The morning started off ok; an early start and once again driving through the Amboseli park. Not far from the lodge we saw some lions so stopped for a bit to watch. They were near a herd of elephant, who really didn’t like them being so close – some of them went towards the lions, trumpeting, while the others made a tight-knit pack with the babies in the middle. The lions moved off and the elephants went on their way. We drove along a bit and again got to sit in awe while these enormous creatures silently crossed the road around us.
Elephant, and lion. Can you see it?
After that we had another hour driving to the edge of the park, then another hour to the border where one of the guys who was continuing on to Tanzania left us. This was pre-arranged at a rather large shop, so we all had a look around. I got some soapstone dishes and two small paintings for 1000 shillings ($20), after setting aside a banana-bark Africa-shaped wood ornament which I quite liked. (The assistant had been asking 1300 shillings for it - $26.) After I went outside he came with it and asked me what price. I pulled out five US dollar bills, and showed them to him. He muttered, ‘Too low, too low, my boss would kill me’ and wondered off. I quickly emptied my wallet of everything except another two dollars. Sure enough, he came back and asked what my best price was. Again I showed him the five dollars, then opened my wallet and pulled out the two and showed him it was empty. He sort of stood there for a bit and then said quietly, ‘Put this in your bag’ and surreptitiously took the money from me. So I got that for a quarter of his initial price, and the other stuff for about half. I was pretty elated given how stink I felt about the day before, at the Maasai village.
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