One for the Record Books- A Day of Detours

We’ve been saying our team of 8 is small but mighty.  Mighty good at being flexible.  The short story is we survived our detours and hiccups and travel chaos and almost running out of money, but if you want to hear the rest of the story, keep reading.

After leaving Eldoret early Monday morning we headed to the Maasai Mara for two days of R&R and safari through Kenya’s largest and most famous game reserve.  Our route took us through some of the most beautiful winding scenery in Kenya, the Nandi Hills.  This is tea growing country. We passed hill after rolling hill filled with tea plantations and forests of eucalyptus as far as the eye could see. Tea is one of Kenya’s largest exports and a very labor- intensive venture.  We saw many workers weaving their way through rows of tea judiciously picking only the most tender, new leaves from the very tops of the plants and collecting them in large bags on their backs. 

About 2 ½ hours into our 7-hour trip, the van Wachira rented is beginning to run rough and sputter.  He pulled into a gas station in a town on the outskirts of Kisumu, where the van promptly died.  Right next to a mechanic standing there.  After some quick assessment by the mechanic, Miriam decided we should wait it out somewhere with more amenities while Wachira determined how or if the van could be fixed that day.

 Detour to Kisumu, one of Kenya's largest cities.  The mechanic helped us find another van to take us to the Acacia Premiere Hotel, an upscale spot with a roof top restaurant and a panoramic view of Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest lake.  Poor us. I think we would all say our lunch at the Acacia was actually one of our highlights despite the fact that we were van-less and our plans very uncertain. 

In the meantime, poor Wachira stayed behind with the van and our luggage to haggle with the owner of the van who clearly had not kept it serviced properly.  After several assessments, it was determined that the engine block was actually cracked. No simple fix. The van was toast.  We later learned the owner had taped over a dashboard light that kept going on, so no one could see there was trouble brewing. 

Wachira was also trying to find another safari van, but with it being peak tourist season this was no simple task.  Things for Wachira were further complicated by the fact that he is from a tribe not exactly popular with the tribe who predominately make up this Kisumu region.  He was either getting the run around or being quoted ridiculous prices.  

In the meantime, we made our way after lunch to the mall next to the Acacia and hung out in the Java House, our favorite coffee chain.  All afternoon.  Some of us did a little detour shoe shopping (guess who?), some of us played cards, some of us caught up on email, etc.  

All of us waited and waited, getting updates from Wachira, as plan B, C, and D came and went.  Eventually it was clear we were not getting to the Mara that night and would have to miss our first night reservations.   Plan E was Wachira would abandon the van and catch a ride and bring our luggage to Kisumu.

As we waited and waited some more for Wachira in the hotel lobby, the Acacia concierge was beginning to notice our small but mighty team (we tend to stick out).  He offered to help us make new arrangements, knowing it would result in a “big fat tip” (Miriam’s words!).  The Acacia was all booked, but he found us an alternate/ detour hotel just around the corner with 9 rooms, and lined up a taxi van to take us there. That van driver was another story, with even more detours, but we survived. 

The concierge was also working on tracking down a new safari van to take us to the Mara the next day.  Eventually he did find us a good safari van (an even larger one!) with a decent driver, and the hotel was doable (despite the dogs barking all night), so he actually did earn his tip.  (It was likely he also earned tips from the hotel and van company too!) The discouraging thing was we were now double paying for vans and hotel rooms and paying tips left and right to “thank” people for helping us.  We were all pitching in and running out of money, and we had yet to pay $80 each for the Mara park entrance fee!  All of this was exhausting for Miriam who had to negotiate and re-negotiate every single detail with every single person to try to avoid being totally swindled.

The tip paying was not over, however. 

On our way to the Mara, our driver took us on several “shortcuts” (read detours) that added about two hours off-roading through very bumpy back roads, several of which were no more than washed out gullies.  At one particularly steep and rocky gully, several Maasai were blocking the way with a log and rope, extorting every safari driver with a 200 shilling “toll”.  Ugh.  We were done, done, done with paying extra for anything, but what could we do?  As soon as they were paid, the log was rolled to the side, but then quickly rolled back in the way of the next van.  Quite the little racket they had going.

Our accommodation for the night was actually a tent camp. All the main safari hotels had been booked long ago and we told Wachira we were up for the adventure.  He had been there many times before, was confident of the service, and had booked us the “better” tent cabins.  Well…because we had missed our previous night due to the van breaking down, we didn’t get the original tents Wachira had booked and paid for.  By this time, Wachira was done, done, done with things not going as planned. 

On the up side, the food was great and we just made it to a late afternoon safari, where we saw lots of giraffe, wildebeest, zebra, impalas, elephants, and Thompson gazelles.  The bonus was a pride of lions at the bottom of a riverbed ravine.  And of course the sunsets in Africa are just stunning.  The next morning on our way out of the Mara we again saw several giraffe and a few more herds of zebra and impalas.  We loved having Wachira along as our tour guide with his wealth of knowledge. 

We counted 17 giraffe in all from both sides of the road. 

Kissing zebra!

 Now here’s the kicker.  As it turns out, the tent camp had double booked our cabins.  Another large party had taken our 5 tents and if we had in fact showed up the night before, when we had planned to, we would have been in the middle of nowhere with no place to sleep.  Ha! 

Goodbye to the Mara! And yes we made it back to Nairobi safe and sound.