Camping at Carnelley’s in Naivasha – Vacation Day 4
on A Serendipitous Journey (Kenya), 12/Oct/2009 05:14, 34 days ago
After sleeping in, our driver came to pick us up for the 1.5 hour journey from Nairobi to Naivasha in the East African Rift Valley. We stayed at Camp Carnelley’s, right on Lake Naivasha.It is so cute and the décor reminded us all of the Flinstones with tables made of tree trunks, whitewashed stone walls, high beams made of tree trunks and brightly coloured oversized pillows to relax upon. The menu was spectacular with steaks, smoothies, and even nachos (I haven’t ever seen nachos on a menu here)! Our‘banda’ on the other hand was something else – it was a small trailer with a double sized bed on one side and two twin-sized beds on the other side, separated by a curtain. It was basic (so much so that you had to make your own bed and when I laid down on my bed I almost sunk to the ground:-)but nonetheless it was clean and comfortable enough. Each banda at Carnelley’s has a lot of privacy and green space including a shaded table, picnic table and a private outdoor bathroom with water heated by a fire.After exploring the grounds, we decided to take an afternoon boat tour of Lake Naivasha. Getting to and from the boat was, in itself, an adventure. Lake Naivasha is essentially drying up, so the camp has extended the dock by placing planks of wood on the soft mud that was once the lake and where the mud starts to turn liquidy, they have creatively placed several boats in a row that you hop through to get the final boat which is used for tours. It was easy enough on the way out, but after the rain on the way back it was pretty slippery and funny with the prospect of slipping into chest high mud if you lost your footing!Over the past several years, Lake Naivasha has experienced drastic reductions in its water levels due to droughts, global warming and the ever growing flower farming industry in the region, which is sucking the water out of the lake (it is a key flower supplier to Europe). One of the effects of the low water levels is that the lake is turning from fresh water to salt water and therefore producing the algae that flamingos feed upon. Flamingos, once unheard of in the lake, now co-exist with the pelicans. Another effect, explained by the manager at Camp Carnelley’s , is that you rarely find hippos on the camp grounds at night anymore, as they simply can’t make their way through the thick mud to get out of the lake.During our 1-hour boat tour we saw dozens of hippos, hundreds of pelicans, hundreds of pink flamingoes, water buffalo, giraffes and several fish eagles soaring high in the sky. It was the first time I had seen flamingos, so I was very excited!The skies started to turn dark near the end of our boat tour and we got soaked for the last 10 minutes or so. But, after warm showers, we were as good as new!I spent the evening outside our banda enjoying the fresh air and reading my book, while my parents enjoyed a drink and relaxed in the colourful lounge. After a delicious steak dinner we called it an early night, to prepare for our bike ride in Hell’s Gate the next day.