Safari time!

I have previously mentioned that in the last year, I have been lucky enough to go on 5 holidays! From September 2010 to June this year, I flew over 27,000 miles!!!


I thought I would share with you some of the amazing places that I went to and my experiences! (I won't necessarily blog about them in order.) 

Kenya - December 2010

This holiday came about quite unexpectedly, a friend of mine was looking to go away, but needed someone to go with. I had just come back of holiday, and I was going on another in the next month that she didn't think i would be up for going on another, but as soon as she mentioned holiday, I had my bags packed!


We had a look at all different options, from a couple of days away in Italy to All inclusive in the Canary islands, we soon realised, that for a little bit more money, we could go long haul baby!


As our flight was from Manchester, I decided I'd drive, so we arrived bright and early, only to be told we were delayed, 7 HOURS! We were gutted, but there was nothing we could do about it. So we went for some food, mooch around the duty free umpteen times and perch up in the bar (we were also able to persuade the barman to turn the TV from Sky Sports to the Live Coronation St.) After our long wait, we were on the plane and away we were! We managed to get 2 x 2 window seats, and able to curl up and catch some sleep, I managed to sleep most of the flight! 


We landed safe and sound, and couldn't wait to get to the hotel. Driving through Mombasa was certainly an eye opener, and it was just the beginning of the cultural sights we would see along the way. To get to our hotel, we had to drive onto a passenger ferry to cross a river; eyes glared into the mini-bus as i typed away on my BlackBerry. We passed through villages and towns, and made me appreciate what I do have.


Settling into the hotel, we went to our room and got familiar with the surroundings. It was lovely... the weather gorgeous and there were monkeys roaming the grounds. We didn't unpack, because we knew of the manager through a friend and was told we would be upgraded but unfortunately it wasn't possible that day. From travelling, we just relaxed in the afternoon and went for an early dinner and bed... It amazes me how TV channels abroad always have such good films on all the time. 


The next morning we went and arranged our safari and was told that we could go the next day. We were fine with that, and spoke to the hotel so our room upgrade was available for when we got back!


That afternoon we went to one of the pools and chilled out, soaking up the sun and gazing out across the Indian Ocean from the infinity pool. It was lush, again we headed for an early evening tea and then chilled out in the room, as we had to get up bright and early for our adventure (the equivalent of getting up at 1am UK time). 


We both managed to get up on time, getting a bit of breakkie and then the minibus came and picked us up. We had to pick a couple up, and Its also an opportunity to take a peek at other hotels, compared to the one we picked up from, I think we made the right choice! (By the way our hotel was Baobab Beach Resort, Diani Beach.)


It was a 3 hour drive to Tsavo East national park, and a pitstop half way was an experience, it was a shop with toilets at the back... as you can imagine, you had to walk through the shop to get to the loos. I had to keep repeating "nooo, i dont want to statue of an elephant" just to get to the loo! 

We've arrived!

When we got to the park, the roof was lifted and we headed on safari. As soon as we got in, there were these Zebra like animals (they had mickey mouse ears as opposed to pointy ears, hence the zebra-like description).  Out came the camera and I quickly became "snappy happy". It was amazing, my friend said to me that she hopes she get to see elephants, by gosh, there plenty of them! 

He's Coming to get us!

We were amazed by the amount of animals we saw, we were turning to take photos all the time. After a morning of animal watching, we headed to the hotel... and oh my... we went from 5* to 2*. It was a hotel that was a throwback to the 1960's... but the view from the hotel was amazing, as you can see below!

Wow!

We had the afternoon to ourselves and were able to grab some lunch. But we couldn't wait to get back out on safari. In the afternoon, we were lucky enough to get up close and personal with a a group of lionesses, see buffalos roam, ostriches run riot, Zebras, Cheetah, Dik Dik's, Hippo, Giraffes... And more i cant remember. The whole experience was surreal and amazing, something I will never forget. There was one point where the driver had stopped to point out a bird called Bastard... Yes, Bastard, i even made him spell it out! But We just sat there, and it was so peaceful. I had a moment, I must admit, because it was just unbelievable! I've put some more photos below!

We got back to the safari hotel, afternoon safari done and grub eaten... it was time for bed... which with bugs roaming the room, equalled a night with very little sleep, but waking up to the view was worthwhile. 

The next morning, we were off and out for a last morning of safari and then back to the hotel, and again it was pure delight. We were able to watch lionesses wake up and been lazy, which was very human like! 

Overall the safari was out of this world, and would love to do it again. We survived the 3 hour trip back to the hotel and again had early dinner and straight to 'bedfordshire' as we were knackered. The last few days were spent by the pool, usual holiday musings. We got our upgrade which was lush as it was in the quieter part of the hotel and the room was huge. We had a cheeky little monkey that would sit by our patio window and stare in. Bless! 

The holiday overall was fab and loved every minute of it, it was an experience of a lifetime... only downside was getting gastro-enteritis and arriving home to the cold.

(I've ended this short and sweet due to battery going on comp)

Apologies for essay like blog!

K.