This article was posted on June 1, 2020, but it disappeared when the blog was updated in September 2020, so I restored it from backup.
This time, I would like to introduce a national park that is not well known in Kenya.
The continuation of "Goshawk, a bird of prey that has advanced into the city" will be covered in the next blog.
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Masai Mara, Amboseli, and Nakuru are nature reserves that are so famous that no Japanese have ever heard of them when they come to Kenya for safari. There are many other nature reserves in Kenya.
In the southwestern part of Kenya, not far from Lake Victoria, there is a national park that even Kenyans do not know much about. The name is RUMA NATIONAL PARK. Roan Anterobe, which is rare in Kenya, lives here. This animal can only be seen in this park in Kenya.
This time, I will introduce the situation when I visited Luma National Park on a day trip with my family in September 2019.
The family consists of three children, including a one-year-old child, and a wife, for a total of five people.
The night before, I stayed overnight at an inn on the shores of Lake Victoria called Mbita, about 20 kilometers away, and departed from there.
As usual, the departure is near noon, and it is difficult to leave early with the family.
The entrance fee does not change, so I want to enter the park as soon as possible, but that is not the case.
Admission from Nyatoto Gate (Nyatoto Gate)
We decided to enter from the gate closest to the previous accommodation, Nyatoto Gate.
I tried to pay with a credit card because I couldn't use cash to enter the park, but I couldn't pay with a credit card because the network wasn't connected, so I decided to pay with * Mpesa. However, there was not enough money in the Mpesa account, so I had a deposit in a nearby town through a gate ranger and managed to complete the payment.
This payment alone wasted an additional hour of precious time.
Next time, let's put enough money in Mpesa before going out.
Pay the admission fee, open the hatch, and prepare for the safari
Fully open the hatch at the top of the car at the park gate. This hatch that can fully open the ceiling doubles the fun of safari.
My car, Trupy, has been remodeled to use a complete safari, and the ceiling opens on the driver's side and the rear seats.
The pillars get in the way a little, but you can enjoy the 360-degree view and the signs and sounds of the animals in 360-degree surround if you stop the engine. The height of the car is high, so if you stand in the car, your eyes will be about 2.5 meters above the ground, and you can see a wide field of view from afar.
Anyway, this car is all about fun on the safari. Animals and nature lovers will love it.
When I passed through the gate and started the safari, Sai was the first to welcome me.
Although it is an endangered animal, rhino breeding is quite successful in Kenya, especially in Nakuru. The increased number of individuals is distributed to each park, and it is a fairly common animal in Kenya's national parks.
Is the animal that has been touched like that a wild animal? It's a delicate place to ask, but it can be said that it will become wild and naturalized from now on.
First of all, Sai welcomed our family
Even wild animals of the same species have completely different personalities and behaviors depending on the environment in which they live.
For example, poaching or when a hunting ground is nearby. The animals in such a place are fully aware of the dangers of guns, so they do not try to get close to the range of guns.
From the other side, it is almost impossible for all visitors to approach with the recognition that they are dangerous hunters. It's not very interesting to drive a game in such a place.
This rhino was almost scared and was watching us.
Sai seems to have wanted to cross the road
He looked at the rhino for a while and he complained, "I want to cross the road, so the car is in the way!"
He stopped and waited for a while, gave way to Sai and waited to cross.
When the rhino crosses the road, you can see how big it is. The width of the rut on the road is more than 2 meters. Since it is slanted, it seems that the total length is 3 meters. After all it is huge!
The vegetation in Luma National Park looks like this
The vegetation in this park is not so much a savanna as a low acacia thorn bushland.
The animal that likes such vegetation is the giraffe!
That animal that eats thorny acacia.
Even if a person tries to break a twig of acacia by hand, the thorns are sore and painful to touch, and it is difficult to break it.
While folding such acacia branches lightly with just the tongue, I eat it deliciously.
Unlike these thorns, roses and other thorns, it can reach more than 5 cm in length, is dry, has a very sharp tip, and is hard and strong. It can even cause a flat tire on a car.
It's very easy to lick, lick! Nyamunyamu, Nyamunyamu! When.
Does the natural world also mean "it must be done"?
And the acacia that is made may have been armed with even more long, hard, sharp, inedible thorns, saying, "This is it!" I controlled many other animals, but despite doing so, the giraffe couldn't! That would be the case.
Over the years on top of such a cat-and-mouse game, nature continues to change and continues to the present day. The delusion swells while watching. How will it change and evolve in the future? Perhaps humanity cannot see it. It is the nature after humankind in the future.
After this, I heard from Warden in the park that this is a giraffe's paradise.
It is said that there are giraffes at the highest density in Kenya's national parks.
In fact, I've been in Africa for many years and have seen the largest flock of giraffes I've ever seen.
The best part of this park is that you can see a large flock of giraffes.
The giraffe here was very cautious and couldn't get too close. Is it because there are giraffe babies?
This seems to be their safe distance
In the lower right of the photo above, there is a small little baby giraffe that is not born so much. Besides, there are quite a lot of babies, children, younger generations and younger generations, so breeding seems to be going well.
Besides, I could see Impala and Zebra, but unfortunately I couldn't see Roan Antelope.
I entered the park very late at 15:00, and I couldn't afford to enjoy the safari slowly, so I rushed around the park by car. I drove through the park aiming to leave the park at 18:30, which is the closing time, from the Kamato Gate, which is different from the one I entered.
Road leading to Kamato Gate
When it rained, there were some places that seemed to be a little muddy.
Basically, a 4x4 car will be a must.
There is a campsite in the immediate vicinity of Kamato Gate.
Finally, I decided to visit the campsite.
After all, camping is indispensable to enjoy safari more!
On a day trip, I have to leave the gate before the sun goes down, so it's a little unsatisfactory.
You can't enjoy wildlife during the most beautiful sunset hours.
If you camp in the park, you can enjoy the most delicious time slowly!
It's a nice campsite with a moderate size, slope, and shade of trees.
This campsite is reasonably sized, with lawns and almost no stones, so you can set up a tent anywhere. There is a moderate slope and drainage seems to be good. It's a nice campsite with no extras other than a water place and a toilet.
The real thrill of camping is that you can get out of your normal life for a short while. Especially for those who live in the city.
Surrounded by the signs of wild animals.
If you surround the fire in such an environment, the blood that has lived with animals since ancient times may start to make noise.
A very comfortable time that cannot be felt in the city flows.
It's a very good location where you can see the sunset!
This campsite is a little elevated and has a good view, and you can see the sunset well.
It's a nice campsite without complaint.
Next time, let's camp and take a leisurely stroll through Ruma National Park.
Apart from what time it will be.
Kamato Gate
The whole family is very satisfied in a short time! After all safari is fun!
I got home with the setting sun in my back.
After this, a 150-kilometer night drive awaits you to the fascinating city of Kericho.
This is also the real pleasure of safari.
All the kids love the fascinating night drive.
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