African   Histories

Naivasha Lake

A glance mistaken to the clock in the morning makes raise one hour me before the predicted thing, which gives the opportunity to see dawn me on the lake and the fishermen throw its networks from its fragile boats. After the wonderful one to get late of the previous day, to see the imposing African acacias stand out with the sun in the horizon is what we could define as honey on hojuelas. After this vision, the breakfast doubly seems to us delicious. We are going to initiate our last route to a natural park, with the peculiarity of which we will do it walking, without the protection of the truck, because they have said to us that in this park there are no lions, leopards or other fierce ones that could be a risk for us. Of all ways, in the beginning of the route we are a little cautious because the herds of zebras, antelopes and 6nus that we see do not stop to run from a side to another one, and if an explosion takes place that us pille in means is not going to have tree that it protects to us; after awhile the fear goes to us because once again the animals ignore to us totally, when we were suddenly front with a group of giraffes to about 5 meters; the resistance between our height and the 6 meters that must measure the giraffes are so great that them we must seem ridiculous; a baby whom to have to be only because still he hangs the umbilical cord to him, he has already more than 2 meters of height. We followed our route, sprinkled by herds of gacelas, impalas, giant antelopes and rabbits that walk giving brincos by all the prairie. The vision of several African eagles put in the glass of the trees oteando the horizon with its heads sharpened in search of foods me wonder. Still we have the opportunity to see hipopótamo that one has moved away several hundreds of meters of the water, and the guide says to us that of no way we interpose between the water and hipopótamo because is when it feels threatened and an attack of an animal of 3,000 kg that in addition is enough express in spite of its aspect does not have to be very pleasant, reason why we left to a prudencial distance between us and hipopótamo; in order to obtain that the herds of 6nus and zebras approach us, we seated desperdigados in the ground, without making abrupt noise nor movements, and then the animals trust and approach without precaution little meters. In our return to the truck still we have the opportunity to see several serpents for the first time from our arrival Africa. From return to the camping, we passed by the house-museum of Joy Adamson, the author of the adventures of Elsa, the famous Born lioness of " Free ", that as much in format book as film made us enjoy in the childhood; the house is in a slope that slides towards the lake, surrounded by trees on which black two-color pencils ramble a group of hairy monkeys and white that are very spectacular, giving jumps from a tree to another one. The house stays exactly like in life of Joy, and until they offer a very British tea with pastes that feel like to us delicious in the garden surrounded by monkeys jumping between the trees and a real eagle to us that, put in a near tree, escudri6na the horizon. Our last night together we celebrated it in the bar of the camping where in 2 weeks I for the first time see one tele ignited that it relays the Olympic games of Atlanta and speaks on the pump that has exploded there; also in 15 days for the first time I read a newspaper in which the tragedy of flight 800 of the TWA is counted that shortly after taking off of New York with Paris destiny exploded in the air killing to all their passengers; the world really follows its crazy race independently of us. I put a little sad because surely I will not return to never see this so incredible people with which I have shared so special moments and sensations. I decide to retire of the celebration and to worry the last night seated next to the fire reflecting. In the morning early we gather the camping, we become the first complete photo of the group, the situation is graceful because we requested to him to a African that it makes the photo so that leaves everybody, and the poor man has them to do with 20 cameras his feet, because everybody wants a photo done with its camera, is not going to be that people soon do not send them. After the 15 minutes that all the operation has been we raised the truck and we began our last passage until Nairobi, that crosses the Valley of the Rift, a crack that crosses Africa of north to the south and that is perfectly appreciable in the satellite photos. The mountains that surround it are very high and is a cold that pela, but as we do not want to close the truck, we removed clothes from winter, until the coats to sleep, to take shelter. When I have taught the photos of this trip, people said that it did not seem that we were in Africa, of the windbreaks that we went, but is that the heat is another one of the topics of Africa that is not certain, in winter is cold and in some zones as much cold as the one that can do in Spain in winter. The arrival to Nairobi to mid-morning begins the dismissed ones of people, it leaves from the group goes away the same day, and another part we are going away to celebrate a supper of dismissed to the Carnivore, a very famous restaurant of Nairobi of which soon we will discover porqué of its name. We separated until the night to make things, and I it first that I do it is to go me to the hotel to stick a bath to me, if possible of very hot water and foams, thing that luckily I can do; I above clear me of the kilos of accumulated dust, and discover that also there are lost a few kilos of fat in the trip, had not thought about the convenience of a trip of this type as thinning regime but I comment it to my friends obsessed with the weight who are spent a fortune in doctors and tablets to thin 2 kg when by the same cost can at the same time make a wonderful trip. After the bath I go to the station of train of Nairobi, to buy a ticket of the famous Lunático Train between Nairobi and Mombasa, in the East Indian coast. Although the ticket is stops within 2 weeks, I buy it already because it is a route very asked for. The station is a people swarm who enters and leaves without stopping, the trains work with regularity and they are complemented with the system of more effective transport and flexible of the world, a myriad of vans of all the sizes and number of seats which from the station they leave towards any part of Kenya as soon as fill and which they take people, animals and any living tiny beast that can pay the ticket, on the other hand quite economic. The rest of afternoon we passed it crossing Nairobi, that has a quite little interest; I remained with many desire to visit the house, today turned into museum, of Karen Blixen, the author of that work that to all made wish us to travel to this wonderful earth, Memories of Africa, that loved with all its forces and of which could not be given off in every year passed after its return to frozen Denmark. The house is in one of the residential districts of Nairobi, call Karen in its honor, but that is left a little moved away the center, and our appointment in the Carnivore approaches; we negotiated the price with a taxi driver who promises to us that soon she will come to look for to us, but never plus we will see it. We waited for in the bar the arrival of the people who, clean, peinadita and dressed to the European, feel like different people to us to whom we have coexisted these 15 days. From way to the dining room we see enormous grills where great pieces of meat cook that when we seated in the table give a total sense him to the name of the restaurant, since the menu consists of that you can eat until bursting meat of antelope, zebra, ostrich, crocodile, and other delights that will put our stomachs on approval. All the experiences are recommendable, except the crocodile, whose flavor is at least as disagreeable as the aspect that it has. The supper gladly passes between chanzas and jokes on the trip, and to its aim we discovered that annexed to the restaurant there is a discoteca in which we decided to happen awhile, and I marvel myself at the people who are arriving, elegant dressed, white with saris Indian precious, black dressed Armani, Indians dressed in African clothes, all of them sharing without prejudices the same place. Of course racism continues existing in Africa, but to certain economic levels it at least seems that the coexistence is quite harmonious; music is almost as heterogenous as people, with surprise including of " Macarena ", that I refuse to dance like exponent of the Spanish folklore. It continues the good atmosphere, and arrival the hour of the dismissed one, really seems as if we knew ourselves million ago years, so deep is the feeling that it causes to us. Each one takes its way, and to me they leave Kate me, our guide and Greg, the driver in the hotel way of its next expedition; with the humid eyes probably by they polen of the flowers, I say good bye to them with the hand. Tomorrow my new adventure begins I must prepare to me for her psychologically, but that after a good one will be slept.