I am in Kisumu at the shore of Lake Victoria. It’s a pleasant city, almost a garden city with its low density and tree-lined streets. They have their own tiny national park right in the city but I felt that I can miss zebras for one day. Dunga Beach is a fishing village south of…

Makuru lake is a national park with a big lake in the middle. This lake, too, has a rising water level and the resulting dead tree forest in the water. The main entrance road now disappears into the lake, and the ruins of the old reception building are a kilometer away in the lake. Saw…

Makuru is a town west of Naivasha. Modern, with all the amenities, but not especially charming. Too much traffic and too many panhandlers at different degrees of aggressiveness. In one open market I felt actively uncomfortable, people were staring and calling me names (mzungu, white guy). But in most other places people were they usual…

Lake Naivasha keeps growing. Rainwater has raised the water level until several lakes joined, and several buildings are now under water. Dead trees rise from the water, and birds perch on each dead branch like in a Hitchcock movie. Hippos wait for the evening, and the boats must not come near because hippos are vegetarian,…

Hell’s Gate is a national park near Naivasha without any predators. That means you don’t need the protection of a safari vehicle, a bicycle works. They rent them out at the park entrance. It’s a hot, dusty, and hilly ride but the sights are fantastic and you get really close to zebras and other animals.…

Premium class means a sear like in business class – a motorized seat that can go all flat, a little desk and storage, and a large screen with (Amazon) movies. I have never seen one of those that rotates the entire unit, so you can face the window or another passenger. Luxury. It terminates outside…

Mombasa might be a modern city but just a few km outside people lice in small villages, in houses made of a kind of wicker frame filled in with mud. I had a local guide who grew up there and took me into people’s homes and “pubs”. They have a kind of local moonshine that…

Well, people don’t come here for the sights. Mombasa isn’t Paris. But it’s an almost spotlessly clean city, and they do have a late 16th-century fort, Fort Jesus, built by the Portuguese for the slave trade, until the Omanis came and did their usual thing and really turbocharged the slave trade. North of Fort Jesus…