From 02.10.2006 till 18.10.2006 we spent our honeymoon in Kenya. We booked our tour by Sun World Safaris and we were very surprised about this great organisation. After this trip we will ever book our Kenya Tours by Sunworld Safaris and at the moment we are planning our next trip to Lake Nakuru and Massai Mara in August 2007 also by Sundworld Safaris.

 

Our trip started on 02.10.2007. We arrived in Nairobi very late so we spent our fist night in the Nairobi Safari Club. This was a nice hotel, the food was good and the staff was friendly.

 

Early the next morning we drove to Serena Mountain Lodge at the Mount Kenya. This is a very big and interesting lodge with a big waterhole in front. So you can sit on the terrace, have a cup of tea or coffee or a beer and watch the animals. In this lodge, if you are a lucky person, you can see the big wood-pig which is really very, very big! For us – it was a little bit boring to sit on the terrace and watch the animals – we like to drive through the bush to spot animals. During the lunchtime there came a big herd of elephants to the water. Suddenly the lunch was uninteresting. That was such a beautiful sighting to see this big herd. But one baby-elephant had a very bad leg. He came into a wire sling and the leg was very swelled. He couldn´t bedevil his leg and with every footstep he was crying! The herd was very considerately and they always waited for him. It was horrible for us to see that! We gave a message to the rangers to help this elephant but they said they couldn´t do anything – it´s do dangerous! We couldn´t believe that message!

 

During the night there came a genet to the lodge to catch the meat which was put by the staff on a special platform for the cat. We have never ever seen a genet, so that was very interesting. But it was also very, very cold outside the room, so we took some pictures and went back into the warm bed. A few hours later there was a terrible noise outside. It came from a hyena and it was so loud, so I thought the hyena is standing next to my bed. I was looking for the light to see what`s going on outside – but there was nothing?! Only some hyenas which were running around the waterhole and sometimes they try to catch a bushbuck, but they were not lucky. One hour later the elephants came back but I didn´t want to see the baby again.

The next day after an excellent breakfast we drove to our next target – the Shaba National Reserve.

 

The Shaba National Reserve is a beautiful Reserve!!! The countryside is very beautiful but we didn´t see a lot of animals. Some elephants, some Oryx but we saw some Grevy-Zebras.

 

On the 05.10.2006 we visited the place were Joy Adamson was killed and we also visited the new camp which is called Joys Campside, because it`s built up on the place were Joy stood. This is a very beautiful camp but also a little bit expensive. On this place you will have an excellent view into the countryside and there is also a waterhole. We enjoyed our trip to the Shaba National Reserve and the Sarova Lodge was also very good. It was clean, the rooms were very nice and also the poolarea was very clean. The staff was very friendly and the meals were very good and everytime warm! One night there came a big elephant-bull to the river next to the lodge! That was amazing! Around the area there were a lot of monkeys and it was funny for us to look at them playing.

 

After the Shaba National Reserve we drove to Samburu National Reserve and there we stayed in the Larsens Tented Camp. That was an unforgettable place for us. The camp is next to the Ewaso Nyiro River and you will have a fantastic view from your tent. It was very quiet there, only the monkeys did a lot of noise and in the night we could hear the lions. There was also a couple of lions in this area which were also in honeymoon. We saw this couple nearly every day!

The meals were excellent and the staff was very friendly. The Samburu National Reserve is a very beautiful Reserve and we were very lucky with our sightings. We saw a lot of elephants, one baby-elephant with a age of 2 weeks, leopards, cheetahs, lions, giraffes, buffalos, dik-dik, gerenuks, oryx, impalas, waterbuks, some birds, owls, grevyzebras and burchelli-zebras ….. the time we stayed there were amazing days for us!

On the first evening in Samburu we saw a leopard lying in the tree! That was an unforgettable moment! We were in South Africa for 4 holiday but we never saw a leopard for such a long time! Only for a few seconds. Around the tree, were the leopard was lying there about 30 cars with a lot of tourists. But the leopard was very relaxed. He was always looking to every side so every tourist was able to take good pictures!

 

On the 06.10.2006 we drove to Sweetwaters. We were a little bit sad that we have to leave Samburu. But Sweetwaters was also very nice. We had the first two tents and a very good view to the waterhole. There were a lot of animals and it was funny to watch them especially the warthogs with their youngsters. The gamedrives in Sweetwaters were very interesting. We saw a lot of rhinos (black and white) and a lot of antilopes also a group of elands. One afternoon we had a special sightings to a group of Rothschild-Giraffes. The sky was blue und the light was perfect so we were able to take some very good pictures! But we didn´t see any cats.

One afternoon we visited Morani the gentle black rhino. That was amazing and unforgettable. We went with a ranger through the bush. Suddenly there was a noice behind a bush and the next second there was a big black rhino coming directly to us! Before I could do anything the ranger gave me some brunches from a bush and Morani came to me and ate the brunches from my hands! I was so surprised and very very happy!!! We spent some minutes with Morani and then we left him. Morani was found by the rangers when he was a baby. His mother was killed by Massais and so he grew up with the rangers. They tried to put him back into the wilderness but Morani prefers to live with the rangers. So they guarded him every time and tourists can meet him. That’s an amazing adventure to come so close to a black rhino!

During our time in Sweetwaters we also visited the chimpanzee-station in Sweetwaters. The people there do a lot of very good work! The area for the chimpanzees is very beautiful and they have enough place to live there. It`s like there natural habits.Some chimpanzees have a very bad history and it´s unbelievable how cruel some people can be.

 

From Sweetwaters we drove directly to the Lake Nakuru Nationalpark. We arrived there for lunch-time. We booked a room in the new part of the lodge close to the fences that we could see the parkarea. But the management gave us rooms inside the lodge so we were a little bit disappointed about that. But the rooms were very nice and clean. The food in the Lake Nakuru Lodge was not very good. The lodge is very big so there are a lot of tourists and it was always very loud at lunch and dinner time and the food was not always warm. But the staff was very friendly!! The countryside in the Nakuru Nationalpark is very beautiful!! At this time we stayed there it was very dry and dusty and there was no much grass for all animals. The Park domiciled a lot of different animals. We saw lions, 4 leopards (!!), buffalos, giraffes, black and white rhino, grant´s gazelles, impalas, elands, zebras, a lot of flamingos and a lot of other birds and we enjoyed our stay there very much. So we are looking forward to come back to the Lake Nakuru Park in august 2007. One afternoon we did a picknick on the baboon-cliff and this was very nice. We had a fantastic outlook of the park and we saw how far the water of the lake was going back. So the park needs the rain very urgently. We saw al lot of leopards in this park and we were very happy about that. One leopard tried to hunt an impala male but he was not lucky. We don´t know what exactly happened but I think the impala saw the leopard and run away. The leopard was very angry about his disaster and disappeared in the bush. It was the first leopard-hunting for us and very exciting! But one day later we saw a leopard close to the road with a very fresh impala-kill it was a male impala. We don´t know if it was the same leopard. He was still breathing very strong so the kill must happened a few minutes before we passed the road.

During our stay in the Lake Nakuru Nationalpark we visited the school of Nakuru. We had a Lady in our group who build up an association to protect the animals in Kenya especially the rhinos in the Lake Nakuru Nationalpark. She also sponsored the school in Nakuru so we visited the school. This was an unforgettable moment for my husband and me! The teacher and especially the kids were very happy to meet us. Every class sang a song for us and demonstrated a dance for us. We also visited the school-buildings and this was very affecting. The buildings have no floor, no windows, no doors and a very, very old furniture! It was terrible to see were the kids have their instructions. Most of the children had no shoes. When we will come back to the Lake Nakuru Nationalpark we will visit the school again to bring some things for the children and money for the school. The director showed us a statistic about all schools in Kenya. This Nakuru school is the third best school of the district Nakuru and the 23^rd best school of Kenya!! So the children want to learn to have a better life!

 

After this visit we drove to the lake to see the flamingos. That was great!! The lake shine in a beautiful pink colour with all these flamingos and in the middle of the flamingos there were two buffalos standing on a sandbank! We took some wonderful pictures and it was an amazing situation to see so many flamingos. Some were flying away – on the other side were some zebras browsing – it was beautiful!! We also saw a lot of black and white rhinos – two with very young babies. On our last afternoon our driver Silas did a very nice sundowner for us! We drove to a big hill so from this place we had an excellent outlook over the park and the lake. He put glasses, a bottle of red wine, peanuts and cookies on the bonnet and then we enjoyed the sundowner! Everybody was quiet and only enjoyed the situation because it was also our last day on safari. We had a very good and very friendly driver. Silas had a big knowledge and drove very good! We will always remember our trip in the Lake Nakuru Nationalpark!

We had also a meeting with the Rhino-Ranger from the KWS in Lake Nakuru. They told us a lot about the rhino-project and the park and it was very interesting for us!

 

We met the chief-ranger who appropriate the district where Nakuru and also the Mount Kenya belongs. I told her about the baby-elephant we saw with the wire sling. She was very interested and after that information she did a telephone-call and informed the appropriate vet. Before we left the Lake Nakuru Nationalpark, she came to us and told us that it was possible to help this elephant. The vet sanitated the leg and the baby-elephant feels better now. But the rangers have to watch him! We all were very happy about this message!!!

 

 

We spent our next night in the Naivasha Country Club! It was a very beautiful Club but the staff was not very friendly and about the whole time we stayed there the sprinkler were working also during the night! Sure, everything was green and the flowers were nice but outside the Club the people have to go very fast to get water so we thought it was not okay to waste so much water for the grass and the flowers! We didn´t really enjoyed our stay there!

 

 

But after the Naivasha Country Cub we stayed in Elsamere. Elsamere was the house from Joy and George Adamson. There is a museum inside the house. My husband and me a big fans from Joy and George and their work in the wilderness especially with the lioness Elsa so that was an amazing place for us!!! We watched some TVs about the life and the work of both and that was very interesting. It was relaxing to sit in the garden, to see the beautiful countryside around the house and to watch the colobus-monkeys which live in the garden but we also saw same in the Lake Nakuru Nationalpark. The house is very close to the Lake Naivasha so you have to be aware about hippos! Late in the afternoon – I was finished with me book and the sun was going down. Suddenly there was a buffalo in the garden! I was so shocked and also surprised about the buffalo but I think the buffalo was also surprised to see me!

The staff and the management were very, very friendly and the dinner was excellent! So we are looking forward to come back in August 2007 and we are very happy about that!

During our stay in Elsamere we visited the Hells Gate Nationalpark. But we didn´t enjoy this visit. It was very dry and very dusty and the roads were horrible!! We saw a herd of buffalos, some zebras, a big group of elands and a massai-giraffe family – a mother with twins! I think to see a giraffe with healthy twins is very rare.

 

The roads in Kenya are very, very bad!!!! The trips between the lodges were terrible!! We thought about all the money which Kenya gets every year from other nations! What did they do with the money??

 

Before we went to our last station we had a lunch with the director of the Kenya Wildlife Service in the restaurant carnivores. The Lady with her association had some questions to the director and for us it was very interesting to meet him. Of course I also had a lot of questions and he was very friendly and gave me a lot of answers.

 

We spent our last night in an old estate in Nairobi – in Giraff Manor!! This house belongs to an old English family! This stay was unforgettable and one of the nicest place I have ever spent the night!! The dinning-room has a big table were the people sit around. On one side sit the earl on the other side the countess and between sit the tourists. Who ever saw the movie “dinner for one” can fancy the situation during our dinner! It was unbelievable! Only one thing was missing – the stumble-tiger like in the movie. We had an excellent dinner there and the rooms were perfect.

On the area around the house you can have a look on the Rothschild Giraffes. And early in the morning when you are awake and look through our windows the giraffes are in front of the house and look inside your room! The owners of the house protect this giraffes and have 10 Rothschild Giraffes on their area. When the young giraffes are old enough they try to bring them back into the wilderness. It´s a very good project because there are no much Rothschild Giraffes in Kenya. One giraffe visited us for breakfast. The big windows were open and the giraffe took a look inside the room and what we will have for breakfast. It was amazing to have breakfast with giraffes!! Later there was a second one looking through the window. We took some great pictures and one day we will come back to this place!!

 

Before we flow back to Germany we visited the elephant-orphanage from Daphne Sheldrick in Nairobi. That was also an unforgettable adventure to see this group of baby elephants! Every elephant had an unhappy history! They were feed by their curator who do a really good work!!! We can recommend to everybody to visit this organisation!! It´s a really good thing! After a few years the elephants will come to the station in the Tsavo Nationalpark and if they are old enough they are allowed to go back into the bush.

 

Late in the evening we went back to Germany! It was a wonderful trip and on this place we will say THANK YOU to Sunworld Safari for the perfect organisation and a special THANK YOU to our driver Silas!!

 

We will come back in August 2007 to see the migration in the Massai Mara! And during this time we will try two new camps – the Massai Mara Bush Camp and the Flamingo Hill Camp Camp in Nakuru.