I left Nairobi at around 3 pm and by around 5:30 pm, I made my way into this amazing nature park ready to do some camping. I toured around familiarizing myself with the place since it was my first time here.
Later I was joined by my best friend/guide, Robert, who gave me the best welcoming you can ever think of. We first had to catch up, we attended the same university and undertook the same course. It had been a while since we saw each other. After catching up for an hour or two, we headed to the fireplace since it was getting dark.
He introduced me to his crew that was very friendly and welcoming. We chatted for a while, made a huge fire as we enjoyed our dinner. We discussed the various threats facing the bird species and the bird count they had participated in. For sure it was a productive evening as I got to get updates that had passed me in the world of bird conservation.
As we were enjoying the bonfire, white-eyed montane joined us. She was lost but at least helped me to learn how to handle them due to their delicate feet. She was then placed near a thicket so she could easily flyway in the morning and was afraid of being eaten by the cats at night.
At around 1:30 am we decided to call it a day and went to rest to have some energy for the planned hike and bird watching. The tents had already been pitched so they were not much work to be done but to get some sleep. My day one camping night was filled with the fighting cats near my tent, the owl hooting and the peacock made noises. At least it was not noisy loud public vehicles and night clubs music.
By 7:30 am everyone was awake, took our breakfast, and prepared ourselves for the hiking and bird watching. This place is a haven, you don’t have to carry your luggage everywhere you go, they will keep it safe for you as you do your hiking and birdwatching.
The hiking took the whole day and we were dead tired on our way back. We finally made our back to the campsite. The dinner preparation was collective teamwork, it was awesome then headed to the fireplace to enjoy it. Not all of us went to the same place so we exchanged what we had enjoyed in the places we had earlier visited.
Due to tiredness, we did stay up for long like the previous night. By 11:00 pm we had made our way to our tents. I didn’t hear much on day two but rather slept like a baby. Exhaustion is a very good sleep pill.
It was time to leave Wajee nature park, sad but contended that i had enjoyed myself and that’s why I will go back for a week-long or more camping experience again.
What an exciting time. It is always good to catch up with old friends.