Author: sage

Thursday 19th

Went for our morning walk, first to the bank who had not bothered to do anything about the Rands (way too laid back), then to a glass shop to see what the price of glass for the lazy suzy would be. In the afternoon we went to Outspan and back at home made sweet potato and coconut soup, and pasta. Got the skype on the IPad working.

Friday 20th

We went to the bank and got the few Rands they had then we went to Mount Kenya Safari Club, where we had a brilliant view of the Volcano and the peaks. We had a really nice chocolate milkshake with chips, before getting a private guided tour of the place by Elijah. We fed the peacocks and left after 5 hours at 5pm. On to Nanyuki, met Bhavni’s fathers friend and got back to Nyeri at 7pm. The to our favourite pass-time- BHUKAR till the early hours of the morning.

Saturday 21st

Well we went to order the glass for the table and said bye to everyone at the shop. We ended up leaving late (a bit of a repeating theme), with Bhavni, mom and I in the Honda – I was driving. Dad was coming later in another car. Still got Bhavni to her engagement in time even with the crazy traffic on the motorways (that have bumps at certain points – you just have to guess..or go over them and realise!) and within Nairobi.

At Surya Masis house we did some final packing before going out to Art Cafe to meet one of Bhavnis friend, but she ended up being late so came back to Surya Masis house with her for dinner. Thereafter we went to Suresh uncles house, where Bobby had come (for his fathers birthday). Suresh uncle had managed to get us some Rands from the city, so we were sorted for South Africa.

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Well we were meant to set off early in the morning, but as usual it was a little bit of a late start at 10am, but the sun was shining and if we did not leave we would procrastinate about next time.

Bhavni and I drove to the Naro Moru park gate (2600m) with Bhavni in the driving seat just before we got to the entrance, where Bhavni sorted the passes for us and the car to enter. The plan was to drive to Met Station (3300m) and walk a little from there to a big rock which would give a nice view.

As we were entering, one of the rangers asked if the car was 4 wheel drive, well the car (the Honda) was a soft 4 wheel drive, so we said yes and Bhavni drove up the trail. Initially all was good, though a bit daunting as the trail was a mud trail and there were some areas of quagmire where the car could not grip well and also some really decent gradients. Well about half way up we got to a muddy bend, where a bunch of monkeys just disappeared from (Bhavni swears they were baboons, but i thought they were smaller things), which was uphill. Well the car stopped going forward in the mud, but because of the slope we could reverse.  Bhavni tried another 2 times with the same result, so in the end we turned the car around and went back to the gate feeling defeated. We were not tempted to go further on foot by ourselves because of the monkeys.

Back at the gate, we got talking to one of the guides and he said he said he was happy to come with us for some money and we could leave the car on the trail if it was on the side. He had normal leather shoes on and just had a sweater, so I asked if he needed to get anything to go up, but he said he was good to go. So we proceeded up to before the muddy area and parked. All this time the clouds had thickened up and it slowly began to drizzle.

We walked up, Bhavni and I struggling a little with the Guide looking like he was having a lazy afternoon stroll. The drizzle carried on for most of the way, but it was actually nice and cooling. It was nice to reach Met Station as this route is a really steep route up the mountain.

We enjoyed the cold (must have been under 5 degrees) and the quiet views. However we kept on hearing the rumbling of thunder and could see lots of cloud building up (Im sure we were only a few hundred foot below the cloud layer), so we decided to go back to the car. It decided to pour, so we got drenched. When we got to the car It was nice to put on a dry top. While Bhavni looked like we had been wrung out after playing in the mud, the guide looked like he had just come from inside. I drove as the rain had made Bhavni’s hands numb. The rain really made the track interesting, with the abs firing and the car trying to go sideways. Making our way to the gate we stopped and had a look at old pictures of the mountain which really showed how much the snow had receded.

After leaving the park we went to Naro Moro River Lodge where we had a tea and freshened up before going back to Nyeri.

Back at home we did not do much, just sorted out the email for dad on the I Pad.

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Monday 16th

We had a long walk around town today – visiting all the shops and saying Hi to everyone, before lunch at home. In the afternoon we went to Outspan for a afternoon coffee and wifi access. Back at home after a dinner of Cachori, we played Bookar and managed to get the I Pad connected to the Internet.

Tuesday 17th

Again a long walk, but we wanted to find out about plastic covering for the dining table at home and getting some Rands. There was a crazy difference in the rates that the banks would give for Sterling to Rands, but Barclays offered a good rate, so we told them to order us a decent amount. For dinner we made Jamaican Boats, then played bookar again.

Friday 13th

Checked out of the hotel and on the way to the airport stopped at Milans parent house for food. It was a quick flight, then a drive to Surya Masis where we deposited the Gang before Bhavni and I went down the road to Savita Masis. For dinner Bhavni, Mits and I went to a Coroga, where Nirmal was already cooking for his friends !

Saturday 14th

We dropped Miten to Oshwal Center (he was of course going to a wedding), then went back and tried to make some biscuits for Savita Masi – we made the wrong shapes for the mixture, but they were nice.

After averting the biscuit crisis we went to see TC Fooa to say hello, then did a little retail therapy. Back with the parents we then went for a wee bit more socials – dads Mama and then Miras parents. The place has really become developed with high rises since we had been there before. After we went to Parita’s parents place, where we made a plan for Lunch the next day.

For dinner we (thats Nirmal, Anji, Saanya, Miten, Bhavni and I) went to Furasatos, which is a nice Tepanyaki place. I ate the most out of everyone (and became the vacuum for the day).

Sunday 15th

Well that was unexpected – Bhavni, Mom and I went to drop Miten to the airport and as usual we were running late as KQ online check in was not working. Well Miten being Miten ends up getting security checked and nearly forgets his Suit at the scanner, luckily Bhavni managed to go inside and help him out. He has faced with the possibility of going back, but luckily he managed to get the last seat apparently.

After getting back, Bhavni and I went and Met Parita’s parents for lunch at a Chinese restaurant (Taste of China), one of their regular haunts. It was a nice meal – and very filling. Well after saying bye we then met up with Mina Auntie at her brothers house, where we got a tour and more food – though only Nasto this time.

We got back to the Surya Masi’s house and Suresh came over with Pizza and Maru Bujya. Bhavni went with mom to drop Saanya, Aaaaanji and Nirmal to the airport, while Dad chatted to Suresh. After they got back, we then had a scary ride back to Nyeri with the driver arriving just after midnight.