Our second day in Africa, in May 2014, we left Nairobi in safari vehicles and drove 97 miles north to the Serena Mountain Lodge in Mount Kenya National Park. I was still just fathoming the unfathomable realization that I was in Africa and that I was going to the famous hotel that was next to a water hole. This was going to be my first chance to see large African animals in the wild.
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| The water hole in daylight. |
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| Area around the water hole at night, bathed in light. |
Mount Kenya NP is 276 square miles and is surrounded by a forest reserve that is another 272 square miles. Together they are a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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| Mt. Kenya, seen from the road on the way to Buffalo Spring. |
Several of us took a guided nature walk after we arrived and the rest of the evening, that night, and the next morning, we could gawk out at the water hole.
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| On our nature walk. |
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| A cape buffalo skull. |
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| One of our guides up against a tree. |
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| Mount Kenya Guereza, also known as the eastern black and white colobus. |
This is some of the other wildlife that we saw:
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| Kolb's monkey, a subspecies of the blue monkey. |
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| Bushbuck |
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| Genet out on the feeding platform at night. |
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| Cape buffalo |
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| African bush elephants near the water hole at night. |
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| Eastern warthog |
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| Egyptian goose |
First time in Africa (but not the last)--such an incredible experience! It was definitely a "pinch me" experience. We had a fun hotel with a great water hole.
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