Sodium Chloride like never seen before

I took a bus back to Naivasha, which didn’t drop me off in the same place it did a few weeks, prior. They let me off on the highway where a few Boda Bodas were hanging out (apparently they knew I was coming). I told the guy where I was going and he was trying to charge me ridiculous amounts; I told him I’d pay him 100ksh to bring me just into town so I could get a matatu. He argued with me for a while and we finally agreed that he could either get paid 100 to bring me to a matatu or 200 to bring me to the camp. He decided on the latter; we stopped to get some gas and when we were turning onto the road that would bring us to the camp (in the dark, mind you) the back tire skid out and we almost toppled over. Turned out his back tire went flat and we had to sit on the side of the road, again, IN THE DARK, to wait for a matatu. He kept insisting that I give him more money for his tire; it’s not my fault your tire blew out! I got in the matatu which was decked out in black lights and neon décor, and stayed at Crayfish camp the first night.

I was thoroughly unimpressed and left early in the morning to go back to Fisherman’s where I had stayed a few weeks prior. I then rented a bike and decided to go to Crater Lake. The park was 19 km away, which was fine for about 14km, the last five were extremely sandy and bumpy. I finally arrived, soaked in sweat. The man at the entrance gate gave me a few wondering options; I decided to go for a loop around the park and end up at the lake. I got lost right away; he said to go straight and at the fork go left. There were two paths that veered left so I chose the one that was well traveled. After walking for about ten minutes, I came across two men and asked them if I was on the right path to the Salt Licks (I didn’t actually know what this meant at the time) and, of course, I had chosen the wrong path. They pointed me to a short cut, basically I was to follow some overhead wires to arrive at the right spot (but don’t disturb the Buffalo….ahhhh!). I arrived in an open space filled with Zebras, Impala, Monkeys, and Giraffes. you can get so close to them! At the time, I didn’t realize that this was, indeed, the Salt Lick (no sight, wtf, how should I know!), so I kept walking until I came to a big field with another path. I followed it past cows being herded by the Masai and forests of Acacia trees until I came to an electric fence. YES! The man said to turn right at the fence and follow it to the lake. But, wait…how am I on the outside of the fence? And there’s a huge lake in front of me; is that Lake Naivasha??? How the hell did I end up outside of the park? I walked all the way back to the Giraffes and found a Kenya Wildlife Service car; I asked which direction to the lake and he pointed me in the right direction.

Oh, good, I finally found the right fence (and was on the inside this time) which brought me back to the spot where the paths originally forked….huh???? How am I back at the beginning? I took the path that said “lookout point” and ended up on the top of a hill overlooking the lake. Horray! It only took me two and a half hours to find it. I ran into a California family who told me where the path was to get down to the restaurant. I moseyed on down to find a dock leading out to a floating seating area. When I stepped out, about twenty small birds that looked like sparrows (called Plain Martins) all started flying around me in circles for a solid minute. I really didn’t know what to think about it; but it felt really amazing to be in the center of a little birdie tornado.

The water in the crater is extremely acidic with a pH of 11, causing a lot of algae to grow, coloring the water lime green and drawing in flocks of bright pink flamingos. Also, a ring of Sodium Chloride circles the lake; it’s remarkable to see all of these colors together! I sat at the restaurant and relaxed with a soda and French fries before the 19km bike ride back—exhausted! I read a bit of Obama’s “Dreams From My Father” while hovering down some beef stew and Ugali before passing out in my tent so I could head back to Nairobi in the AM.