Need a little pick-me-up? An adventure? A change of pace? Raucous laughter? Easy, rally together your oldest friends and COME … come on a proper Kenyan safari, with old friends, and their families.
I have just been lucky enough to go on a Proper Kenyan Safari, with my Old University Housemates … and their families. Did we LAUGH? That’s an understatement. Did the 7 kids love it? Oh yes!
In 1997, three cocky youths left some ‘sort-of’ an university in Cardiff, Wales to tackle the world as it was; 21 years later, one in Australia, one in the UK and one in Kenya; we, for some reason, decided the time was right for a New Year safari … together … with our families (age 3 to 13). Apart from a couple of weddings, we had not been together for all this time, why, and how, on earth would it work?
We started our adventure at Muthaiga Country Club for a celebratory evening ;o) in Nairobi, before heading north on a rather … hmmmm, how would you say it … adventurous journey …. in our 4×4’s to El Karama Lodge, Laikipia.
A gorgeously rustic little family-owned, family-run six-bedroom eco-lodge on a 4,800 hectare private wildlife ranch just north of Mt. Kenya, the characterful El Karama is steeped in family history and truly supports the community and the environment, thoroughly. Our time at El Karama was incredible, indeed it is an incredible place to stay. Richard said he felt like he was ‘on safari at a ski-chalet’ , I rather like that explanation .. super-fun-filled days with food and drinks produced at all the most important times. We spent our time on game drives seeing an incredible amount of wildlife (hippos wallowing, lion on a kill, a tiny baby giraffe, a family of hyena, jackals on the hunt, the rare Gerenuk, the endangered Grevy’s zebra … the list continues), line fishing for the young boys, putting the world to right by the swimming pool, swimming in the gorgeous swimming pool, visiting the dairy and the humongous organic fruit and veggie garden, enjoying Tusker-time (and kids picnic supper) under an acacia tree overlooking miles and miles of Laikipia …. and of course snuggled up by the roaring fire at night telling the same old stories, hell we hadn’t heard them for 20 years, a lot of catching up was to be done!
Onwards & upwards, it was time to explore elsewhere, on with another character-building journey and this time it was on to one of the Great Rift Valley lakes, Lake Baringo. Yes, we made the decision to stay at Island Camp on Lake Baringo for our New Years Eve celebrations … and what a change of pace that was. A lovely little tented lodge on an island in the middle of this incredibly peaceful lake (no jet skiis, no power boats …. just hippos and crocodiles!!). Time here was spent by the pool, on the boat looking at the hippos, crocodiles, the incredible bird life and the interesting culture around the lake; Hmmmmm …. and quite strangely deciding to waterski, wake board, biscuit and donut in amongst it all … the kids were in heaven, the adults thought they were kids again …. and 2018 was introduced, in style. Cheers to friends on safari!
Our final destination of this adventure was the Maasai Mara, of course. The best place in the world to see The BIG 5. After the most adventurous journey of all (yup a little bit of getting stuck!) … we arrived at none other than the truly gorgeous House in the Wild. One of our group had a tear dropping down her cheek as we walked in, she said it was ‘just so incredible and beautiful and we are all so lucky to stay here’, well this was just the beginning; the people, the food, the experiences, it literally knocked our socks off! House in the Wild is a private home on the banks of the Mara river, tucked away on a 1000 acre private estate, Naretoi, on the edge of the Maasai Mara. A little 6-room lodge with a casual and laid back atmosphere, away from the crowds, we settled into another four days of incredible safari entertainment with the best food I’ve ever experienced on safari. We danced with Maasai, we swam in the pool, watched a pod of hippo in the river, saw squillions of incredible wildlife (lion, cheetah, rhino, elephant, hippo, crocs, buffalo, so many gazelles, antelopes, wildebeest etc.), had a ‘sundowner under an acacia tree’, played hilarious card games into the night ….. and we walked with the rhino, oh we did!!!!!! Did we see the Big 5 … of course we didn’t, we had far too many noisy children, but we saw four out of five and had the time of our lives, real friends on a proper Kenyan safari.
What incredible men those two cocky youths have turned into; amusing, kind, generous, successful and adventurous. What truly exceptional wives they managed to find themselves (pheow) … and truly impressive children who, completely out of their comfort zones, couldn’t have been more fun, interested or better company, maybe Cardiff ‘not-quite-good-enough-to-be-a-university’ wasn’t so bad after all!!!
Cheers to friendship; cheers to 2018.
(To book a proper Kenyan safari, with old friends, and their families, contact The SAFARI Company )
Want to know the best time of year to visit the Maasai Mara? Here’s all you need to know!
