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| Ensuite Rooms at Samburu Game Lodge |
The excitement of crossing the Equator at Nanyuki was short lived as we traversed into this unexciting town in the Northern Hemisphere, fortunately we continued onwards and Northwards. As we passed the Lewa Safari Park, we were told that this is frequented by British Royalty in the form of Prince William and where he proposed to his fiance Kate Middleton. Thoroughly impressed by the four figure price tag for a night here, we hurriedly pressed on past the predominantly Muslim town of Isolo and the Buffalo Springs airstrip, towards a more affordable, but no less charming, Samburu Game Lodge located on a bend of the Uaso Nyiro river, arriving just in time for buffet lunch with a great variety of dishes including some from the Indian subcontinent.
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| Iridescent Starlings |
The beautifully decorated lodge is rustic but very comfortable and the animals can roam the grounds freely as there are no significant fences. Even the thatched dining area is completely open with no glass to exclude you from close-up experiences with the wild life. Samburu warriors are always closeby with their catapults and spears however their time is fully occupied by chasing the cheeky monkeys at lunchtimes that try to sneak off with a titbit from the buffet. Colourful blue and orange Kenyan Starlings were our lunch companions who were always thankful for a few crumbs.
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| Tasty Toes to Social Weaver |
The bar was even closer to the river bank and although the river was dry, a Samburu warrior showed us a hole on the opposite bank where a large crocodile snout was peeking out to ensnare any unsuspecting prey. Sitting on riverside bar with a welcome beer, we were entralled by the birds who seemed to be so tame and came right up to us, with one social weaver bird mistaking my wife's toes as tasty berries!
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| Social weaver birds' untidy nests |
Social weaver bird nests festooned the tree branches around the hotel grounds. Although not as neat as the real weaver bird nests, the social weaver bird nests have two openings with an entrance and exit and seem to be thrown together rather than being carefully woven like the real weaver bird nests.
We retired to the sunny swimming pool on the grounds with a refreshing drink to cool off in the hot afternoon sun and take things Slow, like the wonderful song from a new recording artist, Rumer.
