29th Aug 10 , Kwaheri Kenya!

Back to Nairobi. Sabrina & Shilpa go shopping before heading back to London & Bombay resp.

Our next few days are filled with lunch's, dinners , meeting friends with Coffee breaks anytime!

Rakhi is celebrated & Pannag's Bday party happens in style with thoda oriya tradition & thoda angrez celebrations!  Rinnie has once again created magic in the kitchen with the cake & the super chinese dishes,  yummmmy!

Time for us to buy some very typical Kenyan stuff before we start to pack for Bombay! Shopping ahoy!

The local Masai Market , baap re baap , one can get lost here . Be warned , just carry as much cash as you would want to spend , apart from that nothing. Be a part of the crowd. Don't hurry , this place is spread over a large area & one should walk around before you begin to haggle( like a real professional)  & get the best deal !Typical Fashion street scene , was fun! And then there is buy buy buy from Westgate & The Village ! 

Stayed here for so long but still couldn't go to Safari Park Hotel for their famous Cat Show. The meal & the Night Out at Carnivore Restaurant was majorly jinxed. Have to go back just to visit these 2 places , including the rest which I have ear marked already ! Naivasha Lake, Amboselli & Mombasa, are the Safari's for our next trip!

Time to say ,Kwaheri(Alvida) Kenya , till we meet again !

Highlights :

Make sure to take Malaria medication course before / during your trip to Kenya ( it's a good idea) !

Insect repellent a Must for yr Safari!

If you have enough time in hand , club Kenya with Tanzania !

 

Serena Sweetwaters Tented Camps , on the plains of Mt.Kenya!

This is by far, the shortest distance we have travelled & reach Sweetwaters within 1½  hours, where we are welcomed, apart from the Warthogs , the endangered Grevy's Zebra. It's a lovely drive within this reserve ,with the clouds pondering , whether they should send the tropical shower now or later!!!

 

On our way to The Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary , we spot Waterbucks, Thompson's Gazelle , Storks & Elephants , who tried very hard to make sure they wouldn't be seen, still wondering , why????

 

The sanctuary which opened in 1993 in a negotiated agreement between the Ol Pejeta Conservancy, the Kenya Wildlife Service & Jane Goodall Institute , receives and provides lifelong refuge to orphaned and abused chimpanzees. Was interesting to note how they had made a family of their own & 2 groups lived in 2 different part of the sanctuary. Inke bhi family bondings ka jawaab nahin!

 

The showers arrive & we take off to the Camp. These tents are different from Masai , but as cute , and each tent overlooks the waterhole , which is smack in the centre of this extensive property. The restaurant, complete with French windows , makes for an interesting dining area, where we have meals while watching the animals walk around the waterhole or have the stork , trying very hard to walk in through the windows and join us for some fancy food!!! :-) And the pleasure of having a drink & playing scrabble at the Bar n lounge , crowding around the blazing fire place ! Nor to forget, this place has the best bakery , super cakes & breads of all kinds!!!

 

We were tired, else would have definitely gone for the Night game drive , and  spied on the wild ones while they went about on their all night long partying!! Ahem !

 

While the rest of our gang catch up their Beauty Sleep , Sabrina, Mom & I , take off in the early hours, on a wild Goose chase of spotting a Lion & realize we are not the only ones , who are on the same trail!! And the irony , none of us spot the Lion !! sighhhhhh Nevermind that , we spot the Oryx, White & Black Rhino, Grants Gazelle, Baboons,Imphala, guinea Fowls and other birds. Its time to say Hello to the now tame Baraka ( means , Blessings in Swahili) , the first rhino to be born in the wild ( same date as Sabrina!! ) on Ol Pejeta Conservancy , who is became blind due to an eye infection & cataract .

 

It's back to the Camp & we are welcomed by the Reticulated Giraffe , Zebra , Gazelle, Stork , all enjoying a nice cool drink at their watering hole ….. wonder,  if the Camp adds something to this water ??? !!! hummm

 

Excitement of a trip is enhanced when something out of the ordinary happens! A situation which will either upset you or you will just become a part of the situation , enjoying the moment! :-)

 

Unimaginable is the height of coincidence's, two flats within half hour. The first, at the camp itself , where we fool around & while away our time , taking random pictures , saying hello to the Camels !! The second is , thank the lord , right infront of Lion Hill Lodge. While the driver takes off to the nearest Gas station to repair the Tyre ( he now has 2 flats to repair) , we walk into this small , but sweet local lodge , for a cuppa chai. Spot a pool table & we have to have a game , while listening to some lovely music! The adventure does not stop there. About half hour from home , outskirts of Nairobi , the Van stalls & comes to a complete standstill! A hunt for a mechanic begins , while we draw pictures on the rain fogged windows , have a discussion on religion n spirituality & listen to "Dil toh bachha hai ji" , again n again , since this is Pannag's favourite song these days! !

 

The 4 hour journey has taken us around 6 hrs, but does not dampen our spirits & we are ready to make some exotic dinner once we reach home ! Live the Moment , Enjoy home cooked food !!

 

Highlights:

 

One of Mt Kenya region's best kept secrets and originally the home of famed multi-millionaire, Adnan Khashoggi, Ol Pejeta House is a beautiful private house, inside within the pristine calm of the Ol Pejeta Conservancy. And its Love at first sight for all of us . It's a toss between buying this place and spending atleast a week here ……… we are still contemplating ……………

Mount Kenya @ 5199 m, Kenya's highest peak.

Sarova Lion Hill Lodge & Lake Nakuru ko Sayonara bolte hue, we head towards Serena Mountain Lodge, driving the scenic route of lush green fields on either side of the road, located at 2,134 metres above sea level..

 

If hungers pangs hadn't hit all of us at Nyahururu Thomson Falls (7800 feet above the sea)  , we would have reached our destination in 3 hours instead of 5 hours! And so, we descend on Thomson Falls Lodge, eating the tastiest sandwitches , french fries & drinking masala chai , while we chat and watch the thundering waterfall in this serene & picturesque stretch!

 

We totally love Mt. Lodge. It's raised on stilts , a very Machan kind of feel , with one side of the lodge facing its own water hole. Log panelled cabin style rooms ,with its own balcony and the décor consisting of the most interesting pieces including mounted animal heads & the elephant Tusk pair ,which is truly the Piece de resistance! The tunnel leading to a small cabin, a few meters away from the water hole , where one can shoot some super photographs of the animals , who you feel are at an arms length.

 

It is in this tranquil surrounding that we put our feet up , chill , relax . Eating the tastiest preparation ( full marks to the Chefs here ) & drinking some interesting potions created by the bartender!

 

Water hole attracts Wild Buffalo's, Bushbucks . The high point however, was watching , first a few Tuskers , followed by an entire heard of adults, young ones & babies around the water hole .An absolute theatrical show!

 

Its time to move on & towards Sweetwaters , with a quick dekho at all the activities on the Equator line !

 

Highlights:

 

Watch out for the Monkeys. They shall sneak in and ransack your room in minutes if you leave the balcony door open OR they could well make your heart beat stop for a second by being the first face that you see staring at you through the windows , like it happened to Sabrina!!;-)

 

Sabrina ticked a list of animals for the Wake up calls, to view visiting animals at the waterhole during night time , but we were not woken up even once!!! Guess they realized we needed our beauty sleep !!

 

The bombardment of hailstones , 2 minutes after we had touched ground, due to which we had to rush inside Thomson Falls Lodge, instead of walking all the way towards the Falls!!  What an encounter ……… encounter of the stony ice kind!! :-)

Lake Nakuru, Rift Valley Soda Lake !

It's alvida to Masai Mara , where one can be stuck in a traffic jam of all the Vans , moving in the same direction , to spot the same animal , which has been relayed to most , if one gets stuck in a water bed of real soft soil!!! J

Mom & Shilpa , having spent a relaxed night at Masai , drive through the mostly bumpy & dusty roads of the Masai region towards Lake Nakuru, early morning . Whereas , I spend the night at home & drive down the scenic road towards Lake Nakuru , with Pannag , Rinnie & Sabrina , stopping at one of the points where one can see a super view of the Rift Valley Drop!

Although, we time it such , that both vehicles reach Sarova Lion Hill Lodge , at approximately the same time , it does not happen . While we take about 3 hours , the other vehicle takes 8 hours to reach , which normally takes about 5 hours!!! Bad roads coupled with a vehicle that couldn't pick up speed when it hit the good road , was a killer ! To say that both were exhausted beyond compare is an understatement ! This however did not stop Shilpa & Sabrina to take off on a game drive !:-)

While they drove along side a Lioness on an evening stroll , I decided to go to the Spa & pamper myself , & the rest of the gang decided to just watch the Tropical Rains from the room , while having some typical Kenyan chai & coffee!!

The property has a super locale , and the Bartender made the exact drink I wanted …. Good man! The entertainment of the local dancers was fun & there were enough people who joined them …. A real fun evening !

Driving around this small reserve surrounded by Yellow Acacia woodlands, and a lush green scenic view including the grassland in parts is a pleasure. Baboon Cliff has the entire baboon clan lazing around. The animals, roaming around at a nice easy pace , all over this small rich reserve. We spot the white Rhino , bat eared Fox, black crowned Crane , Colobus monkey, Zebra , Wild buffalo , Thompson gazelle , yellow billed Stork , and other small birds !

The highlight of this Reserve are the Flamingo's around the Lake, and giving them company are the huge Marabou stork , sea gulls & ducks! The stench here totally knocks you over , ewwwwww!!! However , the allure of the Flamingoes , dotted all around this lake , like specks of pink & white ornamental beads , their reflection on the lake , the elegance of their unified flight , is what suppresses the stench and lets all your other senses take over! SpecTacular!!!

Highlights:

The black & white fury dapper , appearance of the impressive Colobus monkey ! Wish he had stayed just a wee bit longer for us to take some better pictures of him , or he had come with rest of his family in tow……..

Beware of the king kong killer Mosquitoes , they will make your life miserable . Be well prepared by sunset, before they strike ! Repellents…………… a must in your suitcase!

The Flamingo's when they arrive at lake Nakuru or the young ones are White in colour , it's the algae that is their diet , which gives them this super pink colour! Its all depends on what one eats … your Diet is the key to Looking Good!!! ;-)