Kenya

I set off on a Eurofly charter flight from Malpensa. I rarely fly on charter planes, but not by my own choice. The Boeing 767 reaches Mombasa after about six hours and an Avis car is waiting for me. Given the place, I couldn't expect a brand-new car, and indeed that's how it was: the car was ancient and the tyres super worn. Thank goodness, when I asked to have at least a couple replaced, they obliged, though I lost three hours that way. I'd brought my two-person Canadian tent, which then proved useful, just so as not to sleep in the car. I set off at once on my own towards Amboseli National Park, which was my main destination. The most important highway in all of Kenya, that is the Mombasa-Nairobi road, was being rebuilt, and the detour road beside it was all dust and holes you could fit a whole car into, at a speed of no more than 20 km an hour.

The fact is that the estimated 300 km to be covered in four hours took two days instead. At a certain point, exhausted also from the flight, I stopped at a campsite that also had bungalows. Having pitched my tent, I then slept there. I needed a bit of company, so I made friends with the guy on reception, who told me it had been years since he'd taken a few days off. So when I asked if he'd come up with me for four days, he gladly accepted, naturally after asking his boss and his wife. I was really lucky to have his company. At a certain point of the second day, as per the map, I turned left towards Tanzania and the park, but as we cover the km, the road becomes narrower and narrower, until it becomes a track. Well! At one point I was even afraid I'd taken the wrong road; the Masai on foot made me realise we were lost in the middle of nowhere.

That's where my friend's company was essential. At a certain point, so as not to camp in the middle of nowhere, we turned to a place down there in the distance where we then discovered the camp.

With a little mist here and there, the atmosphere is dreamlike. We drive into Amboseli from the east gate, paying a good few American dollars, and start our safari. The roads are fairly badly kept, with big protruding stones that seem put there out of spite. There are plenty of animals: zebras, giraffes, elephants, vultures and lions too.

Here there isn't much choice of where to sleep: inside the park you either stay in five-star hotels or you sleep in a tent. We paid it a visit but also came away quickly. That night, again, I slept in the tent and he in the car. I was a bit scared; you never know with the hyenas at night.

After the fine safari we exit on the opposite side of the park and I get rid of all the things I'd brought in my suitcase from Italy to give away and swap, like used shoes and clothes. They are very happy to have these things. The only thing that disappointed me about Amboseli is that inside it you sometimes see the Masai grazing their cattle, with the elephants two steps away. How awful!

We head back towards Mombasa and the next day I take my friend home, happy and satisfied with the short holiday he'd had. We say goodbye and I carry on alone into Tsavo East National Park.

Here too the entrance price is very high; anyway I'm very happy to finally be here. Here I witness an attack by a lioness lasting two hours against an adult buffalo; the final result 1-0 for the lioness. The strange thing is that as soon as the buffalo was brought down the lioness went away and I couldn't understand why, but shortly after I realised she'd gone to call her three cubs, who feasted on fresh steaks.

Further on I meet a mother warthog with the little warthogs, too cute, impalas, gazelles, zebras and giraffes galore.

In the river you glimpse the crocodiles and the hippos; the collection is by now almost complete.

I'm now near the exit of the park. Lucio Battisti keeps me company with his songs; in fact I'd brought his cassette from Italy. The road is always wretched, full of holes and made of dirt.

As I go on I see more and more houses of local black people until I reach Malindi.

And I join the highway that goes south towards Mombasa.

I stop for the night near Mombasa, in a nice resort with bungalow, pool and beach; after sleeping in a tent, a peaceful night was needed.

My Canadian tent, which I'd had for many years and repaired a few times, I decided to swap on the beach with a black man; it would surely have lived many more years. In exchange I received a few little animals carved in wood and an empty ostrich egg.

The next day, a 767 Eurofly flight to Milan.

Bye bye