As already described, the objective of staying on Mfangano Island is relaxation, either within its grounds, fronting on to the lake (), privately within one's cottage, in the comfortably furnished sitting room (), below, or in its delightful pool (), below. It is also possible to take a boat trip out on the lake (), opposite.

     

Numerous bird species inhabit the area of the camp, including some colourful starlings, (), below, a hadada ibis (which unfortunately tends to stir rather early in the morning, emitting loud and extremely raucous cries) (), below, and a hammerkop (literally 'hammerhead', for obvious reasons) (), opposite.

     

I'm not actually all that into relaxing - not for very long anyway, so I decided to take a walk outside the area of the lodge, to a nearby fishing village. Along the way it was fascinating to watch young men catching fish by the traditional method of standing in the water and spearing them, and one of these proudly displayed his catch to me ().

While the village was still some distance away (), I was approached by two young men who engaged me in conversation, whilst displaying quite an interest in my watch, and invited me to the village. Prudently, I decided instead to retrace my footsteps, only to be followed all the way by the two. Carrying, as I always do, a Swiss Army Knife, with a sizable blade, I nonchalantly whittled away at a stick, making its presence quite obvious.

Having survived this episode it was then time to fly back to Nairobi, and then on, by road, to our second lake destination, Lake Naivasha, where we were to stay at the iconic Loldia House. The route was along quite bad roads, with numerous totally lunatic drivers (), but also travelled along the escarpment that borders the Great Rift Valley (), although it is difficult to do justice to its scenic impact with a basic photograph like this.

Along the way our driver (no doubt in collusion with its owners) stopped at a roadside gift stall, perched what looked like quite precariously on the edge of the road (), below. At the shop itself (), below, the vendors were very pleasant, but also very persistent, and it was impossible to get away without making a purchase of some sort.

     

Our destination, Loldia House, was originally established, as Loldia Ranch, by a family who trekked here by ox wagon from South Africa a century ago, and their descendants still own the land today, the idea behind  staying here being to experience the life of Kenya’s early settlers. The current Loldia House (), (), opposite, was built in the Second World War and nestles under ancient acacia trees in a uniquely peaceful setting.

Lush lawns run down to the western shores of Lake Naivasha, the Great Rift Valley’s highest and purest lake. Wild animals roam free here with antelope wandering through the gardens, occasional buffalo, and hippo grazing at night. We greatly looked forward to two nights' further relaxation here.

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