Box Lunches

When we headed out on an all-day game drive, the lodges would send along box lunches for our noon meal.  The boxes were lovely - strong cardboard, hotel logo, lots of room and the lunches were, well, interesting!

Inside were: a juice box, apple, banana, slice of pound-type cake (always very dry), yogurt, a wedge of cheese, a hard-cooked egg and a sandwich.  The sandwiches were 3 triangles of white bread, with butter on both sides, and one thin slice of a salami type meat.  No mustard - no mayo - no lettuce - none of the condiments with which we would build a sandwich.  The first couple of days it wasn't too bad but after day 8 - well, I'd had enough!  Only once did we get some celery and carrot sticks.  And even more surprising - Bob and Clarence got the very same lunches on their Kilimanjaro hike!!  There was always plenty to eat and Chris always collected the leftovers to share with the carwash boys or other employees.  The first day, the 7 boxes were stacked in 2 large white shopping type plastic bags and Chris made sure we kept those bags to reuse because not every lodge would have bags to put the boxes in so they would ride safely in the vehicle.  I definitely appreciate the way we make sandwiches at home now!!

Let's Back Up -

I knew it would happen!  I skipped over part of our drive from Samburu to Lake Nakuru - so today we are going back to catch up.  This place deserves a post!

This town is at 2360 ft. in elevation, which makes it one of the highest towns in Kenya.  And it's famous because most of the great Kenyan long distance runners (you know, the ones who win at the Olympics all the time!) come here to train.  High up, dry, and hot, it makes a great place for camps and practice runs.

It is also the home of Thompson Falls, named after a man who walked from Mombasa to Lake Victoria (maybe 500 miles?) in the 1880's.

We had our lunch at a picnic table in a park beside the falls.  It was very well kept with plants and a lodge for guests.

And I must tell you about the famous box lunches!!  We had these several times while we travelled from one park to another - and they were always supplied by the hotel and they were pretty much the same every. single. day.

Inside: juice box, yogurt, bottle of water, apple, banana,  (dry) cupcake, hard-cooked egg, 2 pieces of roast chicken, and a sandwich - unlike any other sandwich we've every seen!

Picture this:   3 slices of white bread + butter on 4 or sometimes 5 sides of the bread + 1 thin slice of salami or ham = your sandwich.  A few times we had a wedge of foil-wrapped cheese and one day we hit the jackpot with 2 carrot sticks and 2 wedges of cucumber.  It was amazing but it was food and we didn't starve.  We usually had some leftovers and Chris always collected them in one box and shared them with the carwash boys or the attendants at a shop we might pass.  They were always accepted and I was glad to know that food wasn't being wasted.

There was a very simple children's playground at this park -

and then this incredible sign hanging in the trees!  I have never seen a place where you had to pay to play on a playground in a park.  Needless to say, there were no children on the equipment but it really was a tourist park and perhaps there were no children there that day.  It made us sad to think that some kids might not be able to play here.

Back on the road, we were able to get a picture of a donkey cart.  There are almost no pickup trucks and so much hauling in Africa is done this way.

Next up - off to the Masai Mara - my favourite park!