You know you are at the airport early when you have to bang on the door to get security to unlock the door for you. Or when you don't have to go through security or immigration because you are at your gate before they even make it to the airport.
We arrived in Nairobi a bit past eight. We purchased our visa ahead of time, that is another story. Clearing immigration was a simple process.
Our guide for the day is Rufus. Our first stop was a local breakfast place, two omelets and a coffee for $5.54. I like Kenya a lot right now.
After our breakfast, Rufus took us to Kobe Tough. Kobe Tough is an organization that helps single women earn a living. Some make beads. These beads are used to make jewelry and other items. Some women make leather products, such as Belts or Duffle Bags. They have 45 women working at Kobe Tough and another 450 that work in their home villages. The women get half the profit that Kobe Tough generates.
We watched the women make the beads from the raw clay to string the finished beads into beautiful jewelry.
From Kobe Tough, it was off to the Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage. We had reservations for eleven a.m. We learned a bit about the issues facing Elephants in Kenya, from poaching to dying of thirst or starvation.
Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage currently has 27 Orphan Elephants, the youngest being ten months old and the oldest being three and a half years old.
Somewhere between three and five years, the Orphan Elephants will be released back into the wild. The release is a very long process where the orphan decides when it is ready.
We had a fantastic lunch at Talisman, great food and service. If you are ever in Nairobi, it is a must, though a bit pricier than our breakfast spot. Our lunch was $90 for three people.
Now for the highlight of the day, a company that makes pavers. Why travel halfway around the world to visit a company that makes pavers?
The process this company uses is unique, they are the only ones in the world making pavers this way. At least that is what they told us.
The company is Gjenge Makers. Rather than me explaining what this company does, allow me to have the founder/owner do it through a short video.
Our guide for the day is Rufus. Our first stop was a local breakfast place, two omelets and a coffee for $5.54. I like Kenya a lot right now.
As you can see, they make these bricks out of discarded plastics and sand. The process was simple. You crush up the plastic, mix it with sand, heat this mixture to 400 degrees, and then press it into bricks before cooling.
You end up with a low-cost brick made from recycled plastic. The bricks are stronger than traditional bricks.
Like I said in my last post. A place no tourist has ever been. Rufus, who lived his whole life in Nairobi, had never heard of Gjenge Makers.
We are spending the night in Nairobi, at the Hemingway House, a lovely hotel on a beautiful ten-acre property. We are in the Meryl Streep Suite.
Tomorrow, we head out into the brush of Kenya for more safari adventures.
After our full day in Nairobi and a very restful night at the Hemingway House, we flew from Wilson Airport to a bush airport in the Maasai Mara National Reserve.
If you are wondering where we are, click on this link and a map will display our location.
For the next three nights, we will be staying at Rekero Camp. During the day we will be doing game drives. We will have a choice of two game drives a day or one long one. A long one could be as long as twelve hours.
The main reason we are in this area, is to see the Wildebeest Migration. In this area, the migration consists of hundreds of thousands of wildebeest crossing the Mara River. Some make it, and some don't.
Rather than me telling you what we saw, I will allow the pictures and videos to do that.
Sex in the Maasai Mara National Reserve. - Video
Tomorrow, we head out into the brush of Kenya for more safari adventures.
Today is our first full day at Rekero Camp. We woke to a beautiful sunrise.
The crossing.
Crocodile versus Wildebeest in the Maasai Mara National Reserve. -Video
Today is our last full day at Rekero. We will be crossing the Mara River and reaching as far south as the Kenya-Tanzania border.
Dessert in the Maasai Mara National Reserve. - Video
Tomorrow (Saturday), we head to Naboisho Camp, where we will be spending three nights.
What is the Buffalo doing in the video? - Video -
A - It just dropped a Duce, and ran out of toilet paper, and is wiping it's butt?
B - Trying to remove ticks and flies from its undercarriage.
C - Self-pleasuring itself.
D - None of the above - write in what you think the Buffalo is doing in the video.
A new day - African Sunrise.
A new day - African Sunrise.
Lions on a Walk About in Naboisho Conservancy - Video
After a beautiful sunrise and breakfast by the pool, we headed to the airstrip for our two bush plane flights to our next adventure.
We circled, on the second attempt, the landing was less hectic. After we landed, the pilot let us know that an ostrich had run onto the airstrip as he was attempting to land.
When arrived at the Lewa Airstrip, we started the Lewa Wilderness Walking Wild. We were met by our three guides, Rakita, Noor, and Boris. All three are from Kenya, both Rakita and Noor are Maasai Warriors and have lived their entire lives in this area. Boris is from the coast of Kenya.
For the next two nights, we will be staying at Lewa Lodge before heading to the Seychelles.
This being the last Safari update, here is a Lodge Summary/Rating for those who don't read the details.
On a scale of 1 - 10
Greystoke Mahale - 10 plus
This being the last Safari update, here is a Lodge Summary/Rating for those who don't read the details.
On a scale of 1 - 10
Greystoke Mahale - 10 plus
Rekero Camp - 10 plus
Naboisho Camp - 10 plus
Lewa Wilderness Walking Wild - 15 or higher
*Lewa Wilderness Lodge - 7.5
*Disclaimer - I do not know the prices of these Lodges. My ratings are assuming they are all the same price. I do believe you get what you pay for. If Lewa Wilderness Lodge is less expensive than the other lodges, their rating would be higher.
We arrived at Lewa Wilderness Lodge at about 10:30 AM.
We were shown around the property. This Lodge is independently owned by a family. The other lodges we have stayed at, have been owned by companies that own many lodges.
The family that owns this lodge is the same family that provided our hiking safari Lewa Wilderness Walking Wild.
The lodge has 12 cottages plus the main house where the family lives when they are here. The other lodges we have stayed in, not just this trip, but all our other safari trips, usually have seven or eight tents/cottages. This means there might be more guests, which might lead to a less intimate experience.
They have a beautiful pool and a nicely furnished gym. This is the first lodge we have stayed at with a gym, a nice plus. The cottage we are in is number nine, it is large with three queen-sized beds. Two on the main floor and one in the loft. I assume this would be used as the family cottage if a family was staying.
Boris will be picking us up at 12:15 for lunch. The family also owns an organic farm a short distance from the lodge. The lodge is 80% sustainable from products from the farm and is working on becoming 100%.
They offer a farm-to-fork lunch experience, which we are having compliments of Piper & Heath!
Before lunch, Boris gave us a tour of the farm, not only do they grow all their fruits and vegetables, but they also raise fish and chickens. They have both chickens for meat and eggs. They even have a meat processing area. We enjoyed chicken sausage for dinner one night while on our hike that came from the farm. The sausage was delicious.
It was now time for lunch. The farm has a well-equipped outside kitchen. Our chef is Harry, assisting is Adam, the son of a friend of the owners and a woman who, I think, is Harry's girlfriend.
They let us know that none of them are trained chefs. All are self-taught and enjoy cooking food for guests. This was great news some of the best meals we have had, have been prepared by self-taught chefs.
They prepared a chef's tasting menu consisting of six courses.
Almost everything we ate came from the farm, even the ceviche, the fish was raised on the farm. The one exception was the tomahawk steaks.
Everything was delicious. There were a few things that showed that Harry and his assistants were not trained chefs and lacked a basic understanding of hygiene when it came to cooking in a professional environment.
Some examples.
As they prepared the food, they would taste it with their fingers and lick their fingers while continuing to prepare the food. There was no washing of their hands.
Harry served us delicious watermelon juice, but there was a little left in the pitcher, rather than pour himself a glass, he removed the lid off the pitcher and drank directly from it.
I have eaten beetle larvae, grasshoppers, crickets, and guinea pig. In Senegal, I shared a large bowl of rice with some children, all of us eating with our hands, the children wiping the snot off their runny noses between handfuls. The licking of the fingers and the drinking from the pitcher did not bother me, but it might not sit well with other guests.
Later in the afternoon, we met our guide for the next few days. His name is Spooky. Spooky has been a guide a Lewa for many years. After doing a hiking safari, being back in a jeep was not that exciting. Spooky did an excellent job. We saw several animals and spent a lot of time at a watering hole watching a herd of elephants drinking.
It was interesting to see the hierarchy and the family dynamics of the elephants. It was fascinating seeing the different elephants jockeying for the best positions at the watering hole depending on their status in the herd.
The sky was getting dark, not from the sun setting, but from the rain clouds forming. We got a little wet, but Spooky did an impressive job getting us back to the lodge as quickly as possible.
Dinner was at 8:00, as I suspect much less intimate, my guess was about 30 plus people sitting at one long table. All the lodges we have stayed at on this trip serve dinner at a single table. It is not buffet or family style. We are served a plated meal. At the other lodges, we ordered off a menu that changed each day. The menus had a choice of two appetizers, three main courses, and a couple of desserts. At Lewa, it is a fixed menu.
This morning we met Spooky at 6:30 AM for a game drive. What a beautiful morning, the sky has cleared from last night's rain.
Peggy noticed a cave on the hillside. Spooky mentioned a leopard lives there. So off we went, but unfortunately, the leopard was not home.
We spent a few hours looking and watching the animals.
While on our way back to the lodge, Spooky surprised us with a bush breakfast. What a treat, but Spooky was not done, he booked us a camel ride back to the camp.
Camel riding in Lewa Wilderness -Video
*Disclaimer - I do not know the prices of these Lodges. My ratings are assuming they are all the same price. I do believe you get what you pay for. If Lewa Wilderness Lodge is less expensive than the other lodges, their rating would be higher.
We arrived at Lewa Wilderness Lodge at about 10:30 AM.
The family that owns this lodge is the same family that provided our hiking safari Lewa Wilderness Walking Wild.
The lodge has 12 cottages plus the main house where the family lives when they are here. The other lodges we have stayed in, not just this trip, but all our other safari trips, usually have seven or eight tents/cottages. This means there might be more guests, which might lead to a less intimate experience.
They have a beautiful pool and a nicely furnished gym. This is the first lodge we have stayed at with a gym, a nice plus. The cottage we are in is number nine, it is large with three queen-sized beds. Two on the main floor and one in the loft. I assume this would be used as the family cottage if a family was staying.
Everything was delicious. There were a few things that showed that Harry and his assistants were not trained chefs and lacked a basic understanding of hygiene when it came to cooking in a professional environment.
Some examples.
As they prepared the food, they would taste it with their fingers and lick their fingers while continuing to prepare the food. There was no washing of their hands.
Harry served us delicious watermelon juice, but there was a little left in the pitcher, rather than pour himself a glass, he removed the lid off the pitcher and drank directly from it.
I have eaten beetle larvae, grasshoppers, crickets, and guinea pig. In Senegal, I shared a large bowl of rice with some children, all of us eating with our hands, the children wiping the snot off their runny noses between handfuls. The licking of the fingers and the drinking from the pitcher did not bother me, but it might not sit well with other guests.
Dinner was at 8:00, as I suspect much less intimate, my guess was about 30 plus people sitting at one long table. All the lodges we have stayed at on this trip serve dinner at a single table. It is not buffet or family style. We are served a plated meal. At the other lodges, we ordered off a menu that changed each day. The menus had a choice of two appetizers, three main courses, and a couple of desserts. At Lewa, it is a fixed menu.
This afternoon we met Spooky at 4:00 PM for our last game drive on this trip.
Lewa Wilderness Lodge Electric Safari Jeep Driven by DUG - Video
We enjoyed our last game drive of the trip. What a difference using the electric jeep vs. the diesel jeep. Without the noise of the diesel engine, you can enjoy the sounds of the birds and animals, plus you can get closer to the animals without alerting them you are there.
We requested dinner early, at 7:15 instead of 8:00. This way we avoided the crowded table. George served us, and everything was perfect.
Lewa Wilderness Lodge Bonus Video - Video
We are now off to the Seychelles, flying back to Nairobi, overnight there, then another flight to the Seychelles before a boat to our final destination.
We got this message today.
"We would like to inform you that the sea conditions have taken a turn. Monday looks very rough and will be a bumpy ride to Praslin."
Should be fun!
Cheers,
DUG
We got this message today.
"We would like to inform you that the sea conditions have taken a turn. Monday looks very rough and will be a bumpy ride to Praslin."
Should be fun!
Cheers,
DUG
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