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Safari Lodge on the Plain

AFTER a good hour on the precarious Masai Road we reached a junction which Joseph told me was going to our lodge for the night. There were a couple of signs here on rough timber poles. The main sign said Ilariak Lodge. That was where we were heading. The sign said it was about two kilometres away.

At a similar distance another sign pointed to Namelok Enkare – Maasai Bible training conference/prayer centre. I wasn’t expecting anything like that out here. Joseph had told me he was a Christian and did not follow the traditional Masai way. That had been forsaken a couple of generations ago and now he was living a Western Christian lifestyle like a huge proportion of the population here, though probably in a very different manner to that in which I lived in. He said there were a lot of Christians here. That didn’t surprise me with all the churches I had seen here. Obviously since the days of Livingstone they had converted all the so called primitive people from their old ways to Christianity. I was hoping though the people here would still be in touch with their traditional ways.

The Ilariak lodge is set on the Liota Plains. Ilariak means “the place of the salt lick river” as I would later find out.

The dirt road was very rough running in between the scrub on either side. The soft soil ensured a much less jarring ride than the one on the Masai Road. I wondered why they had sealed the main road at all given this was a lot smoother. Tomorrow morning I would find out why.

About two kilometres up the road in what seemed to be an extremely remote area, we turned off the dirt road into the eco lodge where we will be based for the next two nights.

I’ve stayed in two eco lodges in the past. One was on the Kinabatangan River in Borneo and the other was on the Tambopata River in a remote corner of the Amazon. Eight of us were in the group that stayed in the camp in Borneo, but there were no other groups. The same number had been at the Amazon, but there were several other groups there.

I was expecting the same thing here in Kenya, but I was the only tourist here. I was the only one in my group, and there were no other groups here today. Joseph told me this was most unusual. Normally there are at least five or six people in his group, and anything up to twenty one. In addition there are normally other groups of equal size staying here.

It was a bit strange with me being the only client here, especially as I now had at least six people serving me. Obviously those six people serve you regardless of whether there are ten or a hundred visitors here – or just two as the case was today. Joseph acted as a client as well. This was especially unusual for me as I’m used to being very independent through living alone and not having any servants. I have to do all the housework and cooking at home. I like my own company, and generally prefer to keep it, so it was a bit overwhelming having all these people fussing over me.

I signed their guest book as they briefed me on the eco lodge, advising there will be a tour leaving here in about an hour’s time.

A small lady led me to one of the many large tents scattered around the grassy fields under scattered acacia trees. Each tent had a path of fine granite pebbles with small boulders lined along each side. She showed me around the tent, taking particular care to show me a large padlock which she told me to lock the tent fly to prevent anyone from getting in. The tent fly opened into a bedroom containing two single wooden beds on a wooden floor about fifteen centimetres above the ground. It was constructed of thick canvas. A heavy flap at the end of the bedroom separated it from a secondary room about a metre wide. There was nothing here apart from a washing basket. Through another flap was an open area surrounded by corrugated iron to keep all the nasties out. At one end was a shower and the other was a toilet. She told me they were heating up the water and it normally takes about ten minutes for the hot water to reach the tent.

It was a pretty impressive setup, with the same tent being duplicated numerous times around the park. The lady left and I opened the tent window flaps so allow me to see through the heavy duty mosquito mesh out towards the other tents. The tents were well spaced providing plenty of privacy between each. That was irrelevant though as no one else was staying here, apart from Joseph who was in a distant tent way on the other side of the compound. Like me he obviously liked his privacy.

I unpacked before lying down on one of the beds to relax. The bed had a wooden frame of branches with a mosquito net above it which I will be able to use at night. Thankfully I have been taking my malaria tablets over recent days, so there shouldn’t be any problems.

I had only just started to relax when the lady suddenly returned announcing morning tea was ready. I really didn’t want to be served right now after such a long bumpy ride along the road to here, plus it was a bit too late for morning tea. I obliged anyway. I went to the main hut, like a cottage with a large balcony out the front, or should I say the back. The hut seemed to be facing the wrong way. All the accommodation tents were behind the hut, and all the paths from the tents were leading to the back entrance, through an open courtyard with the kitchen to the left and some storage rooms to the right. It seemed rather untidy going this way. If the hut was facing the other direction, the entrance through the balcony would have been very grand indeed.

Like me, Joseph is pretty quiet natured, preferring to keep to himself. I’m not sure if he felt like having a late morning tea either, but we were both seated at a large table in the middle of the hut. It seemed very quiet without anyone else there apart from the odd servant feverishly coming in and out to bring us food. The main servants here were Luke and Samuel. While we ate morning tea they explained they were local Masai warriors who will be taking me out on a walk after lunch.

We were seated at the far left hand side of the hut, separated well away from the right hand side. The right hand side of the hut was a lot more homely containing a large fireplace with several sofas surrounding it. Unfortunately the biggest sofa sitting right in front of the fireplace had a large bees’ nest in it, and everyone was wondering how to get it out, whether to spray the nest or remove the entire sofa. The bees seemed to contain themselves to that side of the hut, and fortunately none came over to our side of the room.

After lunch I returned to the tent for about half an hour to finish unpacking and to finish resting before lunch. Eventually I returned to the main hut. The bees were still buzzing around the sofa, but Joseph wasn’t there. The lunch utensils were already laid out on the small table, and Samuel had several large steel serving containers on another table. Obviously this was set up for serving large numbers of guests, but it seemed a bit awkward with me being the only client. I took my plate up to the table and he served me plenty of food. Once I sat down to eat, Joseph arrived for lunch.

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