Kenya : Day Six : Ol Pejeta to Meru (Rhino River Camp)

The Ol Pejeta Conservancy had certainly supplied us with plenty of game viewings, together with interesting ancillary visits. However today we were to drive to the relatively close Meru National Park, very much unspoiled by tourism, and made famous by Joy Adamson and Elsa The Lioness, through Joy's book, 'Born Free'.

On leaving the Conservancy we were soon back in Nanyuki Town, passing a roadside advert (camera icon) featuring the legendary Ethiopian distance runner, Haile Gebrselassie - advertising Johnnie Walker whisky! At this point we were again due to cross the Equator (camera icon), and this time stopped off by a roadside vendor, who was demonstrating the effect of the Coriolis force. As you will probably have heard, when water drains out of a sink or bath in the southern hemisphere, it rotates clockwise, but in the northern hemisphere it rotates counter-clockwise (due to the Coriolis force caused by the earth's rotation). But what happens close to the Equator itself?

     

His apparatus consisted of a small bowl, with a drain hole in the bottom, with a match floating on the water, to show the direction of rotation (camera icon), above. Amazingly, about ten yards south of the equator the match did indeed rotate clockwise, and counter-clockwise, ten yards north. Bang on the Equator the water poured out in a straight line, with no rotation (camera icon), above.

Off the top of my head (possessing, as I do, a Cambridge University doctorate in Physical Sciences), I would have thought that you would need to be many miles - not yards - either side of the Equator for this very small force to have a discernible effect.

Indeed every report I have read of this demonstration (which is found all over the world, on the equatorial line) claims that it is a scam, brought about by how the demonstrator pours the water into the bowl. Maybe, maybe not. I'll have to do the calculations some time.

On from Nanyuki, on good roads, and through beautiful scenery, with some remarkably varied buildings to be seen along the way (camera icon), (camera icon), opposite, and street scenes (camera icon) (camera icon) below.

     

An interesting feature of our drive was our driver's right earlobe (camera icon), opposite, which wasn't just pierced, but perforated and stretched!

Our first night's stay in Meru was at Rhino River Camp, a very luxuriously appointed (tented) camp (camera icon), each tent having a separate living area on a contiguous piece of decking (camera icon) below. There was also a delightful swimming pool, that we took immediate advantage of (camera icon) below.

     

In the late afternoon a trip was planned to the nearby caldera (a cauldron-shaped volcanic feature), high up on the hill.

Having been a mountain biker in my youth, I elected to ride there (camera icon), instead of taking the car, although most of the ensuing 45 minutes was spent yelling 'Pole Pole' (Slow!) to my accompanying, and very much younger, Kenyan guide, Benson.

Once I got there, the view from the top was quite dramatic, enlivened as it was by the presence of a large herd of cattle (camera icon).

Prior to our evening meal, we relaxed with a drink or two on the deck, being entertained by a number of bush babies, which came down to feed from several plates of bananas that had been put out for them (camera icon).

The meal itself was intended to be held on the pool deck, but a heavy downpour, just as we were about to sit down caused a change in plan.

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