Lake Nakuru National Park

Kate at Kericho Tea House gardens

James & Terence Potter

"New" Village Park "Resort"

Stoney Tangawizi, favorite Kenyan soda

Thompsons gazelle

So many flamingos & pelicans!

Thompsons gazelle

Marabou stork

Cape buffalo with eggret buddy (our guide said it likely had been wounded by a lion)

"Let's discuss this guys"

Baboons

Thompsons gazelle

Grumpy Cape Buffalo

Curious Cape Buffalo calves

Peter changes a flat in the park

Greater white pelicans

Yellow billed stork

Sacred ibis

Common zebra

We're "on vacation" now & have no further volunteer responsiblities!  We are "playing."  On Saturday, three of us drove to Nakuru, Kenya, about 300 km away.  It's one of the oldest cities in the country.  Our goal was to visit Lake Nakuru National Park, Kenya's 2nd most popular park & famous for its flamingos & rhinos!  Our driver was Peter, a local taxi driver we've gotten to know through frequent trips between Migori & Bware.  We stopped a couple times along the way.  First we stopped to buy soapstone craft items from vendors along the road and again in Kericho, famous for its tea plantations (one of Kenya's biggest exports),  at the fancy Kericho Tea Hotel for chai & toast while sitting on a patio overlooking fabulous flower gardens.
Six hours later we arrived in Nakuru & Peter helped us find lodging for the night at the New Village Resort, a misnomer for it wasn't "new" & it certainly wasn't a "resort."  However, we ate dinner at Kokeb, a nearby Ethiopian restaurant.  It was one of the best meals we've eaten since we arrived!  We liked the food so much, we decided to return the following day for a "full English breakfast" before our return trip to Migori.  It was delicious too!
On Saturday evening in Nakuru it drizzled but we went out exploring anyway.  We enjoyed the throngs of peope on the streets doing their shopping after work.  Then we stumbled upon the Nakuru Sweet Mart, a pastry shop described in Lonely Planet's "Kenya" guidebook & just had to go in!  We picked out several treats from their display cases, then enjoyed chocolate cake with chai.  Yumm.
Sunday morning we were up before light so we could get an early start at the park.  We  had such a positive experience hiring a guide at Ruma NP that decided to hire a guide.  Justice rode in our car and knew exactly where to go to see the animals.  We saw lots!  Starting with baboons scampering through the parking at the entrance.  There were many different types of water birds:  Greater & lesser flamingos, greater pelicans, spoonbills, egrets, yellow bill & maribou storks, sacred ibis, Egyptian geese.  We also saw hundreds of Cape buffalo, Rothschild & Masai giraffes, zebras, waterbucks, Thompsons gazelles, impala, warthogs, vervet monkeys and a few rare black rhinos.  Although we were tired on the long drive home, we were pleased with the chance to see so many animals.
Today we're resting up, packing & repacking for our departure tomorrow with all 6 Physician Asst. students for our wildlife safari to Masai Mara National Reserve.  While there, we hope to see elephants & lions.  You can expect to see a blog describing that trip on the weekend after we return to Nairobi.  Cheers!

Lake Nakuru from Baboon Point