The Presidential Safari

After visiting the giraffe centre we went to the main entrance to Nairobi National park to see if we could arrange a safari. The information desk said the best option for those without vehicles was to use a taxi and they could arrange one. We spoke to their suggested taxi driver but apart from it being very expensive we didn't really think we'd get to see much driving around in a taxi! We walked to the park entrance to see if there were any other options. Here's a sign from the near the park entrance. 

Who has right of way?

Here we got talking to one of the park officials. He suggested that we could use the presidential vehicle, we thought he was joking at first but he explained that it was the parks vehicle and in absence of Obama coming to visit they've decided to make use of the vehicle. The cost would be 10USD per person, considerably cheaper then the 80USD taxi the lady at the information desk was try to sell us. We organized to meet them at the gate the next morning at 6:30am. We didn't pay anything at that point so we were still little suspect as it seemed a little too good to be true and extremely weird that such a service would not be advertised or mentioned at the information desk. We took a moto taxi back to the campsite and organized with the driver to collect us at 6am the next day.

6am mototaxi to Nairobi National Park

Next morning we arrived by motorbike much to the amusement of the security at our campsite and also the officials at the national park. We got there paid the 40USD park entrance and the 10USD for the vehicle and driver. The guy wasn't lying, we actually had the presidential vehicle all to ourselves for a morning safari in the national park!

Presidential Vehicle

We were driving for about 15 minutes through the park and so far hadn't seen any animals. I was starting to think this was the catch and then we spotted a lion! Our guide knew what he was doing and had gone specifically to where he knew the lions would be. One of the lions came quite close to our vehicle which made for some great photos. 

A lion a few meters from our vehicle

Same lion, different view

After an hour or so watching the lions more tourists started to arrive. At some point the lions got curious and decided to investigate the cars.

A lion investigating one of the other vehicles

As it started to get crowded with tourists our guide suggested we leave the lions and go further. Next we came across a Rhino. This guy kept his distance from us so I didn't get a particularly great photo.

Rhino in Nairobi National Park

Mombasa to Nairobi by Train

After spending more time than intended on Zanzibar island it was time to make our way back to Nairobi. We'd heard about an amazing but very unreliable train journey from Mombasa to Nairboi. We decided we'd go to Mombasa with the hope of getting the train from there to Nairobi. Worst case we'd take the bus if we couldn't take the train. You couldn't book train tickets online and when we got to the train station they were closed. Luckily they had a timetable posted on the wall so we found out that there was a train leaving the following day.

Mombasa Railway Station

We arrived the following day to find a queue at the station. It was January 1st so there were new prices for 2012 but the staff hadn't been given the full details. As a result they were not selling anything tickets, good news for us as we hung around and eventually got a ticket when they did start selling them.

Mombasa to Nairobi Train

As expected the train was late departing. We went for 1st class tickets which was a private compartment and included dinner and breakfast in the dining cart. I could see why some people are sometimes disappointed with the train journey as they probably have misconceptions as to what first class is! The train is from the 1960s and the compartments haven't been update since then. Almost everything was functional and it was clean just perhaps a little worn.

Compartment on the Mombasa to Nairobi Train

The train crawled slowly through Kenyas famous Tsavo National Park. We didn't spot any wildlife although it was still quite an impressive journey with some amazing views. We woke up to an amazing sunrise with Mount kilimanjaro in the background. I decided to enjoy the sunrise rather than scramble to find my camera but I got a shot of Kilimanjaro later in the morning.

View of Kilimanjaro from the Mombasa to Nairobi Train

Meandering through the Tsavo National Park on the Mombasa to Nairobi Train