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You might be surprised when I say that within 10 days in Kenya we have managed to travel to 4 different places and seen everything from beach, big cities, desert islands and a national park with loads of amazing animals. We landed in the evening on the 10th of Aug and only 30 min after our arrival at Nirvana Backpackers we were in a ca on our way to a nightclub with some other backpackers and volunteers staying at Nirvana. Even Sanna spoke to them and that proves that they were nice. We were with Kristen, from US, Sam from UK and Patrick, a project leader in Tsavo national park. They were really cool, although Sam cheered for Newcastle so we didn't talk much. Patrick asked if we wanted to come with him and a new volunteer Elisabeth (US) to Tsavo and go on a safari. As we hadn't seen Mombasa at all we said that w would think about it and decide in the morning. It was a great night and really fun to dance a bit. The blokes that were with us had to act as our jelaous boyfriends all the time to keep the guys away and it worked out well. The only gross thing about the club was all the disgusting old white men sitting with young Kenyan women as well as the 50-something white women in their short dresses grinding (Turkish dancing) on the guys. Sanna, Kristen and myself decided that no matter what happens, that won't be us in 30 years! Before we went back to the hotel they cleared the dance floor and some acrobats did a show. It was awesome!
In the morning the 12th of August we spoke to Patrick and Elisabeth and decided to join them to Tsavo national park. It took us around 5 h to get there and on the way we stopped for lunch in Voi. The last bit was very bumpy and we realised quick that man, we were really going to the bush! When we entered the park we saw beautiful elephants just 50 meters away and Patrick assured us that this was nothing compared to what we were about to see, and he was right! On the way to the camp we saw more elephants, water buffaloes and zebras and I was astonished! The camp was nice. They had rooms for all the ranchers and their families, for the volunteers and visitors, like us. There we met Nancy, the chef, and Niels and Agnes, 2 other workers. We got a room for 2 and all meals were incl. It felt like a hotel! In the evening we drove to a resort to sit on the terass and watch the sunset. It was the first time we saw the sunset since we arrived in Africa and I must say that it's the most beautiful sunset I've seen in my whole life. The sun set over the great Kilmanjaro and in front of us we saw a whole field of elephants. We got invited by Patrick for dinner at another resort. It was a huge buffet and amazing food; 20 different desserts! I think all 4 of us went to the dessert table like 3 times. Beside the hotel was a waterhole and many elephants came there during our dinner. They were like 3 m away. When we got back i looked up in the sky and saw the starry heaven. It was beautiful. I remember thinking that we almost missed this. I'm so greatfull we came with them and that they gave us this opportunity. This was really something I'll never forget in my whole life; and we even had 2 more days...
The morning after we got up and had a nice breakfast made by Nancy and fruits on top of that! I will never get sick of mangoes! After a month in Ethiopia eating bread, peanut butter and bananas it was nice to get pancakes honey and fruits! Although I never really liked peanut butter I must say that it's allright with banana! Anyways, we went with the car on a safari and I must have taken 500 pics! We saw more wild animals; like giraffs, impalas, ostrichs and monkeys. Giraff is my favourite animal! It was so beautiful and so huge! In the evening we saw lions. It was incredible to see them, and I guess I didn't quite realise what we actually experiences until a couple of days later. I mean, how many people gets to see lions in the wild?! It's difficult to see them even when you're on a 2-day-safari. That evening we ate buffalo for dinner. heavy, but tasty! During the night an elephant came right outside our room, and although it was too dark to see, we could definitely hear him!
The 13th we got up at 6am and it was the first time we didn't wake up before the alarm clock went off. usually we wake up around 7-8, which sounds early, but considering the fast that we go to sleep around 9 pm we've gotten a nice long sleep allready at 7. We went with the ranchers up on a big cliff and there Sanna and I saw the lion cliff from Disney's Lion King. It was epic! I have been reminded of that movie several times since we reached Kenya. E.g. Rafiki means friend, simba means lion and the song in the beginning actually means something in swahili; so it's not just 'nanana". They got their inspiration from Kenya and northern Tanzania when they made the movie. Anyways, in the evening the blokes were out, so we had a nice ladies night at the camp and could discuss all the hot actors childhood memories etc; proper girl talk. Elisabeth and Agnes wrote in my home made friends-book and we had a good laugh about it. It was a really nice evening!
We left Tsavo the morning after and Patrick gave us a ride to Voi where we took a matatu (minibus) back to Mombasa. It was weird to look outside the window and realise that the only animals we would see were donkeys and dogs again. boring! I didn't stop looking for elephants though...
We went back to Nirvana backpackers and got a double bed on th roof top. We had a roof, but no walls, so we could see the sunset from our "bedroom". It was beautiful. We promised our mum before we left that we wouldn't sleep without a roof above our heads, but she didn't say anything about walls...We took a shower and man, it was nessesary after 3 days in the bush without a shower. I smelled like a pig! or maybe an elephant!
In Mombasa we lay on the beach of Nyali, did some shopping (we really needed new clothes) and went to the center to check the buses to Malindi. I realised when we got to the beach that myself and Sanna have some different standards when it comes to paradise. I saw white sand, blue sea and almost jumped in the air out of excitement because it was so beautiful while Sanna saw, fishing boats, crabs everywhere, tons of algaes and "where are the sunbeds, i don't wanna lie in the sand". I guess a combination of the two was the reality. The beach was empty and we had to walk half an hour to reach the other tourists and a place where it was possible to swim. It was really nice to finally reach the sea though!
The 16th we took a matatu to Malindi. Malindi was nice, although it felt like little Italy. Even the Kenyans spoke swahili with an Italian accent! Terrible! It was fun when we arrived. The matatu-driver asked where he could drop us off, and when we said that we hadn't booked a hotel yet, he gave the last 2 people on the bus money for a tuk-tuk and insisted on helping us to find a hotel before he sropped us off. He asked around a bit and followed our instructions "cheap and great" until we reached Tana guesthouse; a cozy place with a backyard garden and nice rooms. When we saw that it cost 800 shillings per night (appr. 8 EUR) we couldn't resist, so we thanked the driver and checked in. We stayed in Malindi 2 days. The beached more or less like Nyali, so we didn't swim because of the algaes, but it was nice to walk along the beach. We ate nice food and just enjoyed being on vacation for 1 year!
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