Lewa, Il Nygwesi, Somburu...

I've spent the better part of an hour trying to upload pictures of the glaciers on the roof of Africa without any luck, internet isn't the best, so you'll have to wait til next time, but its worth the wait, trust me. I hope everyone is doing great, time is flying here and I am trying to make the most of every moment...they are all amazing thus far. Here's a synopsis of the safari, pictures also to come, but I couldn't wait any longer.

Lewa...

If ever you have a chance to travel to Kenya, even if you’ve already been, you should make it a point to go to Lewa Conservancy. We are talking about a little piece of heaven. Not only did we see more animals than I thought possible, but we were treated like royalty, fed like kings and I was even able to build on the Swahili I had learned on Kili.

Most days started with a morning game drive at 6:30, followed by breakfast in the bush or back at the ranch. Fresh fruit was the order, mango, papaya, pineapple, passion fruit, bananas, watermelon, all fresh and picked at just the right time. Eggs were always made to order along with tomatoes and mushrooms (and beans and bacon for you as well). Lunches were also buffet style with a huge variety of main courses, but always lots of salads as well (yes, still my favorite) and fresh cheeses and fruit. Dinner was sit down and we were given soup, main courses and dessert each night. Drinks were always readily available, I’m pretty sure I’ve gained weight because the food has been so good.

Oops, I didn’t travel all the way to Africa for the food, back to the animals and the people. Our guides were local men who were from different tribes, it was so nice to learn about other cultures, family is incredibly important, most of the people worked and lived at Lewa and then every once in a while had a few days off to go home to their families. They also were very knowledgeable. They all seemed to know the answer to all our questions, no matter how challenging or stupid it was...our guides (and drivers) Joel, Johnson and Michael could spot and animal a mile away.

Ok, so, what we saw...are you ready? Reticulated Giraffe, Elephants (yes Aaron, lots and lots and lots of Elephants…young, old, male, female, even tiny babies), Zebra, both Common and Grevy’s (endangered), Black and White Rhino (also endangered), Waterbuck, Warthogs, Water Buffalo (huge!), Elan, Cheetah (the three brothers) on three separate occasions. Secretary birds, Ostrich, Bustards, Storks, Harriers, Eagles, little tiny birds like bee eaters and starlings and swallows, waterfowl, termite mounds, impala, gaezelle, Crowned cranes, the tip tops of two hippos in the middle of a pond and Lions.

We went on afternoon and night drives as well and saw amazing sights at night…Lions hunting (sort of), Cheetahs feasting on a baby Elan (although we had seen them eating before the sun went down as well), bushbabies, nightjars, thicknees, storks at the tops of trees, crowned cranes as well as all the above animals at night,.

I’ve just barely scraped the surface, the list goes on and on and on. We found pride rock (the movie Lion King).

While watching all those animals and taking a few pictures…just a few J we learned all about Lewa. If you’ve never heard of Lewa, go to www.lewa.org, their mission just to give you a taste of what they are all about…”The Lewa Wildlife Conservancey works as a catalyst for the convservation of wildlife and its habitat. It does this through the protection and management of species, the initiation and support of community conservation and development programmes, and the education of neighboring areas in the value of wildlife.” We visited one of the schools that Lewa supports and the medical clinic at the same location and met the students, many who came even though the teachers were on strike and there was no school. We gave them lots of supplies, games, toys and candy.

One day we went up north to another reserve called Somburu (the movie Born Free?), where we saw Gerenuk, Dik Dik and two Lions hanging out all day long in the same place and more elephants than I’ve ever seen before. It was hot, hot, hot and very dry, the river bed was completely dried out, much of Kenya is in a drought. Hopefully the rainy season will bring a lot of rain this year, they need it.

We also went to the equator and did some shopping. Shopping is a sport in Kenya. Oh my.

After a great 10 days, we were off to Il Nygwesi for three nights, where we were able to see a Boma and spend an evening with the community. Here, we did game drives on foot, hiked a mountain and watched the sunset in the most serene location. The facilities were all open air, the loos with a view, the outdoor showers so you could gaze at the stars while showering, the watering hole where nearly 20 elephants at a time frequented and the heat meant a lot of relaxation near the pool.

I’ve just barely scratched the surface and can’t wait to tell you more, but hopefully that was enough (and hopefully not tooooo much) to get you excited about visiting Kenya. Until next time, lala salama (good night).