During our adventures at Hell's Gate, we camped at a nearby campground at Lake Naivasha. It was our first time camping in Kenya! We had sleeping bags for everyone and no tent, but thankfully our friends the Webbers had a tent we could borrow.
The campsite was right next to the lake. An electric fence was closed each night to keep the hippos out, but all the wildlife could be seen and heard clearly. There is an abundance of bird life at Lake Naivasha, and we couldn't begin to count the number of fish eagles flying around and calling their distinctive cry. Herons, ibises, pelicans, hamerkops, egrets, cormorants, and bee-eaters rounded out the visual symphony.
The moment we got out of the car and saw the first fish eagle, I began kicking myself for leaving my zoom lens at home. I didn't expect to need it, but I could've gotten some fabulous shots of the birds if I'd been prepared. So I only have distant photos. But oh well. It means we'll just have to go back again someday!
a fish eagle
the boys watching a fish eagle with their binoculars
A week of vacation meant there was plenty of time to play games. Kai is such a dedicated game-player that he's willing to play anything, even Scrabble with a wordsmith! I was proud of him.
We took a boat ride to Crescent Island on our last day at the campground. It was another perfect day and we enjoyed watching birds as we crossed Lake Naivasha.
This trip to Crescent Island was redemptive. We've technically been there before, when we lived at Tenwek and the boys were little. We'd heard more than one person tell us how wonderful it is to walk around the island and see wildlife up close. Well, we attempted and utterly failed. We literally got out of the car and within five minutes had more than one meltdown on our hands from tired, hungry kids. We thought about pushing through, but it was the kind of experience when a parent just knows it's not worth the effort. We had seen a herd of sheep in the parking lot, and that was it. We turned around and left.
So this was our chance to redeem that failed excursion from years ago! We now have kids who can stay awake all day and wait to get a snack until a convenient time! Oh the glories of elementary-age kids!
Before, Crescent Island had a tiny land bridge connecting it to the mainland which is how we drove there. Now, that land bridge is under water so it's truly an island and the only way to get there is by boat. It added to the fun, though, and I'm glad we were forced to take a boat ride.
The wonderful thing about Crescent Island is that you can do a walking safari. There are no predators on the island (except, apparently, a rock python who makes an occasional appearance) so it's safe to simply walk around. It was a magical experience!
We saw impala, Thompson's gazelle, zebra, wildebeest, waterbuck, and giraffes.
We stopped for a snack break, and as we sat inside a small shelter to enjoy the shade, a giraffe started walking in our direction. According to the guide, there are only six giraffes on Crescent Island, all of which are female. And the giraffe family happened to be walking and grazing really close to us! We quickly finished our snack and ventured closer still. This was the highlight of our walking safari.
Five of them walked right past us, gracefully and nonchalantly. We tried to find the sixth, and eventually found it bringing up the rear. Can you see her in this photo?
We were so close!
a waterbuck skull
herd of waterbuck
After walking across the island we met the boat driver again and headed back to the campground. We saw birds upon birds upon birds, and some hippos too.
That afternoon we moved to a resort down the road for a couple more nights, and everything was great until the next morning when Eli woke up sick. And I mean sick. The boys and I logged a lot of hours together swimming in the pool, playing games, and eating donuts at chai time, while Eli stayed in bed.
Long story short, he stayed in bed for the next three days with no improvement, I became really anxious about it by Day 3, I ran to the pharmacy for some antibiotics, and finally Eli began turning the corner. I was having flashbacks to when I had typhoid and I was in no mood to repeat that kind of experience! Thankfully the meds did what they're supposed to do and Eli began the slow recovery to get back on his feet. We don't know what he had - some kind of bacterial infection - but he was the only one who had symptoms at all.
Sickness is no fun for anyone, and it's especially not fun when you're traveling, and on vacation, and when it's your wife's birthday! Anyone who knows me knows that I love a good birthday celebration, and mine was at the end of our vacation week and we had plans to celebrate in Nairobi on our way home, but all of those plans fell apart when Eli got sick. By the time my birthday came around, it was Day 3 of Eli's sickness. He was super apologetic about the whole thing, but I simply didn't care much about my birthday at that point - the only thing I wanted was for him to get better asap!
In lieu of the other plans we'd made, I took the boys hiking at Karura Forest while Eli stayed behind at the guest house and stayed in bed most of the day. We had fun and saw a bunch of antelope in the forest and even some monkeys. It felt good to be outside again. (Honestly, that was a highlight of the whole week for me - just being outside so much, which isn't normal given how much time I'm inside homeschooling and doing admin work.)
I took the boys to Subway for lunch (yes, we have Subway in Nairobi!) and then enjoyed a quiet afternoon while Eli kept sleeping. That night he was finally able to get out of bed for a bit, and he totally surprised me with the best birthday gift ever: a giant box of Reese's! I squealed. Actually squealed! I couldn't believe he'd found a way to get those babies across the ocean. That box is heavy, meaning someone carted that extra weight in their suitcase just for me, and I was so excited and so blessed. Reese's are a love language of mine - they always hit the right spot!
So it wasn't the birthday I'd hoped for, but it was still grand because I got time outside with my boys and because my husband turned a corner that night. I was fairly exhausted by the time we made it home to Chogoria - I'd been the only functioning parent while traveling for the past several days - but we made it home safe and sound, and we brought a bunch of memories home with us.
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