Before going to The Ark, people from many different tour groups meet at The Aberdare Country Club for lunch. The terraced grounds around the Clubhouse are ablaze in brilliantly colored bougainvillea. Peacocks strut about these manicured lawns. It was a perfect afternoon to relax on the large veranda and watch a few lazy clouds drift on an azure sky.

I was still on my own today. I strolled the grounds after lunch and noticed that on the fairways below, warthog families with tails erect, were dashing about as though being chased by some unseen menace.

Everybody checked their bags at the club. You are allowed only an overnight bag at the Ark. Everyone was litterally packed onto little school buses. When all of the seats were full, MORE passengers were boarded one at a time to lower and use the "jumpseats" that folded out into the aisle. It was cramped with no consideration given to emergency evacuation.

We made the 30 minute drive up to The Ark in the cramped little buses followed by a large bus carrying only the two passengers there was no room for on the little buses. This big empty bus did not escape the attention of the passengers, especially those in the jumpseats. I had a window seat and considered it all part of the adventure.

The Ark is nestled in the thickly forested Aberdare National Park where the animals come to you.

The buses pulled into a clearing in the forest and we piled out into what seemed like the middle of nowhere. There was a gate on one end of the clearing and we were told that we would be crossing a footbridge to the Ark. Because of the weght of so many people crossing the bridge at once, we were instructed how to space ourselves and not to stop until we reached the lodge. Here we are crossing the bridge through the forest to reach the aptly named "ARK".

When we reached the Main Lounge we found it dominated by a huge stone fire place that had a roaring fire waiting for us. All the public areas are very spacious and comfortable. The bedrooms on the other hand are quite spartan with pressed board walls and only latches on the doors so they can only be locked while you are inside.

There are four viewing levels at The Ark: some behind glass, some open air, some high above, some right at ground level. On my day there, Cape Buffalo spent most of the day at the watering hole and salt-lick.

At night guests are alerted if any of the "Big Five" come to the watering hole by buzzers in the rooms. I had taken a nap in the afternoon and messed up the bed. I did not notice that it had been turned down when I returned after dinner. The light switch was across the room, so when I climbed into bed in the dark and my bottom hit something warm and pulsating, I nearly jumped out of my skin trying to get away from it. I had no idea what kind of beastie had crawled into my bed while I was at dinner. After what seemed like an eternity trying to find the light switch, I turned to see what creature had challenged me for my bed. Lying there in the middle of the sheets was a hot water bottle. I discovered the next morning that I was not the only one who was frightened by this unexpected amenity.

Just before dawn the buzzer in my room sounded alerting me that an endangered black rhino mother with her offspring was at the salt lick. Once again I jumped jout of bed, this time joining pajama clad guests to get a few photos of this magnificent beast.

After breakfast, we piled back into the little buses for the journey back to the Country Club where I was met by another driver, John, two young ladies from California, Chris and Jamie, and a seasoned safari veteran of twenty years named Richard from upstate New York. We would spend the next several days together.

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