 |
| Erin's Journal for Lakes Baringo and Bogoria (10-23-02) This morning we had breakfast early again and got in the van to drive to Lake Bogoria. It is pretty far north, so it took a few hours to get there. The roads weren't as bad as they had been though, so it was ok. When we arrived, we were handed over to a local guide, who informed us that Savuka paid for us to take a 1 hour boat tour, but we could pay extra if we wanted to go out to the islands and see the fish eagles and the Masai fishing villages. We angrily declined this further insult to our large payment, and settled for a 1 hour ride. Lake Bogoria is famous for its huge variety of bird species. It is a very shallow freshwater lake, so shallow that the boatman had to walk us out about 50 feet, then paddle with a shallow stick for another 30 or so. The water is very brown, so you can't see what's directly underneath you. There are crocodiles here, but apparently the natives say they're 'friendly river crocs,' not the man-eating Nile crocodiles we saw in Masai Mara. There are also some hippos in the lake, and we found a few way out towards the middle. Normally they'd be near shore as they don't swim but just stand on the bottom and raise up a little for air every few minutes. But the lake is so shallow...anyway, our guide was excellent at pointing out many bird species, and even baited a fish eagle for us. What a beautiful bird! We saw a couple of crocodiles battling over a good sun-basking spot, and crowded near with about 4 other boats. The crocs got nervous, and one couldn't get out underneath the boats, so it churned and bashed its way down the length of one of the boats till it could get past, scaring the bejebers out of some Dutch tourists who almost got thrown in with it! After this tour (we were actually pretty satisfied with the short tour!), we loaded back in the van and headed for Lake Baringo, where we would lunch and walk into the preserve, to be met later by Richard. We ate picnic lunches under some shade, but the place was still stiflingly hot. We'd crossed north of the equator coming up here, and were in the desert regions now. VERY hot and muggy. So after lunch as we walked along the road into the lake preserve, we were pleased to be mostly under the shade of some clouds. When the sun came out in full force though, we were melting. It was 13km to the hot springs that were our destination, and we'd been walking for 90 minutes when Richard finally came to get us. We'd done pretty well - gone almost 8 km on foot, but were completely burnt and overheated by then. We stopped at the hot springs to check them out, as well as the flamingos that inhabited this salt lake. I mostly stayed with the van, while Glenn chatted up some South African tourists we'd caught up with along the way. Finally it was time to go and we collected Glenn for the ride back to our crappy campsite at Lake Nakuru. We did our hot-water suds bath again, then ate a tired dinner and dragged back to the tent for bed. Tomorrow brings a ray of hope for more comfortable accommodations, as we reach the first of our lodges at the Samburu game preserve. |
| Flamingos (like these at Nakuru) are also common at Lake Baringo |