2 Feb 2025

Vistors for breakfast

Today started off with a promising animal staff visit to our room. These animal ambassadors wanted to know if we had enjoyed our stay so far and encouraged us to enjoy their colleagues all around Lake Naivasha. I explained to these fine animals in black and white term that I was a sailor and was off to Marine Resort services to meet the birds and animals on the shores of the lake by boat.

For two hours Jesse and I enjoyed a tour of the shoreline, especially on Crescent Island where we were entertained by a dozen or more species of birds. Some we knew from Canada like variations of tern, egret, wood peckers, king fishers, cormorants, and geese. The list of birds we watched is too extensive to remember, however the colours we saw and songs we heard lifted up our souls with gob smacking beauty. Then there were the animals. Hippos, water bucks, zebras and several species of antelope. I caught lots on camera, several are pictured below.

After lunch we took a road trip for 30 minutes to the Kenyan home of Joy and George Adamson, probably best known for her book and subsequent movie: Born Free. We were treated to a guided tour of the museum to see Joy's work with lions, the cheetah and the leopard. Also her astounding detailed hand painted reproductions of African flowers and then the leaders of all the traditional tribes of Kenya. There is so much to take in at this home, now museum and education center / resort named Elsamere (mother of Elsa the lion). One can learn more about the extraordinary work of this world famous pioneering woman: see www.elsaconservationtrust.org

Jesse ready aye ready

Sturdy long boats powered by a very well running, somewhat ancient Evenrude outboard, we spent two hours of a great guided tour of the lake.

Bored?

Jesse with a very quick eye and reflexes caught this hippo preparing to sleep as is their habit. It may have recognized us from their grazing habits outside the cabin last night. Ah yes I though it looked familiar!

The fishing eagle

Using the technology of my camera, I was able to catch this bird in the very act of scooping a fish. The fish was provided by our boat driver. This eagle is much like the bald eagle, a bit smaller, but almost identical markings.

Walks on water

This quaint little bird feeds off things floating in the weeds. It travels around walking on the water, hence it is called the Jesus bird.

The British plants Yacht Clubs

On the tour circumnavigating Crescent Island we saw a relic from the British, the still active Naivasha Yacht Club.

Active fleet

This Lake can sport some great steady winds for dingy sailing. These I assume comprise their mighty fleet.

Elsamere

We were lucky as there was no line up and we received a great tour of the museum with a guide named Chege who had been devoted to Elsamere and African animal conservation for nearly 50 years. The lion image on the sign is the symbol for the Elsa Conservation Trust which remains very active, educating nearly 20,000 Kenyan students/year on African animals and conservation with one day seminars on this property. The image is Elsa, the lioness made famous in the movie.

The museum was filled, but not overwhelmingly so, with artifacts from the life of the Adamson's. One item proudly displayed was a dress which had been originally made for QE2, but it was sized wrong. Joy Adamson bought it from the tailor who assumed Joy would return to Kenya and the Queen would be no wiser as the tailor had had to made a better fitting identical dress for Her Majesty. Alas, they both wore that dress to the debut of the Movie Born Free. Opps! Apparently that Royal tailor was fired. Hanging next to the dress is a photo of the two wearing identical dresses.

After the tour, we watched the documentary about Joy and George Adamson using movie shots and interviews of the two of them taken by themselves, both keen amateur movie makers. The cameras and projectors they used sit in the museum. After the 45 minute documentary we took High Tea at Elsamere on the very front lawn outside the house that Joy loved. It is here she wrote, painted and worked so passionately with the animals. The tour, movie and refreshment events were so well done I had the strangest surreal feeling that I had just met Joy and George Adamson spirit over crumpets and tea.

And that was the day.

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