Reality Bites: Where’s the Lake?

Linda Lou Burton posting from Sarova Lion Hill Lodge, Lake Nakuru National Park, Nakuru, Kenya –Daniel got us through the Park gate. Then along the lakeshore road to Sarova’s gate. Out of the 4×4, up the hill slowly, slowly (pole, pole) leaning on my cane, my other hand digging my passport out of its ultra-secure pocket in my pants (don’t look!). Grabbing passports right and left from everyone, Abdi ran ahead to check us in.

We were running terribly late, the dining room about to close; hurry through the buffet; gulp the bottled water down. Ten people with too many words falling out, pent up like kids on a sugar high. Then – good grief, really? –  Abdi announced the Afternoon Game Drive. “Everybody ready?” I most definitely was not. “You go ahead,” I said to Rick. “I’ll just birdwatch here, on my own time.” I already knew what Sarova offered, from its website.

Sarova Lion Hill Game Lodge is set along “the Lion Hill” in Lake Nakuru National Park. Concealing its remote location amidst Kenya’s Great Rift Valley, the safari lodge offers scenic and spectacular views of the Lake and National Park from its 67 chalet style rooms, all with terraces and a sense of calm and relaxation. (Their Photo)

Beyond the stunning views, Lion Hill offers great food in the Flamingo Room. Overlooking the pool and the lake, the restaurant serves buffet breakfast, lunch and dinner with live cooking counters as well.  (Their Photo)

The Rift Valley Bar opens into an amphitheater where traditional dance performances are held each evening and offers spectacular views over the lake. (Their Photo)

Stunning views from my terrace! Heck, I could have a great time right there. I ambled to our room, Acacia #10. Abdi made sure I was close to everything this time, no wheelchair needed to get back and forth. The room was close, but my “stunning view” overlooked the flagpoles and drive at the front entrance. Beyond that, a mass of trees ended the sightline. I was close to Lake Nakuru, according to the map. But I couldn’t see it.

I walked down the hill, following the path to the pool. A sign listed 25 birds that hung out here. They weren’t hanging out today! I spotted one weaver bird; please tell me you can make it out! The grass was pretty and green, the trees thick, tall; was there really a LAKE beyond? I passed the sign about Massage and Spa (appointment needed); found the pool. It was misting rain; the chair cushions had been put away.

No view here, trees thick and lush around the pool. No place to sit. Back up the hill to #10, slowly, slowly (pole, pole). Our room was small; twin beds, a desk with straight-back chair. Mosquito nets already down, lamps barely making shadows on the wall. The porch the only place to be, watching flagpoles in the dark. The 4x4s are back; the noise. Rick is full of things to tell, all the pictures, all the bumps, the road so bad. He’s tired. A quiet dinner in the dining room, just the two of us; by the window, we agree. Lift our spirits, watch the dancers dance.

Our hostess greets us, “By the window please?” I ask. “So we can see the terrace, when the dancers dance.” A puzzled look, “We have no dancers here,” she said.

Our food was lovely, that much I concede. The dining room is pretty, the staff attentive, kind. But you can take my word for this: you cannot see the LAKE!

Sarova Lion Hill Lodge https://www.sarovahotels.com/lionhill-nakuru/

PS: A Bonus. If you can spot the weaver bird, my birdwatching afternoon was not a total loss. I can’t believe I got the shot — the bird was high in the trees and I’d never seen a weaver bird, or nest, before, so wasn’t sure what I was looking at. I’ll send you a dollar if you send me a note saying “I see the weaver bird!”

Down in the Valley

Linda Lou Burton posting from Sarova Lion Hill Lodge, Lake Nakuru National Park, Nakuru, Kenya – Reading the brochure may prepare you for the road ahead, but sometimes you get surprised. Like me, and the Great Rift Valley. I’ve studied this geological phenomenon for years, and even perused it in “layers view” on google maps. Being the aftermath of millions of years of volcanic eruptions, and the ripping apart of a continent due to those shifting tectonic plates, I thought the Rift Valley would be a dry, washed out moonscape. It is not.

It’s the greenest, most fertile farmland I’ve ever seen, and I grew up in Alabama farm country. The roads today took us through hills and valleys so full of GROWING STUFF it is hard to believe anyone, anywhere in the world, could be hungry. It has a Land of Plenty look.

We stopped at a farm in the Subukia area this morning, where Margaret gave us a lesson in tea harvesting – “two leaves and a bud” are hand-plucked from the tea trees, which are kept at the perfect height for human convenience. And yes, Abdi had called ahead for a chair for me; Margaret brought it from her house! The tea I bought is labeled “Pearl Tea Subukia” and is packed by Green Valley Tea Factory; the hills around are covered in tea trees, or row after row of coffee trees. Or greenhouses growing – flowers maybe? I didn’t get a chance to ask.

The market area where we stopped and bought bananas was buzzing; trucks coming to haul stuff away; people there to sell, or buy, or maybe just socialize. The area had a feeling of busy people, of work, of abundance. Give Mother Nature (and our Great Creator) credit – that volcanic lava and ash turned into red earth and deep sandy loam full of magnesium, and potassium, and phosphorus. Add plenty of sunshine, year-round warm temperatures, and stuff just GROWS.

I asked Abdi how Kenya could be suffering such poverty; there was no drought here; no scarcity. Maybe big business? Maybe politics? I’ll save that discussion for another day.

Meanwhile, a cup of tea? Grown right here in the Great Rift Valley.

Famous For

Linda Lou Burton posting from Sarova Lion Hill Lodge, Lake Nakuru National Park, Nakuru, Kenya –We headed out from Sweetwaters at 8:07, I checked my watch. It was 1:33 when we got to the gate of Lake Nakuru National Park, so, you figure it, we were in the 4×4 for at least 5 bumpy hours between breakfast and lunch. I always say, about travel, read the brochure BEFORE you go so you’ll know what you’re looking at (and what to look forward to!). I mean, a wide open space with only one tree is pretty boring, unless you know that all that land is Solio Game Ranch, 45,000 acres containing a 19,000-acre conservancy taking care of rhino, doing important work like Ol Pejeta. That’s cool.

So, here’s your brochure, a list of places we passed through, or by, with only a little slowing down. Maybe knowing what was “cool” about them will keep you from nodding off, at least, it worked for me! Our route was A2 south from Nanyuki; then B5 west, if you want to google map it; the roads were twisty, winding, up and down; we crossed the Equator five times!

Nyeri.  Population about 200,000, most residents are Kikuyu. Tea and coffee and milk processing companies, maize millers here. Major industry FARMING. Crops: coffee, tea, maize, beans, peas, potatoes, tomatoes, cabbage, spinach, kale. Livestock: dairy cattle, goats, sheep, chickens. Tourism: a museum about Kenya’s colonial history; Lord Baden-Powell, founder of the Scouting movement lived here; you can visit his grave. It’s a place of pilgrimage for worldwide Scouting and Guiding members who congregate there often.

Aberdare National Park & Treetops Hotel. Almost 190,000 acres; varied landscapes and terrain in the Aberdare Mountain Range. Historical moment — in 1952, when Princess Elizabeth became Queen! She was staying at the Treetops Hotel in the Park (yes, a hotel in a treetop) when her father, King George VI, died. Jim Corbett, the famous hunter who had accompanied the Princess and Prince Phillip, wrote in the Treetops Logbook: For the first time in the history of the world, a young girl climbed into a tree one day a Princess and…climbed down from the tree next day a Queen – God bless her.

Other “names” who’ve stayed at Treetops – Charlie Chaplin, Lord Mountbatten, Joan Crawford, and Queen Elizabeth AGAIN. Paul McCartney stayed there while on safari in 1966. Here is a “far out” really? story about his flight back from Nairobi to London; he claims that’s where he came up with the concept of “Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.” Really?

Nyahururu. Population about 36,000. Due to its high elevation – over 7,000 feet – it is frequented by marathon and cross-country runners for practicing before major events. Famous Person Samuel Wanjirŭ, the Olympic Marathon Record holder and the first Kenyan to win the Marathon at the Olympics, called Nyahururu home until his death on May 16, 2011. Area is mainly agricultural; maize, potatoes, flower farming. Major highways connect here, good roads to Nairobi, Nakuru, Nyeri. Famous waterfall here – 243 feet high, coming from those Aberdare Mountains; gate charges for tourists; many resorts in the area. We DID stop at Panari Resort for a quick potty break, but we didn’t go to the falls. “Too many tourists” was Abdi’s reason. https://www.panarihotels.com/resort-nyahururu/

Subukia. Polish born Father Kazimier Szulc designed the famous Subukia National Shrine, 200 acres in the heart of Subukia Hills. The name “Subukia” is derived from the Maasai word “isupuku,” which means “higher grounds.” The shrine is now known as the Village of Mary Mother of God, or the National Marian Shrine. Pilgrims come to pray and fetch water from a spring at the shrine. The water is believed to have healing powers and many who come here carry some home. Everyone but me said they could see the Shrine, but I never did spot it. We were on the road all the way across the valley; this is an online photo.

Menengai Crater. A massive shield volcano with one of the biggest calderas in the world, in the Great Rift Valley, Kenya. Volcanic formed rich loam soils enrich the adjacent farmland arounds its flanks. The crater is on the floor of the Rift Valley. The caldera floor is covered with numerous post caldera lava flows. Sorry folks, I didn’t see this nor can I find any photos online that show its grandeur. So here’s our stop at a market along the way in this fertile valley, where Abdi helped Venita select a bunch of bananas to share in the 4×4.

Nakuru. Population 570,674, third largest city in Kenya. Elevation 6,000 feet. Archaeological discoveries located about 5 miles from the Central Business District at the Hyrax Hill reserve have been dated to the prehistoric period; archaeological investigation began in 1937 with Mary Leakey. Big attraction – Hyrax Hill Museum. Nakuru is home to Lake Nakuru, one of the Rift Valley soda lakes, which forms part of the Lake Nakuru National Park. And that, my friends, is where Daniel brought us at 1:33 today. Ta da!

Everything’s Rosy

Linda Lou Burton posting from Sweetwaters Serena Camp, Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Nanyuki, Kenya –I’d heard about sunrises on the Equator, coming in fast, and glorious. It was true! We were packed; it was Check-Out-Move-On-Day; a day spent riding; crossing the Equator headed south this time, destination Lake Nakuru. But the pull of “where we are” was strong; it was hard to leave our porch by the water hole. Our squawky guinea fowl were up. Our impalas were up. Our neighbors were up. And now, the sun went crazy, sliding over Mt Kenya, over the guinea fowl, over the impalas, over us, in an outrageous fit of morning.

Our luggage was picked up an hour ago, loaded into the 4×4 named Simba. Our breakfast was waiting in the dining hall.  Into my wheelchair and down the path around the water hole, past the pool I never had time to sit by. Into the main building, the dining room, our table, the buffet. Cantaloupe, walnut muffins, cheese omelet cooked up special  for Judy and for me. Everybody talking, pass the butter please.

On to the office to check out, pay the bill for laundry done, chat with Maureen as we pass the painting of the rhinos and Mt Kenya on a last restroom stop, gather at the front, admire the wide-eyed little bird, the tree, the lawn. Slowly, slowly (pole, pole) down the walk,  a helping hand from Daniel as I climb the ladder-step and take my seat. Phones charging, water bottles filled, looking out, looking back, Sweetwaters Serena, you are an awesome place. Goodbye!

Sweetwaters Serena Tented Camp, Nanyuki, Kenya  https://www.serenahotels.com/sweetwaters