Once Peter began working in Kenya, in October
2012, the planning for family visits started in earnest, so it had been a
long build up to my sister Mary’s arrival in mid-December 2013.
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| The Mara river: the rainy season continued, in 2013, into mid-December and ground conditions remained green and muddy, with full-flowing rivers |
Peter had to work over this busy period, building up to Christmas berry sales, so Mary and I took a week's safari together, travelling first to the Masai Mara reserve, then flying to Mombasa and on to Diani on the south coast, returning on the train from Mombasa to Nairobi.
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| The Mara: vast plains and skies |
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| A rare opportunity to see a hippo out of the water in the middle of the day |
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| All the comforts of home in a safari tent |
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| Note the fleece and knee blanket... it can be chilly on Mara mornings |
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| The harsh reality of survival: we witnessed this baby zebra being caught, killed and eaten...  Afternoon tea on the cool verandah of the Mombasa Club  The old town, Mombasa |
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| Travelling back to Nairobi on the overnight train (on my birthday). The 12 hour journey took 20 hours ... but we had great views of rural Kenya |
Mary and I returned to Naivasha a few days before Christmas,
ready to welcome Catriona and Fritha who took the Christmas eve flight, once prices
had dropped, arriving in Nairobi on
the morning of the 25th.
We did the Naivasha sights together for a few days, including horse-riding on the lake shores and a fascinating gorge walk in Hell's Gate National Park. We then split for New
Year: the girls flying to the Mara, and Mary,
Peter and I joining Naivasha friends for a trip north to a lovely, serene camp
in Laikipia.
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Kibera from the air: Nairobi's enormous 'slum' suburb
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| An amazing threesome taken by Catriona in the Mara |
We met up again in Nairobi on January 1st for
Mary’s last night and then the girls, Peter and I drove through Tsavo West,
then Tsavo East to reach the Indian Ocean and a short week’s diving holiday at
Watamu. Frith flew back on the 11th and Catriona, snatching a few
last rays of sunshine stayed on until Jan 18th.
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| Driving to Tsavo: Peter's Toyota truck was in the garage so we had borrowed his boss's Range Rover and had a puncture within a couple of hours!! |
 A road in the red-soiled land of Tsavo West |
 Tsavo's elephants:covered in red dust 
Tsavo lizards
  A gerenuk : a rare long-necked antelope that grazes the middle of bushes...above the level where other antelopes can reach but below where giraffes graze  
Sunset at Lugard's Falls in Tsavo East
We saw many, many pairs of dik-diks in Tsavo East...
but they were mostly elusive to photograph
We'd chosen this riverside camp as we'd been promised close encounters with elephants ...coming to the water to drink in the early morning
What does one do after a hard morning's diving...?
 
Enjoy the comforts of a beautiful Swahili-architecture-inspired rented house!
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