Breakfast at our lodge. Check out. Pay for laundry and some drinks. Today we will reenter Kenya.
Driving we still see some wildlife leaving Tarangire Sopa. Southern ground hornbill, ostrich, hammerkop bird, and the balanite tree. The millipods of this tree are poisonous. Just before arriving at Arusha we stop at a large souvenir store-Oldonyo Orok Arts and Gallery. Here is where I buy a tanzanite charm that I can hang on one of my gold chains. Tanzanite can only be found in Tanzania. The gem is rare, royal blue in color and is mined in a small area of the Merelani foothills near Mount Kilimanjaro.
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| Southern ground hornbill |
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| Hammerkop bird |
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Balanite tree
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Ostrich
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| My tanzanite charm |
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| Here it is inside the case and with the pouch I got |
We get to
Arusha where Mattey leaves us and Mohammed takes over the driving. Mattey is meeting his wife here. I gave him a thank you card with a generous tip inside $100. Arriving again to the border town of Namanga we need to show our visas to reenter Kenya. At the building there was a slight disturbance. A couple with their adult son only had transit visas which would not allow them to reenter. In order to do so they would have to pay $50 each. An official tried to sort things out and this family ended up having to pay difference between transit and single entry or $30 each. Glad it got sorted out as we were in line behind this family! We now are with
Pollman again but unfortunately I did not make note of our driver's name.
Back in Kenya we stop at the
Cultural Heritage Center. This is a new museum not officially open yet. When fully open it will house crafts of Kenya. There is a huge curio/craft shop here. There is a replica of a typical village with some huts, people, animals. It was so-so very hokey I thought. We had lunch at the
Flame Tree Restaurant. My camera was acting up (my small point and shoot) so I didn't get any good pictures. After a lovely lunch we go to the Pollman office in Nairobi and change into another vehicle. Here we also say goodbye to Ed and Karen. They are leaving Kenya to do a Nile cruise in Egypt. We exchange information as Ed is going to send me some pictures of one of our leopard sightings. My camera battery had died after I only got to take a couple of pictures.
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| Very large crafts store |
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| Crafts are very nice but most pieces are just too big to fit in my suitcase |
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| Very hokey/touristy |
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| Some art pieces |
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| Lunch |
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| We ate outside on the restaurant's patio |
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Flower of the flame tree
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We get dropped off at the
Safari Park Hotel where we will spend just this 1 night as tomorrow we head to Samburu. I believe we had pool time.
Dinner is at the hotel-
Cafe Kigwa. I had chow mien and Richard had a ham sandwich. Back in our room I pack all my souvenirs in my black carry on bag. Things we need for our stay in Samburu I pack in another bag. Except for this bag for Samburu all the rest of our luggage will remain at the Pollman office. It is close to midnight when we get to bed!
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| Our room #210 |
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| Pool |
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