OnlyMeOirish

Hi all,

I am starting a new post on this as my old one is now at the bottom and there is a different angle on this one!

I e-mailed Kennedy (our guide in Kenya) who will be taking us to Lake Nakuru. I have mentioned my concerns re the traffic disruption and travel time to him on a couple of occasions. Then I had a reply to my post from kmactravel saying that the travel time to Lake Nakuru on a recent trip was almost 8 hours. So I e-mailed Kennedy again mentioning this. He has asked that I clarify and has sent me two e-mails on the matter (he is a little concerned!) - here they are:

Jambo Imelda,

Am surprised /unable to believe that it can take a cool 8 hours from Nairobi to Lake Nakuru.! Nakuru is 150 km from Nairobi.It is only the road to Mombasa (Kenya coast) that took 8 hours when it was under construction ,and that is 500 km !

The most it can take to Lake Nakuru is 3/30 hours ! and I think that is the most.!
Since this road construction began, I have gone to Lake Nakuru for over 15 times ,and really there is no single day that took me more than 3 hours .!

You may kindly want to further ask your friend (say out of curiosity )

1. if it is really true that she was moving from Nairobi to Lake Nakuru ?

2. Whether there was something strange on the road like an overturned truck blocking the whole road and efforts where being made to remove it .I know there was a time the road was blocked by demonstrating villagers about a settler having shot a person he claimed had tresspassed his farm ,that was last month of May 20th-25th ( only in such circumstances could this happen ! )

Jambo imelda,
Out of alot of concern again, I have called one of our drivers who left with 5 clients yesterday to lake Nakuru, he left Nairobi at 1300hrs and arrived Lake Nakuru gate at 1550 ( thats 2/50 minutes ) He is doing a game drive now .I asked him if it is possible to take 8 hours , He told me he has never heard of that. I told him that too.!
My worry is the number of people who may not get the right/accurate information to be able to make informed decisions !

More information :
From Nairobi - Lake Naivasha is 85 Km of smooth road. That leaves you with 70 km of the bad section. I hope 8 hours is not a typing error.!

Just endevouring to give correct information on the ground. I'd be glad to hear more on this from the lady who told you this. Something very very unusual must have happened .!

Kwaheri tena ! (tena -again )
Kennedy

kmactravel - I hope you don't mind me posting all this and I know you said that the shooting did have something to do with it on the way back but I think Kennedy is a little concerned that people will avoid Nakuru and he wants to get all the details.

Thanks again,
Imelda

Patty

I was also wondering if kmactravel might have meant that it took 8 hours to travel to Nakuru from somewhere other than Nairobi.

kimburu

The mystery of the disappearing Nakuru delays, eh? Well,it's elementary my dear Watson. Any Cambridge statistician could work it out!

The reason the 8 hour time is being seen as anything other than a freak incident due to its coincidence with the protests over the killing in the Naivasha area is that others recently noted longer than normal travel times to Nakuru due to roadworks. Were these not more in the region of 4 or so hours, though? Is it also not true, Watson, that travel time in Kenya can vary quite notably depending on how well the driver knows the road? If one does not know exactly where the latest suspension-shattering potholes have been developing one would naturally have to drive rather carefully, Watson, and therefore, necessarily slowly. Is it not also a fact that roadworks tend to lead to proportionally longer delays the heavier the traffic is, and therefore when it is bad, it becomes very bad? Finally, what season have they been experiencing in Kenya, Watson? Precisely! The rains will cause variable seasonal delays depending on how heavy they are and whether they have led to an accident - which given the state of a number of the vehicles on the roads would be caused by weak braking would be with reasonable frequency, I think. Since Kennedy and his friend are less likely to be asked to take tourists on side trips from Nairobi to Lake Nakuru when the weather is bad, would this last factor, together with his exceelent knowledge of the roads, not help to explain why he appears to have experienced fewer and shorter delays than certain others?

Anyway, this is excellent news for you Imelda and you are certainly nothing if not dogged in pursuing the truth! Watson would be proud of you!
;-)

OnlyMeOirish

Thanks Kimburu - you really made me laugh!! And yes, I'm afraid one of my traits is that I'm 'like a dog with a bone' and hubby ridicules me for my 'motto' (for want of a better word) don't bother doing it if you're not going to do it right! Or it's as easy do it right as wrong!!

Anyways, I like Kennedy and I had great difficulty ( most of you know this ) in my decision to go th Nakuru so hopefully this will enlighten other prospective travellers and make the decision (one way or another) a little easier.

Thanks to all for your patience!!
Imelda

LyndaS

So, Imelda, does that mean you are going to Lake Nakuru????
I left that darn Watson hat back in London at 221b Paul, and I just could not deduce whether Imelda was going or not!!!

OnlyMeOirish

Yes Lynda we are going and I just can't wait!!! (We're under 4 weeks now!)
After all my head banging Kennedy convinced us. We are actually overnighting in Nakuru now - we cut a day from Kigali to do this. When we looked at our itinerary we found that 3 days was a 'wrong' amount of time in Rwanda, we really needed 4 to do any more than the Gorilla treck and with 3 days we would be 'hanging 'round' on the third day as there doesn't seem to be an awful lot to do in Kigali except the genocide museums which we will do on day one. Anyways this is our FINAL FINAL itinerary:

July 21st arrive NBO, fly to Kigali, car collecting us there. Spend few hours aroung Kigali at museums etc then drive to Ruhengeri, collect our permits and overnight at Gorillas Nest (instead of staying in Kigali and travelling up at 4.30 - waynehazel is to thank for this change of plan!)
July 22nd Gorilla treck. Then travel back with our driver to Kigali and stay overnight at Hotel Des Milles Collines.
July 23rd Fly to NBO where Kennedy will collect us. We will drop our extra luggage at the Serena and have some breakfast with Kennedy before one of his drivers takes us to Nakuru, game drive etc. We will stay at Sarova Lion Hill.
July 24th Game drive then back towards Navisha for scenic drive, boating etc. There we take a Safarilink flight to the Mara Serena while Kennedys driver returns to Nairobi.
July 25th, 26th, 27th as before - Mara Serena
July 28th Back to Nairobi where Kennedy will collect us. We 'do' Karen Blixen, Giraffe Centre and Utamaduni. Then it's on to the Elephant Orphanage for our 'foster parent' visit at 5pm (we have 2 foster 'kids' and have arranged this directly with the Orphanage).
July 29th Cheetah Hugging Day!!! We're off to KWS in the morning to hug those Cheetahs. Kennedy is also arranging to get us into the other enclosures too! While you were away I read a post here by Richard that he had Kennedy arrange this so I asked Kennedy and it's all set. ... I am SOOO excited!
July 30th Home.... to get some rest

Imelda

PS saw your next installment - FANTASTIC!

LyndaS

I'm supposed to be working, but.....
That itinerary sounds WONDERFUL Imelda! I think you have it down pat now - makes me jealous, I'd love to go again!
I have met Joe, who is one of Kennedy's drivers - he seems like a real nice guy, I met him at KWS, he had other clients there when we were there with Kennedy.
I wish I would have known about the other cages - it sounds great - I guess I will have to go back and do it again!! (and soon...)