Dec 2006

The yuletides is almost over!
I hope all of you had a really good time amongst loved ones!

I celebrated in Tsavo East national park with a bunch of fins and brits, we choose to do the "scandi" xmas on the 24 and the switch in to brittish xmas on the 25.

After the loong drive to Tsavo (wich my car did without complaints!) we arrived after dark in the park and had a ranger show us to the "special Campsite" we had booked. The idea of staying in the real bush seemed a lot more fun when planned in Nairobi than when we arrived in the dark to a tiny clearing in the bush where the last weeks of rains had caused vegetation to explode; the grass was chest high, there was a million bugs all over and we coudnt see anything that made the place remotely suited as a campsite.. The main attraction of the place was that it was close to a swamp.. great in the dry season as animals come to drink and leopards like to hanh out and wait for mamals, but in the rainyseason it had turned in to a mosquito breeding ground.. So we decided to go to the public campsite where the grass had been cut and there was acces to a cold shower and a real toilet..
We gor out ents up all right and managed too cook in the dark. I was put on fire duty and had to collect firewood in the pichblack bush only equipped with my head torch and my machete. Great fun! Lets just say that there are many strange sounds in the African night and that the bugs are quite alot bigger than in Denmark.

On the 24 we had a talk about our xmas celebrations and decided to do the "scandi" xmas as tradition bids it on the 24 and then let the brits take over on their xmas day the 25.¨'
We then did a 3 hours game drive and the 3 newbs (2 finnish girls and one brittish girl) was luck enough to see both giraffes, Hyena, loads of elephants, zebras + the normal score of antilopes and birds. Due to recent rains the thicket was.. well.. very very thick.. and spotting felines was practically impossible.
When we returned to camp we emidiately started cooking, I set up a tiny xmas twig and the finns decorated it and began preparing glögg for everybody.
As the finns were all vegetarians the xmas dinner was fish and loads of veggetables. we did drink quite a bit too, and after the finns had entertained us with a few of their tradtionally melancollic carrols I was asked to entertain a bit.
As I had not prepared anything and was asked for a song I opted for "nu er det jul igen" (a traditional danisk yulesong where u have to run around "train"wise") I went down fairly well with me singing and one of the brits leadinf the "train" the act was repeated later after lots more beer and Gintonics...
We had our dinner by the fire and afterwards sat by the nearby river and took in the beautifull scenery. The silent clucking of the river, a couple of more finnish xmas songs and a moment of collective silence to remember people back home made the evening a quite memorable one.
And then we got more drunk...

The next morning the local gang of baboons had raided the camp in search of food. they basically open up whatever they can get their little hands on and eat whatever they find tasty and scatters the rest around. Quite a mess to clean up.

I had quite bad hangovers.. hight humidity and 32 degrees celsius did not help my mood so I slept quite alot that day.
I did manage to get out of bed whan a young elephant male crossed the river right by out camp and loudly trupheted his intentions to do so before hed waded across..

The brits did actually do a wonderfull xmasjob, with a beutifull laid table and fantastic food, lots of singing and presents for everyone. To me the 24 was the climax and the 25 sheer bonus and all in all xmas was good!

Packing the camp up offcause took longer than anticipated and we begun our drive home by drooping off the finns by the bus station so they could cach a bus to Lamu and saying goodbye to one car of brits going too mombassa.
Arriving in Nairobi in the rains and afte dark was not really funny, and this morning my car wouldnt start.. My mom dad and brother is comming tonight and the day after tomorrow we are supposed to drive down to Masai Mara.. So I am at work trying to find a fast mechanic and planning the last things for my guests..

I am currently negotiating with the embassy whether to stay half a year more and start writing my "speciale" (final thesis) here. So any of yoyu who still feel like comming to see me and expiriencing one of Africas most beautifull countries now is the time to start planning!

Once again I hope u all had a great xmas and I hope that your new years will be great fun!
Hugs
Asger

I have now had my "big blue beast" of a car for some 2 weeks. Initial repairs included new windscreenwiper engine and a major tune up as the top speed was around 75 kmt when I first got it..

As the car finally was performing at its best I decided to test it at Nairobi National park. The park is 30min. drive from the center of Nairobi and is unique as it is the only place in the world where u can see most wild animals with skyscrabers in the backdrop.

The proud owner in front of the beast with Nairobi in the background
I am still not quite sure how old the car is.. round 1990 i think.. I will know once all the paperwork comes through

The day I decided to visit the park was Jamhuri day which celebrates the Uhuru = freedom of Kenya (they kicked the Brits out in 1963..)
So the entrance for locals was free while I had to pay the full 40$
Outside the park it was full of locals on picnic, but luckily most of the locals dont drive 4wd and are wise enough not to drive their small town cars into the park.

We drove around for a while with out seeing anything but antilopes and a few giraffes, it is the end of the rainyseason and the grass is very tall making it quite hard to spot lions, cheetas, leopards and the other smaller game.After a while I took a wrong turn and we ended up at the far end of the park in what looked a bit like the compost heap of the park.. fortunately there was a small waterhole and guess what!? Rhinos loves waterholes!

Peacefully He enjoys the water while a Tommy (thompsons gazelle) strolls past..

Unfortunately he notices us and gets curious, Rhinos dont see very well, they have a keen sence of smell and hears quite well, I am not sure whether we had the wind against us or in the back, my guess is that he couldnt smell us but could see and hear something big mooving and simply wanted to say Hi!
Nairobi national park actually has the largest concentration of rhinos in Kenya

As the road was a dead end and I didnt feel like speed reversing I chose to drive around him. He looked on curiously whirring his ears and slowly turned to follow us.
Rhinos move like Bulls in straight lines (at least when they charge..) so moving around him seemed like a better idea..

He never really got angry, merely strolled after the car, he did get quite close as u can see..
Rhinos have been known to flip cars over.. They simply nudge the horn under the car and lifts their neck and up goes the car and whomever is in it.

"objects in mirror are closer than they appear"...

Finally he got tired of playing catch and trudded in to the bush to feed.

This male giraffe and the yungster was watching us the whole time,
the animals have very different "safty zones" giraffes generally let u come quite close before they decide to take off, off cause u have to stay on the tracks at all times. Lions have actually been known to come to the car to rest in its shade on very hot days and generally display an impressing lack of interest in humans, feeding, sleeping, playing, mating within meters from safari cars. most other animals prefer some distance.

Not all the interesting animals are big.. Cant remember the name of these, but theyr are quite common

We had just decided it was about time to head home, when I noticed a small track that looked interesting..
I remember thinking "this seems to rugged for 2wd cars, maybe there is more to see here" and then I got stuck for the first time.. I managed to get my self out and continue for some 10 meters before I got totally stuck..
We got out cursed a bit and tried to find the right phonenumber for the rangers. Then along comes a friendly french/english couple in a big landcruiser. neighter of us had a rope, and I specifically said to the guy that i did not expect him to do anything foolish (like getting himslf stuck nxt to us) He never the less decided that it was all fun and games and that He could easily give me a push out of that little puddle..

As u can see I was quite deep in mud. The prob it turned out was clearence (hov "hight" your car is) His clearence was like mine so off cause he got stuck too.. he didnt even manage to get as far as I did (Yes I am a little proud)
And once your car is resting on the ground there is no chance of ever getting a grip..
So we called for the rangers who promised to send the tractor in 15 minutes.
Kenyan time i guess u can guess what that means..
aprox 1 hour later
We waited and hoped to at least see some animals, but in the end all we saw was tommies..

Fi´nally the rangers came, no tractor, it wouldnt start, but their pickup had a much higher clearence and quite easily pulled his landcruiser out.

My pull was a bit longer and i happened to bounce about quite a bit and build up a little too much speed..

Wrrrruuuuuuuiiimmmmmmm Quite a fun ride.. I just forgot to brake so i bumped right into the rangers pick up.. no damage to their car but I lost a tail light..

Driving home I realised my breaks were out too and upon inspection i could see i was dripping breakfluid, so i had to sneak back throug Nairobis night traffic using my handbreak only.

The car is now being fixed again and my trusted mechanic says that driving it to Mara will be no problem at all! and at least i now know a bit more of hov much mud i can handle..

I am currently preparing my parents and my brothers visit from the 27/12 to the 13/1, Kritte my cousin is planning to come in march (looking very much forward to that too!) I any of the rest of u feel like stopping by u are all very wellcome!

Big xmas hugs for all!
and say hi too all those who has not yet discovered this blog! (spread the word plz!)
-Asger-

Last pick is the Embassy where i spend most of my days on the third floor.