Samburu Intrepids

We enjoyed a fabulous dinner at the Serena Nairobi.  Overall the hotel was excellent with wonderful food and very comfortable rooms.  At dinner, we were enjoying a lovely bottle of KWV Chenin Blanc and reached the conclusion that since we hadn't entered the malaria zone, we should have another!  Tried to get an early start to have breakfast and check out to meet our guide and depart on the safari.  We wound up a bit late, but no problem for Peter.  Peter's tribe is Kikuyu, who are farmers.  We embarked on a fairly long drive from Nairobi to Samburu game reserve.  Made a couple of rest stops along the way for shopping and "checking the tires".  Also stopped for lunch at the Lily Pond.  Along the way we traversed quite variable landscapes and ecosystems.  From lush forest through high elevation and arid savanah.  We saw lots of people living in meager structures.  We learned about concepts of wealth in Kenya, primarily associated with ownership of valuable goods (livestock, etc).  Also learned three main paths of immigration into Kenya originally (Nilotes - from the Nile, Bantu - from the south including kikuyu, Cushites - from the North East).  We also learned about the primary lifestyles of the 42 Kenyan tribes (farmers, pasturalists and fishers).  Late in the afternoon, we arrived at the reserve gates and stretched our legs one last time before our first game drive.  We saw some gazelles and impalas right away.  Of particular interest we saw a leopard

and Graves zebra, the first being very elusive and the second only found in this area (Samburu).  Also saw elephants, giraffes, Warthogs, Baboons.  As the sun set, we arrived at the Intrepids camp.  This is the Glamping I've heard about.  The canvased walled tents contain netted very comfortable beds, well lit and hot and cold running water (although the hot water requires a three minute warm up period).  Our tent overlooks the river bank and is a side by side with the boys.  They won't be able to lock us out while we are here!