Today we got to sleep in…. To 5:45AM! We were even able to eat breakfast before our first drive of the day! And it was a fabulous drive. Antony, our guide works hard to make sure we see as many animals as possible. He heard there were 2 male lions in an area several km away so he drove there as quickly as possible. The guides communicate and Share great tips on rare sightings! On the way to, we had to stop and see a pair of elephant twins!

When we arrived at the area the 2 male lions had been sighted, there were already 4-5 vehicles vying for a good position. But the lions were resting in deep brush, nestled among the plants. Lying low! We were able to see them move when both of them tried to make a quick get away altho we couldn’t photograph them running. We found a great position to see the head of the lighter color one…. and caught a photo of him eying us!

After a half hour or so, Antony heard of a family of cheetahs, so we decided not wait out the lions any longer. And we were rewarded!

We saw a group of elephants and 2 giraffe drinking at the river and it was wonderful to watch then a while

And the contortions the poor giraffe have to do to drink!

A Small herd of Impala ran down to drink too and a couple Bachelors had to joust a bit!

For more pictures.

Our highlight of this afternoons game drive was a troop of baboons at least 200-300 strong! There is a video on the FB Group.

We also saw our first dikdik, giraffe, Zebra and lions!

We also saw more elephants

Another stunning sunset

For the full gallery, go to https://susandemaggio.smugmug.com/Samburu-Day-2-afternoon-drive

At Samburu we left at 6 for an early drive. Here are a few highlights with note at our smugmug group.

It was BEYOND our EXPECTATION

For more of these see our Smugmug account

https://susandemaggio.smugmug.com/Our-first-game-drive

These are pictures, not edited. Just as we took them! I will edit and crop later. When I have returned home! Enjoy.

It is about 320 km from Nairobi to our camp, Ashnil in Samburu. For more than highlights see our smugmug

This was our longest driving day and then our first game drive.

We have internet only in the lodge lobby, and electricity goes off at about 1 AM until 4 AM. And since it was a long day, I won’t have time to get the pictures transferred and the blog written before I hit the bed! Just let me tell you, you will be amazing at the animals we saw today. Hang in there. For those with FB, Emmett will post a preview!

We visited the giraffe centre next! What a fun thing to feed them! We saw also some warthogs, Puma for all you Lion King fans!

Along the road we also saw a Troup of Baboons! How cool that was!

We are all here! Cheryl arrived late last night, and at 9 AM, we began our adventure with the Nairobi National Park Elephant orphanage.

The first little one we met was the 11 month old baby black Rhino! Rana

Next 12 of the littlest of the 27 little elephants came out. All the elephants are under the age of about 3. being cared for by the team there, all orphaned, found in snares, malnutrition, mired in mud, or standing by their dead mothers. All of them would have perished without this care. First 12 of the youngest were fed by bottle and then some branches on the ground.

Next, the larger 15 came roaring out, trumpeting for breakfast!

Each elephant is known by name from the place when they were found. They are taken at about 3 and a half or 4 years old to a wild herd area and introduced slowly to the group. When they are accepted, they will stay the night. Otherwise, they return to the keeper’s protection naturally. The elephant chooses when to leave. It is a wonderful program of preservation since 1977

After 23 flying hours and another 8 in various airports! And the bags arrived as well!

Just waiting for Cheryl!

A long-awaited bucket list trip starts Monday, August 14! This week is final packing and getting the house clean and ready to go! We are busy with last-minute details this week!

Our itinerary on this trip is exciting! We visit some of the national parks in Kenya and Tanzania! We will post a little more on the itinerary when we start traveling.

Along the way, when we visit villages, we want to bring a few gifts. This week, our fellow travel mate, Cheryl Thoreen and I have packed 2 large duffle bags with fun things for kids and some gifts for adults, too.

Here is our list of everything packed!

15 soccer balls with pumps plus 4 extra pumps

4 packages of 20 small cars and trucks for little boys

48 small lotions – used in the ladies hygiene kits

washable sanitary napkins – 15 boxes of 7 

extra zippered pouches for kits   5 packs of 4 each

pack of small cosmetic sponges 

    (This made 36 kits with 3 pads, a sponge, a nail file, and a lotion for the teenage girls and ladies)

24 packages of colored pencils each with a sharpener

12 jump ropes for little girls

100 pens 

About a dozen beads

Small erasers

2pks balloons

4 Beach balls

2 pks Chenille stems

Binoculars

Misc.   5 or 6 dresses, 2 t shirts, a sweatshirt and a blanket (good packing stuff) 

a one year bible and 10 small swahili language testaments with Romans and John

Watch for our itinerary to be posted soon!

We are ready! Out the door in an hour! This isn’t our usual amount of luggage, we usual only being the bags on the left! but we are excited to leave half of it, the large duffles, in Africa!