My little Adventures

It’s so nice to get away for a quick escape from reality, even if it’s just for the weekend. If you’re ever feeling stressed, lacking inspiration or wanting to travel & don’t have the funds, perhaps take a booking somewhere not too far away from your surroundings. What better way can you spend your lazy Sunday afternoon other than decide to explore your country in this case my county, Nairobi.

A couple of weeks ago on a fine Sunday afternoon, I got to experience the thrills of the Nairobi national park. Upon our arrival, I was greeted by the large multitude of nature lovers gathered at the entrance patiently waiting to feast their eyes on the park’s spectacular wildlife. My excitement was slowly building.”It’s going to be a good day after all,” I told myself.

As we went to pay for the entrance fee, we made a queue on a booth that had been set outside and it was only after many minutes later that we realised that was not where the payment was being made. That little mishap wasn’t going to ruin the mood for me. Luckily for us at the correct paying booth there was no queue. After paying and reading through few rules and regulations to observe while at the park, we were set to go.

The first animal we got to spot was a flock of birds basking in the sun along a puddle, some of us couldn’t hide our excitement as we took out our gadgets to capture this rare spectacle.

About a hundred meters away, we spotted a pride of Ostriches. There was a bit of excitement when we heard hisses from some of the ostriches. We thought a fight would break out amongst them. I wouldn’t lie that I was a bit scared as the rest of the guys cheered on the fight that was about to happen. After restoring silence and warning us against making noise, the driver explained to us that the hissing was a sign of disapproval amongst themselves. He also went out of his way to tell us about the mating patterns of the ostriches where; during breeding season (March to September), the dominant male performs a ritualized courtship dance by shaking his wings and tail feathers. If the main hen is impressed, the two will mate. The other hens in the group may also mate with the dominant male or with other lesser males. I also got to learn of their social organization where they are usually in groups of ten led by a dominant male and their feeding habits. He even threw in some few fun facts about them being the world’s fastest and fattest birds.

After a few kilometers drive we approached a zeal of zebras. Were it not for their black and white stripes,they wouldn’t be so different from the donkeys. Before this trip, some of us only knew zebra crossing in some of our roads. The driver once again spoke into his mike and dropped some knowledge on us as we slowly passed through the dazzle of grazing zebras.

Our next stop was a crash of rhinos and wow those animals are huge. These ones were very huge with one long horn. By the way, did you know that the is no longer a male white rhino? Sudan, the last of the male white rhino species passed away last year at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy. This species is on the verge of extinction and only the female remains but this has been disputed in some quarters about the last male white rhino . We all know the story. As we passed the rhinos, we were cautioned that when disturbed, these beasts can charge at the bus.

Our next stop was a cackle of hyenas. Not team mafisi just to be clear but the true owners of the name. Fun fact, hyenas have the strongest jaws in the animal kingdom and has a bite force of up to 15,000 pounds. In other words, the bite of a hyena is equivalent to being smashed by two pickup trucks. They also don’t give up easily when they hunt.

We saw a herd of buffaloes; these are cows with a fearsome reputation. Why do I call them cows you may ask? Well one is because of their striking resemblance to our domestic cows and secondly because the two are ‘cousins”. Another fun fact, think you can run away from a male buffalo by climbing a tree?

After stopping for lunch at a picnic site, we boarded the vehicle once again for our final tour. I thought I’d leave the park without seeing any elephants. Those behemoths really amaze me and I couldn’t help wonder what fact the driver is going to drop next.

I came to learn that there are no elephants in nairobi national park, but here’s a fun fact: There is actually an easy way to tell the African elephants apart from their Asian cousins – their ears! African elephants have large ears shaped like the continent of Africa! Asian elephants’ ears are smaller and shaped like India. Cool, huh?

The sections that followed just had a repeat of some of the animals we had previously seen with an exception of the chimpanzees, Warthogs, Giraffes, some impalas and many more. It was a bummer that we didn’t get to see the lions. Even though my trip wasn’t really planned for, I do not regret the impromptu visit to the park.

Later on, once I got home, I thought about all that I had learnt from my little adventure and I couldn’t help but think about how every creature was designed to serve a purpose.

As someone once said, “Learn from animals for they are there to teach you the way of life. There is a wealth of knowledge that is openly accessible in nature,” and I couldn’t agree more. Our ancestors knew this and embraced the natural cures found in the bosoms of the earth. Their classroom was nature. They studied the lessons to be learned from animals. Much of human behavior can be explained by watching the animals around us. They are constantly teaching us things about ourselves and the way of the universe. I hope you enjoyed my adventure to the end and before I leave, one more fun fact: Did you know that the Nairobi national park is the only protected animal reserve to be in the capital city?

**Lot’s of Love**

   Photography by Ryan

The best secrets are the ones known by few but heard by many. This is the case of the beautiful paradise known as Lake Elementaita. Many have heard of her but few know her true colours.

During one of the finer weekends of August, my friends and I decided to drive to Lake Elementaita to escape the noises of the city. At first I thought it would be just like any other lake in the rift valley but no! It is a combination of natures finest on display.

The lake is located between lakes Naivasha and Nakuru and much of it is part of the Soysambu conservancy. It is less visited than other natural attractions in the region so you get that sense of privacy and tranquility.

We were treated to an endless volcanic scenery as we traversed the conservancy. There were larva flows, craters and volcanic hills here and there. A variety of Columbus monkeys could also be spotted swinging about the acacia woodlands.
Towards the south end of the lake, we were taken to the Kikopey hot springs, a location believed to be a trading route during the ivory and slave trade.

One of the best shows nature threw at us was the various birds on display around the lake. Ducks and a variety of many bird species could be seen.  It was quite fascinating to know what mother nature could offer and how it took care of all its beings.

Well time it was time flew by quite fast and  it was finally time to go back home, I could only relive the moments I had just had by daydreaming. It was absolutely incredible! It allowed me to dive into my adventurous side which is something I’ve come to really treasure. After all, isn’t life measured by our experiences?

**Lot’s of Love**

Did I mention it has the most beautiful of sunsets?

 

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Bye for now… Until next time

 

 

 

The last day in Meru was pretty relaxed and slow. It included some oversleeping and a heavy breakfast. Some packing here and there just to make sure we didn’t leave anything behind.

As we roamed about the place taking pictures of our last moments there, we discovered some hidden and abandoned place which spoke of nothing but beauty.

It was sad leaving the place where many stories and laughter were shared.  We got back to Nairobi on Monday evening since we spent a night at my grandma’s and the rest, as they say, is history.

Do enjoy the rest of the week.

 

**Lots of Love**

Our second day here started off quite early.  The older girls in the house had to organize the kids so we could be ready for the game drive in good time.  It’s advisable to have the game drive early in the morning, as this is when most animals are active and can be sighted easiest. My goal was to see all the big 5, most importantly the king of the jungle.

My sister on the wheel and Mr Mutua, our guide, led the fleet of cars inside the park. The first animals to welcome us was a parade of elephants.

It was fascinating how the elephants took care of their young ones and made sure none was left behind. This made me think of team work.

It was also good to know that the park has a section reserved for the rhinos so as to keep a close watch on them and easily spot poachers. I thought this was a good initiative by this incredible community of people who are dedicated to conserving nature and wildlife. I mean, having lost our last white male rhino in the planet(Sudan), we all know our white rhinos are soon to become extinct. ION: There’s a conspiracy theory regarding the extinction of this male. Don’t quote me though.

We were lucky to see at least four of the big five although I really wanted to spot the leopard (which was pretty darn elusive), but we had to leave since hunger got the best of us and when your tummy calls, you know you’d better answer.

Before it got dark we went for a swim to cool off our bodies from the heat. Who would have guessed it would be this hot!

As always thanks for reading and talk soon! Don’t forget to like, share and subscribe for more awesome posts!

**Lots of Love**

 

If there’s an activity that I could pick and make it my daily hobby then travelling would be it.  Although I prefer the city life and its daily hustles, it’s often nice to venture off the beaten track.

Over the Easter Holiday, I got to travel to Meru County with my family and a few of our family friends. We had a few delays leaving Nairobi but we eventually got there after about a five-hour drive. As soon as we drove through the gates of Meru National Park, I instantly knew I was in a different world; a world where the sun, the heat and the landscape all collude to give you a thrilling stay.

We got there just in time for lunch where we were welcomed by the sweet sweet aroma of nyama choma. I’ve never been a fan of nyama choma but that day I had no option but to devour on that meat lest I die in the wilderness.

After lunch, we were shown around by our guide, Mutua, as we got to see where we would be putting our heads to rest. As we went about our business, we got little visits from our friends; baboons and monkeys. I even tried to take a selfie with one. haha.

By the time we got back, everyone was pretty tired and cold, and it was already getting dark. How fast time flies! That night we sat around the fireplace as we caught up with our friends. We stayed at the Murera Cottages.

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I’ll be sharing more pictures from our trip in the next couple of days so sign up below to be notified when I do!

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** Lots of Love**

Second to food, traveling has recently become something that I love, yearn for and look forward. So I’ve decided to include this traveling section in my blog page, so that I can share with you guys my little adventures, starting with Kenya then advance to the rest of the world, <hopefully it’s in the very near future>.  I want to go on and on about my supposedly imaginary adventures in those ‘rest of the world countries’ but I don’t want to divagate.

On my first list is my trip down to Lerruat Log Resort.

Now if you follow me on instagram you will know I did go to Kajiado county before I landed myself in this beautiful place called Lerruat. After the meeting had ended, We decided to start our hunt for food. It being a new place for us all, we really didn’t know where to go and fill our now grumbling tummies.

First we decided to go to was Maasai Eco Lodge. The place is nicely done, decor and everything but we didn’t stay since they didn’t have the fresh goat meat that we were craving for and our tummies of course wouldn’t let us wait and order a fresh one. {Did I say how extremely hungry we were…Jeez}

Anyways, So back to our food hunt we go {Me, putting the words like this sort of reminds me of the hunting and gathering lessons from primary school}. Only to land ourselves in this beautifully, well structured area.  It is strategically built on a hill giving it’s occupants a beautiful view of the landscape. Talk about creativity. As the name suggests log resort, the buildings are akin to that of a log cabin.

I’d easily go on and on about how dreamy this place is, but I will let the pictures do the talking.

Disclaimer: Some of the photos are a bit blurry.

 

**Lots of Love**