There
is a border crossing between Kenya and Tanzania which, when you get
to cross it, leads you eventually to Keekorock.
But
first, you need to convince your guide that, even though there is
nobody at the cross-border station, it's alright to enter Kenya.
“Sign
says: Border Station closed today” Mahmoud was emphatic.
“Well,
what do you suggest we do?”I asked him? Drive back 3 days to
Arusha?
Mahmoud
shrugged his shoulders.
“Sign
says Border station closed. I no can drive across border” he
repeated.
“I
can be as impatient as you can be stubborn” I said, without hope
that he understood.
“I
cannot drive.” His emphasis was not on 'cannot' but on the words
'I' and 'drive.'
At
this point, Glad came out of the Land-rover.
She
was full of charm.
With
a glistening smile she suggested:
“Is
it Okay if Bert drives, and you and I just walk across?”
“Sure”
Mahmoud said joyfully.”
Burt
drive, you and I walk. Jus' a hunnert meters. Anybody ask me, I say,
I got out of car to study Lion track, you go out to see little
flower, Mr.Bert hops into drivers' seat, drive off, I hadda come to
get back in car, which now in Kenya.
No
choice.. No choice.”
This
is exactly what happened. Glad and I still laughed about it many
years later.
The
trip to the Keekorock Lodge over a very bumpy road seemed to take for
ever.
Mahmoud
was a reasonably knowledgeable guide. He was also a lousy driver.:
The
bumpier the road got, the faster he drove.
“Very
bad road! Why do you drive so fast?”I shouldn't have asked.
“Because”
Mahmoud explained, “when drive slow, wheel hit every bump. When
drive fast, wheel no have time to sink to bottom of bump. Skim from
hole to hole drive much more smoother.”
“Einstein
would have been proud, had he thought of this theory” Glad said
amid peals of laughter.
“But,
you no feel road bumpier, when drive fast?” I was beginning to talk
like Mahmoud.
He
looked astonished: “No, no, no … drive slow, road bumpy. .. drive
fast road much more smoother.
It
was, to say the least, a dusty, bumpy ride and we were happy to
arrive at
Keekorock
Lodge in one piece. How did we get to go to Keekorock Lodge in the
first place? How then to the even more luxurious Governors Camp
afterwards?
That's
an easy one: On my suggestion to come on an 'African Photo Safari,'
Glad said
“I
will go with you anywhere in the world on three conditions:
Number
One: No sleeping bag in tent, but proper bed.
Number
two: somebody serves at least two meals a day, and
Number
three, I do no dishes.
She
hesitated for a moment: “Sleep on floor, cook meals and wash
dishes?
I
might as well stay home. I do that here.”'
“When
did you last 'sleep on floor'? I asked.
“Well,
we both laughed and Glad admitted that she had actually never 'slept
on floor'.
We
had a great time then. It was a good life.
Although
she stated those demands emphatically, there was a chuckle in her
voice.
Also,
I could understand her concerns, having heard many horror stories, at
least she always thought they were exciting horror stories, about
sleeping on the ground, or in a 'mosy-tent.
She
wanted no part of it.
Governors
Lodge, even then, was luxury personified. The food, equal to the
finest Restaurants in Paris or New York, Wines from South Africa,
France and the Napa Valley in California.
Did
it compare to a sandbank in the middle of the Zambezi, or to a
mosy-tent in the Kalahari?
Of
course not. It did, however, have a charm of its own.
After
we had checked into our room, Mahmoud met us in the lounge:
“Tomorrow
morning”, he said, “after breakfast, about 9 O'clock, I pick
up for Safari Drive.
Will
come back at 11.30 and after you have lunch we go on afternoon
Safari till 5 O'clock.”
Mahmoud
was evidently very proud of this arrangement.
“We
will have a slight variation in this” I said:.
“Sun-up
is at Six. I will have breakfast served for the three of us, here in
the lounge at Five thirty.
There
will be a sufficiently sized lunch for three, which we will have
sometime along our day's Safari. Then, at Sunset, about six o'clock,
we shall come back to the Lodge for dinner at Seven.
“Safari
all day? He asked in astonishment. Sunrise to Sunset?”.
“Yes”
I said “Safari from Sunrise to Sunset”
„Okay!
Cost a little more?“ he tried me out for size.
„Okay,“
I said „ we decide later, how much more.“
And
so it happened! We spent a comfortable night.
Bright
and early Mahmoud showed up for an early breakfast in the lounge.
„This
be interesting day“ he volunteered.
„Depending
on our success.“ I said.
Our
generous lunch packet and all of my camera gear loaded and we were
off for a Sunrise to Sunset Safari
We
had no sooner left the compound of the Lodge, than his portable
'phone rang.
Some
chatter in Suaheli and Mahmoud informed us that a Lion with his kill
had been spotted nearby and we should quickly drive there.
Glad
had settled in her elevated seat in this Safari vehicle.
„Okay“
she said, „let's go and see what we can find.“
After
about a half hour drive we arrived at the scene. Yes, there was a
Lion at his kill. The scene was surrounded by, at actual count, 8
Safari vehicles and combi-cars, with every occupants taking pictures.
It would have been impossible to actually take a picture of the Lion
having his breakfast, without a vehicle in the background.
„you
see“ I said to Mahmoud, „that's the reason why we are on an all
day Safari.
To
get away from the 'tourists'“
„We
too are tourists“ Glad said and there was not much left to discuss.
As
usual, she had hit the nail squarely on the head.
After
a while Mahmoud maneuvered our Rover, so that I actually was able to
take a few unobstructed, close-up shots.
No comments:
Post a Comment