Hokeilen Art
Monica Hokeilen, artist
On a morning hike in the Kakura Forest, about 12 hours after landing in Nairobi
A path winds between tree roots in Kakura Forest in Nairobi, Kenya.
We stumbled across a group filming a music video in Kakura Forest and tried really hard to be subtle in taking pictures.
photo credit: Dannii Purdy
The 2-lane road that leads from Nairobi down into the Great Rift Valley hugs the side of the escarpment and provides amazing views all the way down.
A friend took this picture of me with my son and husband while we stopped at an overlook on our way down into the Great Rift Valley.
Pockets of sunlight filter through the clouds and form spotlights on the valley floor.
A dormant volcano that we would return to in a few days stands in the distance.
Our group of nine took two small boats across Lake Naivasha to see the animals on Crescent Island.
A group of hippos gather on the shore of Lake Naivasha.
The list of wildlife on Crescent Island
Three of the kids in our group watch the animals graze on Crescent Island, including zebras, wildebeest, waterbucks, and others.
Impalas grazing on Crescent Island stand out on the hill.
A wildebeest walks past us as we walk along a path through Crescent Island.
My husband and brother-in-law watch airplanes fly overhead while walking on Crescent Island.
My son captured this photo from his boat on our way back to the shore of Lake Naivasha after exploring Crescent Island.
A fish eagle catches a fish in Lake Naivasha, Kenya.
These fish eagles battled over a fish that one had just caught in Lake Naivasha.
Camp Carnelleys on the coast of Lake Naivasha provides boat rentals and an amazing lunch spot.
The road through the national park was mostly empty, with only occassional sightings of other visitors on bicyle and in vehicle. The wildlife was more abundant that the people.
Zebras, cape buffalo, giraffes, warthogs, and others grazed in Hells Gate National Park.
My son and several others in our group climbed Fischer’s Tower, which was used as a model for Pride Rock in Disney’s The Lion King.
Several rock hyrax, which are most closely related to the elephant, hung out at the base of Fischer’s Tower in Hells Gate National Park.
The guys went disc golfiing (aka frisbee golfing, or frolfing) just outside Nairobi where giraffes happened to be wandering through.
My husband and son pose for a selfie on the disc golf course in Nairobi, Kenya.
My son walks though the disc golf course in Nairobi, Kenya while giraffes stand in the distance.
My lunch at the National Museum of Kenya: fried whole tilapia with tomato and dhania (cilantro) sauce, ugali (white corn meal patty), and sukuma wiki (similar to collard greens). Yum!
We stopped for a rest while hiking up Mt Longonot, a dormant volcano in the Great Rift Valley.
The path continued around the rim of the caldera at the top of Mt Longonot, though thick fog obscured our view.
The name Mt Longonot comes from the Maasai word oloonong’ot, which means “mountains of many spurs” or “steep ridges”.
For brief moments the fog cleared enough for us to see the thick forest that grows within the caldera at the top of Mt Longonot.
Our group heads back down the path from the top of Mt Longonot.
We took a series of dirt roads that led up through farms and villages along the edge of the Great Rift Valley.
We stopped for a quick drink (sodas and dawa, a hot drink made of water, lemon, ginger, and honey) at a stand that overlooked the farms in the Great Rift Valley.
That night, we ate dinner at Jiko Restaurant at the Tribe Hotel in Nairobi. It was so delicious!
We boarded the small plane (a twin otter) that took us from Nairobi to the Maasai Mara National Reserve.
The view of Nairobi as we flew to the Maasai Mara National Reserve.
The view from our plane of a river flowing through the Maasai Mara National Reserve.
where we landed in the Maasai Mara
Since wildlife are most active near dawn and dusk, the safari drives almost always occurred in early morning or late afternoon. This meant that each safari drive included a break for food, either breakfast or “sundowner” (aka happy hour), in the bush.
My husband watches a cape buffalo from our open-air safari land cruiser vehicle.
I came home with hundreds of photos of wildlife taken on our safari in the Mara.
A lion rests on the top of a mound in the Mara.
Our home sweet home for two nights while in the Mara.
Our safari tent was well appointed with a king-size bed, furniture, rugs, and a bathroom.
Two sinks, an enclosed toilet, and a shower - all fed by gravity (bags of water were hung up high just outside the tent).
Every afternoon we had a few hours at camp for lunch and to rest before going back out on an evening drive.
A path through the camp at Sentinel Safari, with the banks of the Mara River on the left and community tents on the right. No fences (only a safety rope along this section to keep silly humans from falling down the riverbank).
The dining tent held all the guests at camp for delicious 3-course lunches and dinners.
There were three different tents set up to encourage guests to gather, each one different. We spent most of our time in the larger one (not the one pictured here) that had games, books, and coffee/tea supplies.
Hippos and crocodiles hung out in the curve of the Mara River that the Sentinel Camp overlooked. At other times we saw giraffes, warthogs, and birds from this spot as well. (And we could hear lions and leapords calling out in the early mornings.)
A herd of topi antelope, nicknamed “blue jeans” because of their dark coloring on their legs, grazed in the Mara.
A male lion walked past our open-air safari vehicle, and I was thrilled to be so near it.
One of our safari guides drinks a coca cola during a sundowner stop.
photo credit: Dannii Purdy
A baboon walks nearby as my son watches him during an evening sundowner stop while on a safari drive.
The four of us pose for a family photo at sunset on the banks of the Mara River.
The mornings were chilly on the Mara and we appreciated having blankets and hot water bottles to stay warm in the open-air vehicles.
My son took this picture during a morning safari drive.
My friend took this photo of me while a male and female lion rested near us.
We were very lucky to have witnessed a wildebeest crossing of the Mara River.
photo credit: Dannii Purdy
We passed a group of elephants on nearly every safari drive, either on their way from the forest to the marsh in the morning or back to the forest in the evening.
photo credit: Dannii Purdy
A peak from inside the larger gathering tent (that our group preferred) with evening settling in over the Mara River beyond.
photo credit: Dannii Purdy
after an amazing three days in the Maasai Mara National Reserve.
photo credit: Dannii Purdy
My friend took this picture of me in a West African market (in East Africa).
My son took this picture of the Nairobi skyline while we drove through Nairobi National Park.
in Nairobi National Park
My son, my brother-in-law, and I enjoy the view at an overlook inside Nairobi National Park.
in Nairobi National Park
in Nairobi, Kenya
A quick picture with my friend, the Nairobi Skyline behind us, while at Hero Restaurant near the end of our visit.
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