and anyone who will listen. The situation is dire and those who are most vulnerable are suffering the most. Understanding that there are dire needs elsewhere in the world, the scale of the situation unfolding in the Horn of Africa is truly astounding.

In between trips to Somalia, I need to be husband, dad and all the other roles that I am entrusted with. Admittedly, it's hard to do them all justice with all that is going on with my work. But I have nothing to complain about.

For example, I was able to enjoy a half-day in Nairobi National Park with family. I have to say, it’s truly amazing that Kenya has been able to preserve such a wonderful place on the doorstep to the capital city.

My sister-in-law was in town and, though she’s been on safari several times before, she hadn’t been to NNP. In fact it’s a great thing to do any time someone is visiting. I’m told they also have deals for people traveling through Nairobi with a layover long enough to do it. Cool idea.

The plan was to get up before the sun and hit the park early. In fact, the sun never got up. While not ideal for photography, it’s not the end of the world. National parks are great anyway.

The other challenge we faced was that it poured rain the night before. Though most of the roads are well maintained, to the point that it limits the mud, it can make some of the lesser roads impassible and can make some stream crossings precarious. Fear of getting stuck.

We were out of the house early though not as early as anticipated. The main entrance to the park is about 20 minutes from our house. In spite of the overcast skies, I admit that I was excited to use one of my few non-work weekend days on a game drive. It always makes me wonder why we don’t do this more.

I know NNP fairly well but not as well as I should. Generally I cruise around by following my instincts. When we would spot a group of vehicles off in the distance, it was a sure sign that there was something interesting to see. Guides communicate with each other on VHF radio or phone but those of us who are self-guided need to find other means. I also resorted to using my phone a few times to help me navigate (good cell reception close to a major city).

At one point we decided to make our way to the hippo pools. Google is detailed enough to show most of the roads within the park though it’s not clear whether they are decent. I took the most direct route from where we were. However, very quickly the condition of the road deteriorated. There were stretches that were steep and rough making it unlikely that we would want to turn around, even if we could.

After descending a rather steep section we came upon a river crossing that provided little indication as to its depth. There did appear to be a set of fresh-ish tire tracks that led to the water (and no sign of a stranded vehicle) so it gave me a bit of confidence that we might be able to make it across. That, in addition to the nasty stretch that led to where we were, gave me more motivation to believe we could make it. So I put it into first gear and off we went.

Soon after entering the water, the nose of the vehicle dropped and a wave came up over the hood and onto the windshield. This is generally not advisable, particularly when you are in the middle of nowhere. I have faith in the Toyota Forerunner (Fortuna in Kenya) like no other vehicle but everything has its limit. We were in water that was over four feet deep and we were barely halfway across.

As we plowed forward, the nose of the vehicle soon popped up and we began to climb out of the stream. The nights rains presented a formidable challenge but we made it across. The was a sigh of relief but I was still wary of the fact that we had no idea what was still ahead of us.

Thankfully, there ended up being no more major crossings, but the road threw all sorts of challenges at us until we finally came out on one of the main roads. From there it was only a short distance to the hippo pools.

We’d been in this part of the park before but not to the actual pools which requires a guide. So we decided to take advantage of the occasion and go for a short walk to hopefully see some hippos.

In the end, we didn’t see a single hippo. We heard one off in the distance as we were walking but that was all the “hippo pools” had to offer us that day. We did see other things and it felt good to get out of the vehicle and go for a bit of a walk. Sort of like a mini “walking safari”.

After finishing our walk, it was time to make our way back to the main entrance which was more or less on the other side of the park. Our goal was to make our lunch reservation at a nearby restaurant. Other than seeing a few crocodiles, hippos (finally) and a nice moment with a giraffe and her calf, the trip back to the gate was uneventful.

Mission accomplished. Time for lunch.