Staci had been making contact every two days with her contact at the headquarters for Tsavo West NP to be sure the Rangers would be at Tsavo West gate at 8:30 a.m., so we could start hiking at 9:00. They didn't show up. We later learned they were at the wrong gate. They finally showed up at 12:30pm.
An older Ranger, Abel, who happened to be at the correct gate on other duties, agreed to hike with us until the real hiking Rangers showed up. Neither he, nor Staci, nor I, could have guessed it would have taken so long.
Abel wasn't able. He got us off the planned route. We ended up trudging through the brush, unnecessarily, for way too long. The day was not off to a good start. This was by far the most expensive park, and they were inept. The hiking should be the hard part, but here it's the bureaucracy, the runaround, and the language barrier between Swahili and English that produced the challenges.
When the new Rangers (Steven and Mustafah) showed up they were at least a little more fit and able than Abel.
Serious hiking ensued. They estimated Staci walked about 40 km, if so, I did about 30 km. Her distance came from frustration and anger. Steven and Mustafah struggled to keep up.
The route had to be changed from the Tsavo River corridor to the main road through the park up on a flat. It was a more direct route, but less potentially scenic.
The new route took us right to the edge of the Rhino Sanctuary. We arrived at the gate to the sanctuary at 5:30, it's only open from 4:00-6:00pm daily due to poaching issues. In the half hour we checked out the sanctuary we saw nothing.
Steven may have felt bad due to the mixup, he was able to get permission from the man responsible for the sanctuary for us to go in at night when chances for seeing rhinos are greatly improved.
After dinner, about 8:00 with no moon so it was very dark, Tony, our driver, a Ranger from the Reserve, Staci, and I went looking for rhinos. We each had night vision goggles. For the first hour we saw nothing. We tied in with the Rangers doing night security duties protecting the rhinos. The first stop was unsuccessful. The second, and last, stop was appearing unsuccessful too. After nearly two hours Staci and I were both ready to give up, go back to camp, and get some sleep.
At that point Staci spotted an elephant in her night vision goggles. It was very close, and drinking water loudly. We didn't realize how close until a Ranger shined his flashlight on him. Oh my! I would guess 15 or 20 yards at most. He was big. We were hovering in an open topped, oversized concrete coffin looking safe area.
After just a bit admiring the elephant, Staci turned to our backside and found a baby rhino and its mama. We were super excited. This experience is simply one nobody else could fall into. Even before sighting the animals the thought of sitting in Kenya, in a blind at night, with two Kenya Wildlife Service Rangers responsible for protecting Rhinos from poachers, with night vision goggles, seemed utterly surreal.
When we got home from the rhino adventure Staci's hiking shoes were missing. She had left them outside her tent, with three full water bottles. The bottles had teeth marks, and had been drug away. The culprit was a hyena. Her shoes were missing. Not good. She still had sandals, and heavy hiking boots for Kilimanjaro, but nothing for long distance hiking, and no prospects for how to find replacement shoes. This was a truly frustrating day, even with some big distances covered, and the incredible rhino siting.
DECEMBER 19-Fast Hiking Through Tsavo West
Other attempts to find the missing hiking shoes for Staci in the morning were unsuccessful. She hiked in the boots planned for summiting Mount Kilmanjaro. Her feet were bothering her, but frustrations at the bureaucracy, ineptitude, and maybe even some factual inaccuracies told her, fed her speed.
A baby monitor lizard.
Notice the elephant in the background. Soon after this picture the elephant took notice of us. We didn't stick around long.
Beauty at Mzima Springs in West Tsavo NP. Lots of hippos, and we got to see our first crocodile, a baby. This is an incredible paradise in the center of the park.
Beware of Crocodiles sign right as springs flow out of ground.
We came across many more giraffes.
Staci had cell service just enough to find out Amboseli NP won't be supporting us the last two days in Kenya, she was very frustrated. The same guy, two days before, had assured her of Rangers. This was the follow up call, as he had requested, to finalize details.
She called back to Tsavo West headquarters and got the two Rangers extended for a day. If she pushes she could cget out of Kenya with two long days. The shoes and feet are the remaining obstacles. There was a problem with this plan. Steven and Mustafah weren't in great shape, and by now had both developed blisters. Even without blisters they were slow and in bad shape, and not necessarily industrious.
At the end of the day Staci and I were hiking, and our two Rangers for security were riding in the chase vehicle. We got electrolytes in them, and gave out ibuprofen. They were hurting. Staci's feet could be better too, but it didn't slow her down much. The boots and sandal combination was less than optimal. She actually has more blisters than the Rangers, but doesn't complain about them, just hikes.
We were both ready to be done with Kenya. Staci did about 39km today, I did maybe 25km.
In baseball they talk about the "dog days of August." These are the "dog days" of Kenya. We so appreciate now the two first sets of Rangers, and supportive folks we worked with early on. Now, if Staci's feet hold up, we'll be in Tanzania in just a few days.
DECEMBER 20th-Power Hiking Through Masai Community Land
There was a big visitor to camp during the night. Staci, and our supposed protectors (the two Rangers) slept through it. An elephant walked, and grazed, right between the Land Rover and our tents. When he walked through and ate he was not quiet, and it was disconcerting. He in fact didn't do any damage except for snapping some branches off some small trees.
In the background you can make out Mount Kilimanjaro. The entire day we hiked right toward the mountain. It was a clear view early, and became obscure by late morning.
Steven started hiking with us. He lasted about 8km. Then Mustafah hiked about 7km. That was it for the day with those Rangers. They rode in the vehicle the rest of the day. Staci hiked about 47km and I hiked about 42km, the longest day hiking yet for us in Kenya. Staci always hikes with a full pack, I hiked with nothing on my back, just like the Rangers (except they carried their rifles). The difference is I could keep up with her when she had sore feet, improper footwear, and a full pack. The much younger Rangers couldn't.
Luckily it's not as scary in the Masai area as we were led to believe, mostly because it's very sparsely populated. Staci and I hiked alone most of the day. It reminded us of the Modoc Plateau area of Northern California.
A typical Masai village. This one had 12-15 huts. Each hut is built by a wife. It was stated the wives have to build the house, brew the beer, and bear the babies. It is the understatement of all time to say that sexism is rampant in Kenya. Some of the 42 tribes are worse than others. The Masai is one of the most shocking. In addition to other things, this is one of the tribes with plural wives. We're not sure if this is just one husband's place, or a few husbands'.
We cut the hike a little early because it started pouring. Pouring to the point of flash flooding. It stopped raining before we sat up camp.
DECEMBER 21- Finishing Kenya
Staci convinced the driver and the guards we needed an early start. It was necessary to be able to get to the border by the end of the day. One close call happened as we were heading to our launching spot for the day. Tony was driving fast, and a herd of elephants was in the road. Slammed brakes and skidding ensued. Elephants are BIG! It was a great thing he stopped in time.
Circumstances could not have worked out better for timing. First Staci noticed a potential shorter route in a map that avoided the large town of Loitoktok. As we were hiking another road was pointed out by locals that made for an even shorter route.
It was a great hike. We weren't on a road, but on a trail through farm country, corn country!
It was beautiful.
At one point the hike was reminiscent of a scene from Forest Gump. We were quite the oddity on this trail. Youngsters started following, then more, then more. Chattering and laughing, and hearing "mzungu, and "wazungu" over and over. The security guard interpreted some for us. Apparently many had never seen a mzungu before. Also, they were joking that they were now tour guides. After quite a while, especially for the young kids, somebody let the group know it was time to go back home. Instantaneously the entourage vanished.
It felt so good to be at the Tanzania border. The next task was to get the Rangers back to West Tsavo NP, and to prepare for the actual border crossing the next day.
