Sometime in 2013, I went to Kenya for the first time. It was an exciting trip. The plan was to go on Safaris then end up on the coast.
I
watched a film called 'The Ghost and the Darkness' recently and a flash
of the Tsavo eaters story came back. I remembered that this was
mentioned by Amani, our tour guide, at one of the parks but I don't know
if I paid much attention to that story. This was a reminder that I hadn't written
about my 2013 Kenya trip.
On the day we were to fly out of Abuja, we were sitting at the airport waiting for our flight when we saw the news of the West gate mall attack break. As frightening as it was, we were not going to change plans.
When we got to Nairobi, I stayed with my uncle and his family for 2 days in before leaving on Safaris.
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| It's been 5 years, my cousins are all grown up now |
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| West gate mall was still burning, my uncle took us by |
While in Nairobi, we visited the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trusts Orphan Project then we went to the Giraffe centre
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| These baby elephants are rescued orphans whose parents were killed from poaching. They are raised here |
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| Me, I was not going to kiss a giraffe |
Our guide picked us from my uncle's and off we went. We went to three national parks - Amboseli, Tsavo East and Tsavo West. We started with Amboseli.
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| This smile looks so fake...but I was excited to start the game drive |
We saw so many elephants and I concluded at some point that elephants looked really sad
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| This buffalo |
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| We spent the whole day |
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| Amani, our wonderful guide |
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| Hippos |
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| Sunset |
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| Where we stayed |
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| The swanky looking pool |
We saw a lion going for the kill and this is the memory I have of that moment. We are all so consumed by capturing moments on camera that we hardly take it in. We captured the people instead of the lion as a reminder
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| A view of mount Kilimanjaro from our lodge |
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| A lioness |
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| Sunrise |
We parted ways with Amani after Tsavo West. He dropped us at the ferry terminal to go to Mombasa.
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| On the ferry |
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| This was a nice was to welcome us |
We stayed in a villa called Kinondo Poa in Diani. It was a lovely place owned by an older Italian couple. We loved the place, it was quiet and relaxing. After the game drives finding animals, this was a great place to come to. It was laid back, had beaches and great food.
Once you walk out of the property, you would be on the beach...
The next day we got more adventurous. We wandered about and found a nice spot for food then I went on a dhow for the first time.
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| Look at how nicely aligned these camels are |
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| Food has always made me happy |
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| I have to show you the dish properly! Twas a seafood mix |
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| Me on the dhow |
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| Sun kissed |
After the relaxing time at Kinondo Poa, we moved to Mombasa old town.
Around Mombasa old town...
Of course Fort Jesus was a place to see.
It is a UNESCO heritage site and is proof of the first successful attempt by a Western power to establish influence over the Indian ocean trade. This place was also captured and recaptured at least nine times...
We flew from Mombasa back to Abuja with such pleasant memories of Kenya.
Photo credit - JB
Info on Fort Jesus - Wikipedia
Everything look eye-catching..except err the food. Doesn't appear tasty or filling enough. But that's for you to confirm. Sad all of my Kenyan trips have been a boring routine of home/hotel to some work related spot. The only time i had some fun was a 2011 concert in Eldoret. I hope to change that in November
ReplyDeleteYou know our taste in food differs, I will leave it at that. Have fun when next you are in Kenya, there is a lot to do. Go zip lining or do something fun.
DeleteWow! Would love to visit Kenya someday
ReplyDeleteYou should if you have the chance. There is quite a bit to do.
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