Impala Park

Last Sunday Josh and I decided to head down to Impala Park which is the only national park in Kisumu.  Normally we avoid this small park because after you've seen the animals in the Mara or Tsavo roaming free its a little disheartening to see them penned up (I'm never going to be able to go to a zoo again.).

He was cute and let Josh pet him.  Think Buddy wants a new friend?

We went with the goal of petting the cheetahs and getting our picture taken doing so.  Since being able to pet the cheetahs is a very unique thing to this park and to where we currently live, we thought it would be a neat way to send a save the date for the wedding.  It turned out to be a slightly eventful endeavor.  After being led, somewhat sneakingly, into the pen we bent down to pet the male cheetah.  He loved Josh petting his head but did not appreciate me scratching his belly.  He swatted my hand away with his paw.  For all my family out there who are now cringing, there were three armed guards in there with us and he was de-clawed. 

The female cheetah, Alice, was much friendlier than her male counterpart, Festus, allowing both Josh and I to pet her.  Unfortunately though we didn't get any great pictures with her because of the weird angle she was laying at.  Guess Festus will have to be the star of our save the dates! 

The cheetahs we got to pet

Along with the cheetahs we saw lions, a cervial cat, baboons, monkeys, buffalo, and a leopard.  The park recently acquired a rhino but they are currently in the process of constructing a pen for the animal thus viewing is not allowed.  After touring the park we headed to the newly build eco-lodge for lunch.  It was a great treat with good food and a beautiful view of the lake.  I'm not sure we'd pay what we did for it again but I do realize that now and again its nice to splurge. 

A lioness sunbathing in a tree

Overall it was a fun afternoon touring this small gem in our backyard.  Its definitely something we don't do often but was a great way to spend a Sunday morning.