Continuing my Tour on Lake Baringo

In my last photo tour of my trip to Lake Baringo Kenya, I shared some photos of the interior of  Soi Safari Lodge where I stayed and some of the outside areas too.

Today I am going to share more scenes from the waterfront.

The beautiful scene from Soi Safari Lodge.

 

While I was on the boat tour I snapped many photos.

As we make our way out onto Lake Baringo, I snap a photo of the beautiful Soi Safari Lodge

Fishermen are transporting cattle to market. They are from the island so can't drive into town.

 

I am not a birder per se.  But I do like birds a lot. I was pleasantly surprised to capture a few of them in my photos while I was busy snapping photos of the beautiful environment all around me.

Birds nest in the trees on the water. I think there is a bird in the tree too.

I've read that there are over 500 bird species in and around the lake. Can you imagine?!

This is a birder's paradise and perhaps some day I will be able to spend time just to specifically for birds on a tour of the area.

 As it is I was happy for the bird photos I was able to capture in my short time on the water.

Little Egret

Pied Kingfisher

 

I'm not one hundred percent sure but I think the bird in the photo above and below is an African Darter.

The fishermen will throw a fish to an eagle so tourists can capture a photo.

The eagle wasn't cooperating because it had eaten several times that day already with other tours. Sylvester shows me his guide book so I could see what the eagle looks like.

These boats are made out of a very lightweight wood (almost like cork) that floats very well.

A close up of the wood from which the boat is made.

These buildings along the waterfront are almost hidden by the lush vegetation.

  Boats of all kinds are on shore.

 Fishermen's boats and the blue boats are probably local men hoping for tourists.

Nearing the hotel shoreline.

You can see the unique roof line of Soi Safari Lodge. Other buildings are of the small town.

There are more tourists from the lodge waiting for the boat to take them on the water.

 I hope you enjoyed the tour. 

I also hope some day you can take a trip to this beautiful area of the world.

Lake Baringo, Kenya

x ~ x ~

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Beautiful Soi Safari Lodge on Lake Baringo, Kenya

In my last post, I shared part of my boat tour on Lake Baringo. My stay was at the beautiful Soi Safari Lodge. 

This post continues with a brief peek into the interior of the reception building and surrounding areas. My next post about this area will show some more of the wildlife and views from the lake.

I hope you enjoy the tour! 

These grey crowned cranes seem to be resident birds greet you as you enter  Soi Safari Lodge.

I've read that though these cranes are widely distributed throughout Africa, their existence is threatened by development and degradation of the wetlands. 

The resident ostriches want to welcome you too!

The doors helpfully open automatically as you enter the reception area.

This statue of an African woman also stands at the outside door to the lodge.

I love the reception area of this lodge because of  the African themed furnishings and knick knacks.

The wood used throughout the lodge is very beautiful. I'm not sure what it is but I absolutely love the ceiling.

 

I made my way up to this area to have a massage given by the magical fingers of Pettie. After my visit I hear she went back to Mombasa her home area but since then she has gone to Dubai for work. She posted a very short update to me around Christmas. It is very difficult for Kenyans to find work at home and thus they often end up far away from home.

Restaurant with lovely wall murals

Looking out from the restaurant windows. I ended up purchasing a bag just like the one hanging on the wall.

This path led the way to cottages where I stayed.

The cottage area. You can also stay in a multi-level building which is more like a traditional hotel.

Beautiful garden near the pool area.

Several of these unique roofs exist on the property.

Swimming pool area which I enjoyed on the morning of my departure.

  

Manager  of the lodge. I met him working on his lap top in the bar area and we had a lovely chat.

This is the fantastic view from the bar area.

This lodge is my idea of a wonderful place to stay. Rustic yet very comfortable and with amenities like swimming pool, massage, bar and gift shop. From Nairobi It is a long journey to this very dry area of the country and a place that many foreigners never get too. Tourism in Kenya has been very badly affected since 2008 due to terrorism and insecurity in the country. However it is my view that the country is still safer than being in some large cities of the world.

Joining in with Our World Tuesday this week.

Beautiful Kenya

Hi friends,

I hope you are all having a pleasant week. I've been enjoying the warmer, sunny weather but as of today it was back to a bit of gray skies and very light rain.

Spending time with a friend and helping him study for a big exam tomorrow hasn't left me with a lot of free time for blogging. But I have spent a little time to clean up computer files.  I've also been looking for photos I want to share  with you.

These photos are all of Lake Baringo in Kenya.  The island in the middle of the lake is called Ole Kokwe Island.

There is a camp on the island; fittingly called Island Camp. I never spent any time there but I've heard that it is a nice place to stay.

I think the setting here is very beautiful. It was also very hot.

 

I took a tour out on the water with the very personable guide, Sylvester. I didn't intend to take a tour.  But Sylvester was pleasantly persistent, not annoyingly persistent.  I decided at the last moment to go on the tour and I'm glad I did.  It made my time in the area much more interesting and gave me a lot of memories and photo opportunities.

This is my boat tour guide, Sylvester.  He surprised me by speaking several languages including French.

The gentleman in the blue uniform (whose name escapes me) is actually from Ole Kokwe Island. He grew up there in a large family.  He now works on the mainland at Soi Safari Lodge. I  met him again when I made another trip to Kenya and stayed at Soi's sister hotel, The Bontana, in Nakuru City.

The fellow wearing the red cap is my driver. I hired him to take me to several different places in and around Marigat and Lakes Baringo and Baragoi. The reason he is in the boat and not waiting in the vehicle is that we were ready to heat out but the guide Sylvester gave me a great deal on the tour because I had a limited time. I thought why not give my driver a treat since he had a very late night the night before driving me around and then had to make his way home again (hours away) before returning to get me.  Though there are many affluent people in Kenya, there are also many others that cannot afford the things that tourists do. It pays to treat them with kindness and consideration for they toil under difficult circumstances to try and make a living and raise their families. When you hire them for the day, technically you do not need to give them meals and refreshments. However I cannot in good conscience enjoy eating, drinking and sight seeing while my driver takes no refreshment or rest.  It isn't right that I should enjoy myself while they watch me and bake and go thirsty in the heat.

I saw many things while out on the water but I can't share them all in one post.

We made sure we didn't get too close to these hippos.

I relied on my camera's zoom feature to get a close up.

You can see the mountains in the far distance and a boat entering to the top left of the photo.

 

The boat comes closer.

And closer.  I also zoomed in for a close up.

It turns out these men are from the island and they are bringing their cattle to market at Marigat. I would see them the next day in town after they sold their cattle. They have to transport the cattle through the water because there are no roads or ferries to the island.  If you stay on the island you will be transported to the lodge in a boat.

On my trip to the area I stayed on the mainland in a beautiful hotel called Soi Safari Lodge. I enjoyed my stay there. I also stayed in another area hotel at Lake Bogoria called Lake Bogoria Spa. I will write more about these two hotels later and show you some of the scenes around both of them.  So please come back soon.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday.