Blogs from Kenya, Africa - page 6

We have had a fabulous day today seeing our first hippos! Following a tasty breakfast at Sweetwaters, we left our camp at 8 am for our long drive to Lake Naivasha. We first stopped at the equator sign in the Ol Pejeta Conservancy for photos, then we continued on our way, driving on unpaved, extremely bumpy roads. Susan and I were in the back of the jeep today, which I think is a bit worse than the other seats over bumps. We passed greenhouses (Kenya exports a lot of flowers, including roses, which are grown in greenhouses), open air markets, and little and big towns. The scenery changed a lot over the 5 or so hour drive, sometimes flat and arid, sometimes more hilly and green. We passed countless herds of cattle, some quite large, and ... read more

We were awoken at 5:30 this morning by an elephant shaking the tree right in front of our tent - what a cool way to wake up! We lounged in bed for a bit, then later enjoyed breakfast (we both had a very nice breakfast plate with fried potatoes, mushrooms, and two small very light pancakes - quite thin, and very tasty) along with fresh fruit. Susan had sausage and bacon with hers. We packed up and left Samburu at 8:30 for the drive south to the Ol Pejeta conservancy. We went through much of the same area as we had driving down from Nairobi, but for some reason it seemed quite different. It was a beautiful, very clear day, and we had a good view of Mount Kenya. At the start it was was flat ... read more

Greetings from the Samburu Game Reserve! We have had a fantastic first game drive. Our day started quite early. After a very nice breakfast in our hotel, we headed out at 7:30 for the long drive to the Samburu Game Reserve. We had a couple of stops, the first for a short break just outside Karatina for a bathroom break and shopping at the “curio shop“ if we wanted, and a walk in the adjacent gardens. We didn’t think we would buy anything, but we ended up getting a few things (one a batik print which I’ll get framed and put in my home office). The so-called curio shop is a cooperative selling many different locally made handicrafts. The drive from Nairobi to Samburu was very bumpy! There was a lot of roadwork going on, plus ... read more

Tanya always wanted to stay at this place. Yes, it's a little girl dream place. Slight issues....beside the hefty price, normal bookings need to be made a minimum of 18 months ahead. This is obviously pre-covid issue. So Covid came, and a room was available on the right day...one room left two months before the big day! So we booked! Little would Tanya or I be aware that 48 hours before our flight from Dubai to Nairobi, Tanya tested positive to Covid! No more plane, welcome 10 days isolation! The good news with solid places such as the Giraffe Manor...they have learn to work with a flexible mind. We knew we were coming...it would just be a little later. Actually, it ended being exactly two weeks behind the big day. They have 12 rooms, and on ... read more

We got up early after a great evening at the Carnivore restaurant in Nairobi where we all got to eat Crocodile, Ostrich and Bulls testicles. Then of course there was sausage, lamb, pork, ribs, beef, turkey and chicken. All of which were BBQ’d to perfection and by the end of it we were stuffed and poor Zac was practically falling asleep at the table. The next morning we had to get up early to take Kate, Ben and Zac to get their flight which they did without any issues. We then picked up Dan and Toby for the start of Phase 3 and we headed out of Nairobi. The roads were relatively clear and as the sun rose we made headway and then Toby had a turn driving. It would be fair to say Toby was ... read more