We've had a couple of fun-filled days of safari and adventure! After a rest on Sunday afternoon, we headed to Masai Mara Reserve to see wildlife. All the drivers in the reserve have radio communication to alert each other of animal sightings. It brought me back to my firefighting days in northern Ontario. When a fire was spotted on radar, all available crews would race to try to find it by truck. It felt the same - all of us racing in matatus (tour vans) to see the animal(s) sighted. Two of the biggest pieces of excitement 1. Two cheetahs feeding - our driver took a huge risk as he drove off the road and onto the grass closer to the cheetahs so we would get a close-up picture. Both Miriam and I snapped quick pictures and told him to get back to the road - the penalty for being off the road is a $10,000 fine and the park rangers will suspend their license and ban them from the park. Just after leaving the cheetahs ... 2. a second call came that a buffalo was being taken down by 3 male lions. The couple staying next to us at our camp saw the kill and said it was like watching something on the discovery channel. By the time we arrived, two male lions were feeding and the other one was watching. A very cool experience to see all the animals in the wild - my favorite were the giraffe -- seeing their heads above the trees was awesome! Of the big five - lion, leopard, rhino, buffalo and elephant -- we saw all except the leopard.
MIRIAM's JOURNAL
Up at 530am, breakfast and on the road for a side trip to Lake Nakuru park reserve. A smaller park, but, again, so amazing. Flamingos, pelicans, different kinds of giraffe, zebras, ostrich, lions, ostrich, white and black rhino .... It is one of the most incredible things to see elephants, lions, and giraffes in their natural habitat -- to be in the middle of their land and surrounded by the beauty of land and animals.
After leaving Lake Nakuru, we stopped for BBQ'd goat - something I have never tried before. Meat was hanging beside the open grill. They cut the meat in front of you on wood planks, which have small piles of salt to dip the meat in. No utensils. Sliced onion and tomato and various other sides are given to us - all to be eaten with fingers. I have to say, it was a very tasty, delicious meal!
After an afternoon of driving, we are back in Nairobi and we head to THE carnivore restaurant - a totally unique experience for both Sarah and myself. All kinds of meat, roasted over charcoal and carved at your table. You are given a mini turntable with all different kinds of sauces and the servers would give suggestions for each meat. They will keep serving you meat until you "surrender" and lay your flag down. Sarah and I were adventurous and tried just about every kind of meat. We both agree that liver tastes like liver - no matter what kind it is and it's just not our favorite! The ostrich tasted a bit like dry, overcooked beef; the ostrich meatballs were good and the camel meat was quite tasty. My favorite was the leg of lamb - medium rare with a light mint sauce -- delicious!
The ox balls actually weren't too bad!
We SURRENDER!
SARAH's JOURNAL
After a final safari day, before heading to the airport, we stopped for dinner at a restaurant called Carnivore. What a dinner experience! Definitely once in a lifetime! They kept bringing us various kinds of meat until the flag on our table was put down on the table as a sign of surrender ... and then there will be desert - if there is any room left!?! We sampled exotic meats such as ostrich (a bit chewier than beef - I didn't like the meat alone but the ostrich meatballs were good) and crocodile (tastes like fishy chicken) ... lamb, chicken, turkey, beef, chicken gizzards (we couldn't stomach trying these), lamb liver and even ox balls, which were surprisingly good - believe it or not! I highly recommend giving this place a visit if you are in Nairobi - an experience to remember!
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