Tips for Visiting Kenya
I thought I would share some tips. First, I would plan a good year in advance and find a great tour company to work with. We booked with Charlie Chapman of Ololo Safaris. He spoke many times on the phone, came up with a tour based on our preferences and budget, and was super knowledgeable. We stayed at his family's lodge for the first two nights and visited Nairobi National Park. This park has so many animals, and it's next to the city with the skyline in the background.
Here we witnessed two rhinos fighting and saw Lions and giraffes just after landing on the way to the lodge!
We stayed in Lake Nakuru and met our family from California here, still with our safari guide from Ololo, and did some Game drives here. After a couple of days, we drove to the Masai Mara, which is a must, and actually, I really enjoyed the drive; it went south over a high plain that had a cooler climate and lots of agriculture.
Dinner by candlelight with my Dad.
After our 3 nights in the Maasai Mara, we headed back to Nairobi, and we flew. I actually was a little nervous in these tiny planes, but it was fun and only 45 minutes! compared to 4-5 hours.
We stayed the last night in an Airbnb in Karen, a green and wealthy area of the city with cafes and a nice mall. Of course, Kenya also has struggles and has a large slum, Kibera you can see close to the city. It still has rural to urban migration of folks moving to the capital to find work. Kenya has a great vibe with wonderful people. Reading between the lines, a better government is needed. China is also heavily investing in building railways and buildings, but again mixed feelings on this from the people.
The lodge serves wonderful international food, but one evening I asked the chefs if they could share their home food with us, and they made Beef Stew, greens, and ugali (like a grit cake). It was wonderful. I will always remember how happy they were saying that this is our food. Kenya has about 42 tribes, each with their own food and culture, and as you chat to folks around the country, they are happy to share.
Superb Starlings were abundant around Ololo Lodge and had a lovely song. Be careful, they will join you for lunch and try and share your food!
Some of the lovely staff at the lodge, the lodge also has its own farm, my son loved visiting the animals and making jokes with the farmers.
Close to the lodge is the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, famous for looking after orphaned elephants and its conservation efforts; it's well worth a visit. Kenya, as a country, has done a great job reducing poaching and caring for its wild animals; in fact, moving many to the Maasai Mara to live and be protected. Tourism is a huge part of the economy. However, there are fears of late that the Maasai Mara could get overdeveloped with too many hotels. There is also a giraffe center in Nairobi, which we didn't visit, but it's highly recommended.
After visiting the Nairbori, we headed North to stay at Lake Nakuru and stopped at Lake Naivasha on the way so Jasmine and I could go horseback riding. We did this at Santuary farm. This was such a great experience; the animals are relaxed when you get close to them on a horse. The place has a restaurant, and literally Zebras roam around! The stables were caring for an orphaned Zebra, Zebie, that they hoped to introduce back to the wild herd.
Here you can also take a boat ride on Lake Navaisha and see Hippos and Sea eagles. Local fishermen fish by the shore, it's apparently not allowed, and sometimes they get killed by hippos.
In the Maasai Mara, we changed vehicles and had a new guide, Caleb, from the Maasai tribe, and stayed at Enkewa camp. This is a great option as it's small and every time we went out we never had many cars with us looking at wildlife, in fact sometimes we were the only ones. The tents are lovely, in fact, they are more like hotel rooms and have showers! The staff were great and learnt a lot about Maasai culture. They are one of the many tribes in Kenya and are traditionally nomadic or semi-nomadic shepherds, having goats and cows. They often have multiple wives and are catholic, they eat ugali for breakfast, lots of fresh milk, and beef. We got to visit a village, and my son loved this. These cultural experiences are so powerful in teaching us that there are many ways to live and to be grateful for what we have. In this village, there was no electricity or running water. In fact, many bathe and drink from local streams, and I learnt from Janet, who works at Enkewa camp, that polio is still an issue and other water-borne illnesses. She raises money to bring filters to her village.
You can learn more below and donate!
In the mornings, you get up before sunrise and head out to look for animals. One morning, we saw a wildebeest crossing over the Mara River and had breakfast. It was amazing! Below us were hippos and crocodiles.
Wildebest crossing! We saw so many of them, and they make a funny sound; they like to hang out with zebras as they have better eyesight for spotting predators. These sounds will always be in my memory, and the Lion roaring at night from the camp. It was hard to sleep the first night, but Maasai folks are watching, and they are not scared of lions at all!
After our 3 nights in the Maasai Mara, we headed back to Nairobi, and we flew. I actually was a little nervous in these tiny planes, but it was fun and only 45 minutes! compared to 4-5 hours.
Once we reached Nairobi, we headed to Westlands, where we were planning to stay; it's a cool up-and-coming area with modern apartments. But there had been protests the week before in the city center, so we decided not to. But I really wanted to have more local food, so we went to Nana Swahili Restaurant. I so enjoyed the fried fish and ugali; we were lucky that Ololo Lodge let their driver, James, drive us, and he is from a lake, and this was his favorite meal. Again, the exchange of food and culture is so special.
I truly have a heart for this country and know it will find a great future.
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