Yesterday’s safari will go down as one of our most unforgettable adventures.
The day started out with a 2 hour drive over windy roads and massive potholes, which had Emmy throwing up through the last 30 minutes. Luckily we have been carrying barf bags with us since we left home and we were ever so grateful to have them with us on this day trip. Our first stop was Lake Naivasha for a boat safari. Emmy recovered once out of the car, fueled by cookies we brought with us. The boat ride was an absolute highlight with the number of birds and animals we saw, including a real close up look at hippos! Half way through the boat ride Izzy started feeling unwell and opted to spend the rest of it curled up on the bottom of the boat.
From there we headed to Hell’s Gate National Park, where the plan was to cycle 8 km to the slot canyon. Finding bikes that would allow the kids to ride with us took ages and while we were waiting, the girls were swarmed with a local school group that were clearly very excited to see kids that looked so different from them. By noon, we finally made it into the park with two rickety tandem bikes, ready for our adventure.
Izzy was so sick at this point, now with an obvious fever, that she asked if she could stay in our tour vehicle and sleep instead of biking with us. The car was going to follow behind us for the bike ride so we could hop in if we needed. So Emmy happily took her spot on the back of my bike and we were off with Izzy sleeping in the car following behind us.
The first 4 km were glorious — breezy weather, stunning geology, zebras grazing along the path, and Emmy was a great partner, happily chatting away. The second 4km were punishing. The breeze disappeared, the sun beat down us with no shade in sight, the bike was old and so difficult to maneuver with the tandem bike attachment, the path became extremely dusty with sections that were impossible to bike through, and to make matters worse, our tour car broke down. Izzy had to climb onto a bike despite her fever and join the group. By the time we finally made it to the slot canyon, we were too sick, hot and exhausted to actually go see it with the group.
We hung out in the shade, fending off aggressive monkeys, and hoped the issue with our car was being sorted out. With the monkeys on high alert for anything that sounded, smelled or looked like food, we just sat hungry waiting for the protection of the car before we could consider eating the snacks we had brought. The car eventually found it’s way to us, reuniting a sick Izzy with her Lambie and we thankfully jumped inside and start devouring the snacks. The driver thought he had the problem resolved, but was quickly proven wrong when the car died again about a kilometer on our way out of the park. From that point on, we could make it about a kilometer at a time before needing to be jumped by a rarely passing car.
45 minutes later we made it to the front entrance of the national park, and our driver finally accepted this car wasn’t going to make it back to Nairobi. Izzy drifted in and out of fever dreams as we sat roadside, monkeys twice leaping into the car in search of food.
After an hour, a replacement vehicle arrived. They offered to take us to “lunch”, which marked the first opportunity we’d had to get food, now at 4pm. Izzy was still obviously quite sick so we decided to skip it, and instead grabbed some chips and juice and focused on getting back to Nairobi in one piece.
In the relative calm of the drive home, I realized how sunburnt my arms were from the bike ride as they radiated heat. Izzy finally got a decent nap, and woke up a little perkier, asking to listen to some music before drifting off to another nap. Emmy made it back without barfing, the motion sickness patch finally doing its thing. At 6pm we tumbled out of the car, finally at our apartment, caked in dust, sunburnt, sick, hungry, and utterly spent.
And so you don’t worry: Izzy had some good sleep and woke up back to regular herself. Today we’re doing as little as possible, trying to convince ourselves that Thursday’s six‑hour journey to our final safari will be okay.
