Robert’s Camp at Lake Baringo
On our previous trip to Kembu Cottages we had taken a day-trip north to Lake Baringo, finding many bird species there. Fred was quite keen that we should go again and booked two nights at Robert’s Camp, a small campsite with a couple of bandas and a cottage big enough to take all of us.
The Lake Baringo area was much changed since our last visit. Even on our last trip, we could see evidence of flash flooding and in places the road was almost washed away. Soon after that last visit, persistent rains had caused the level of the lake to rise significantly. The Lake Baringo Club – where we had stopped for lunch and seen the Red and Yellow Barbet on our previous visit – was now all but abandoned with the main buildings sitting in well over a metre of water. The level had fallen quite a bit as it had been nearer 2 metres at its worst point, but much of the shoreline was well and truly underwater.
Fred had been assured that the camp was open for business and this was indeed the case. The shoreline was a jumble of destroyed buildings, remnants of walls and fences and hundreds of dead or dying trees in various states of decay. Our cottage was basic but comfortable with a good fridge-freezer to keep water and other drinks nice and cool. There was a comfortably shaded veranda area, something that was necessary considering the 35° temperatures we had endured as we crossed the equator in the heat of the early afternoon.
We spent the evening taking a look around the grounds, spotting numerous new bird species and a couple of quite large crocodiles in the shallow water. The trees and ruins, the stumps and fallen timber in the shallow water, were home to many birds, egrets, herons, darters and kingfishers to name just a few. Fred took a few minutes to find out about getting a guide for the following day so that we could concentrate on some birds that we may not be able to find for ourselves.
At sunrise the next morning it was already quite hot, without a cloud in the sky. Winston, our guide for the day, was waiting for us after breakfast and took us out into the countryside to look for the unusual and obscure. Just like on my previous visit to the area, the birds were appearing thick and fast, to some extent faster than we could easily keep up with. Fortunately with four of us to try and remember them we somehow managed to keep track. We took all morning to explore several habitats before the heat of the afternoon drove us back under cover.
In the end we counted, when including all the ones we had managed to see ourselves, more than 50 species for the two days that we spent near to the lake. It all helped to bring our total to about 250 species in the first ten days of the trip. Considering that Fred and I had only just managed 300 in 20 days on the last visit, this was a great start and a testament to good locations, good guides and good luck.
Before we headed back to the south, we took an early morning boat-ride out onto the lake to get a different perspective and also to try and entice the fish eagles to dive for some fish. It didn’t go quite according to plan though, as the fishermen had only a few fish and it took time to get some decent ones. Then, the eagle – who we had seen earlier with a fish – just wasn’t interested in a free meal. Sometimes these things just don’t go according to plan and we didn’t have enough time to keep trying as our next leg needed a journey of more than 200km on uncertain roads.
Castle Forest Lodge
From Lake Baringo, north of the Equator, we had to drive back south all the way to Nakuru then north around the Aberdare Mountains before heading south once more to Castle Forest on the southern slopes of Mount Kenya. During a drive that took about six hours in total we crossed the equator three times before reaching our destination. Gladys the GPS decided that the shortest route was always going to be the best and we had to override her a couple of times when she made clearly nonsensical suggestions. That being said, we didn’t really know where we were going and had, eventually, to take her suggestions and do a few kilometres on dirt roads. It turned out that we could have taken a better route that was all on good tarmac, but didn’t know this at the time.
The lodge is built in the middle of the forest reserve and was originally a royal or aristocratic retreat built about 100 years ago. It now has several bungalows for guests and we had booked one of these for ourselves, staying for three nights. Being more than 1000m higher than Lake Baringo, the change in temperature was most welcome.
For me the highlights of the visit were the magnificent views of the summits of Mount Kenya, second highest mountain in Africa. We didn’t see the summit when we arrived but it was superbly clear at dawn the following morning and then again at sunset and dawn for the following two days. Having been used to Kilimanjaro and Meru, Kenya offered quite a change with its numerous rocky peaks and outcrops.
Of course, we were still doing plenty of new bird species, walking in the mornings and late afternoons to different parts of the forest in search of various species. We managed to get really good views of Hartlaub’s Turaco, various weavers and lots more. All the tracks seemed to take you either up or down steep climbs, but I suppose this is the price you pay for birding in a montaine forest environment.
One of the great things about the area was the fact that we never seemed to be far away from running water, with a large stream just below the camp and a nice footpath down to the waterfalls. On our second full day we walked uphill towards the higher slopes of the foothills. We never made it out of the forest, only managing a couple of kilometres or so, but we did come to another stretch of the river with a very interesting bridge that we made it across with care. We had been told that a party had driven up the road as far as the mountain hut, 8km away, but they must have been either brave or foolhardy as the track was steep, slippery, narrow, muddy and dangerous all at the same time.
I really liked the location, but I’m not yet sure that I really liked the setup. The bungalow we shared was, well, quaint. It lacked a certain finish and some of the attention to detail that you come to appreciate in really good camps and bungalows. The stairs – if you could call them that – to the upper bedroom left much to be desired and the bathroom door didn’t fit or shut properly. These are just minor irritations, but they do take something away from ones enjoyment of a place.
The other bigger annoyance for me is something that we had already encountered elsewhere on our trip, but it seems to be quite common. I’m coming to the conclusion that I find nothing more annoying than having an unknown dog or cat begging round my feet at the dinner table. To a degree it is the result of people opening up their homes as places for people to stay and I can understand this. Is it, however, too much to ask that these pets be trained or disciplined enough to stay around the owner’s table, rather than mine?
It’s sad that it seems to always be accompanied by some minor penny-pinching on the part of the management. It’s as if the two are in some way linked. From being charged for fruit with your breakfast at Castle Forest to being charged by the sausage at Wildebeest Camp, there’s something a little depressing about the whole thing. After all, charge us another five dollars and let us eat whatever we want, rather than calling it full board and then charging for all sorts of extras.
Overnight in Nairobi
There’s little to be said for our overnight stop in Nairobi, except that it was needed because of the distance we had to drive, the shopping we had to do and the visit we needed to make to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust nursery in Nairobi to sort out our driver and timetable for the next stage of our journey.
From Castle Forest the roads were good, but the traffic got steadily heavier and heavier as we approached Thika. Indeed the road changed into a fully-fledged three-lane motorway, five lanes in each direction once the feeder roads were taken into account. Motorway in not perhaps the right term, as they still have crossings and speed-bumps to trap the unwary but progress is still fairly quick.
Despite the massive traffic jams at the sudden end of this monster highway, we made it through town and to our lodgings by mid-afternoon. We set off for the Sheldrick Trust in good time and Fred went off to speak to the staff whilst we waited for visiting time. Everything seemed a little more commercial and professional than the last time we had visited. There were also lots more people present. By the time we were taken through to see the orphans return to their stables there must have been sixty people present for the event.
As we sat for a few minutes watching the crowds move from room to room to talk to the infants, I couldn’t help comment to Fred about just how commercial it all seemed to have become and the fact that it made me a little uncomfortable. I understand the need for the charity to continually raise funds and recognise that the adoption system has served them very well and is no-doubt a profitable way of raising the necessary funds to pay for the amazing work that they do. I was just a little saddened because it all felt a little like a circus – a show put on for the benefit of the visitors, not for the comfort of the orphans.
Fred had found out that Dixon was once again to be our driver and we had arranged to meet him the following morning at the Galleria Mall on the Langata Road where we would be buying supplies for the next few days. Once that task was out of the way we began our long drive down the Mombasa Road to Kibwezi and the delights of Umani Springs.