Capturing the Moment

   I have just wrapped up a big fly and drive safari around Kenya with a Rwandan gorillas adventure at the end. This was two and a half years in the making, as the covid pandemic postponed the original 2020 summer date. There was a time when it looked like even 2021 summer might be touch-and-go, but everyone stuck in there, jumped through a bunch of hoops, and made it happen. And in doing so, got the trip of their lives.     We spent eleven nights in Kenya, visiting five different parks. Then we spent three nights in Rwanda, but I'll touch on that more in the next post. Our experience in Kenya ranged from having our own private driver and safari landcruiser, nicknamed the 'Blue Rhino', to taking small bush planes into unpaved airstrips. We stayed in luxury tents, had coffee delivered to our rooms, shared a pool with warthogs, saw amazing stars and nocturnal animals on a night safari, fed giraffes, crossed the equator....twice, saw snow on Mt Kilimanjaro, watched...

  Samburu Reserve: Day 2   In Samburu we stayed inside the park at a lodge called Sentrim Samburu Lodge. As is the custom here in Africa we were met with a hot, wet towel to and a cool fruit juice as we arrive to refresh ourselves after the long ride. My sister and I stayed here once before and as I remembered it was rustic and quiet. The generator came on in the morning and in the evenings so you could charge up you devices, but during the night it was just the noises of the surrounding wildlife and nature. Everyone had standalone bungalows with ensuite bathrooms, mosquito nets draped over the beds, and a hammock on the front porch. Our first night here we had the entire place to ourselves, which meant very attentive service at dinner. For example as I brought the last morsel of food to my mouth my plate would be swept away by our waiter out from under me. The staff was incredibly nice, as they have been at all of our lodges. Richard was our go-to guy here this time and ...

  Over the past six days we have seen lions in Tsavo East, drank tuskers while watching big tuskers jostle at the watering hole in Tsavo West, laughed at the antics of sleepy cheetah in Amboseli, walked with zebra and dung beetles in the Swara Plains, and fed colobus monkeys in the Aberdare Mountains. And those are just a sample of the highlights. It also brings us to the midpoint of our safari. Which means we still have a lot left to see and experience! Next on the list is our northernmost park, Samburu National Reserve. This park is split into two by the Ewaso Nyiro river. Samburu vista Gerenuk antelope Vulturine Guinea Fowl   The ecosystem here in Samburu is very different than what we just experienced in Aberdare . We've traded lush waterfalls and dense foliage for arid plains, golden grass, and acacia trees of the African savanna. This ecosystem is the southern extent of some animals range, which gives us the opportunity to encounter some different specie...