We had a tremendously successful safari this month and as usual we were completely immersed in that mesmerising place we call Kenya. Our hearts will be there for a long time still. It is difficult to come down to reality with our jobs and “normal” routine. We chose our own safari route as that is possible with Woni Safaris. We love Tsavo so we stayed there for four days, two days at Voi Safari Lodge and two days at Ngulia Safari Camp in Tsavo West. We saw a lot of game in Tsavo. Some moments in particular stand out in our memories. We saw a cheetah mother with three quite large cubs frolicking in the bush very close to our bus. It was a wonderful site just as dusk was settling and we took some memorable snaps. Another amazing site was the mountain elephants. Early in the morning we had just come out of the lodge and we looked up to see a herd of elephants clambering down a very steep rocky hillside. They took it easy munching all the way done. It was a really amazing site which I had never seen before. Of course we also saw lions, a mother lion with three tiny cubs playing on a rocky outcrop. We were to see this same little group at the waterhole at Voi Safari Lodge when they were chased away by an angry elephant. We also saw a family group of lions very close to the road. Other highlights were: the Chaimu lava flow and hills, Mzima Springs where we saw lots of hippos, elands and Sykes monkeys and the enormous herd of buffaloes at Ngulia Safari Camp. We also saw many many elephants which are definitely our favourite. We also saw beautiful kudus, hundreds of giraffes and zebras and all sorts of antelopes.
After Tsavo we travelled through Nairobi to Maasai Mara. On the way we stopped at a Maasai village which was great. A young Maasai warrior took us around the boma and explained to us how the Maasai live. Sarova Camp was lovely and our tent was amazing. Just behind the tent we could see herds of buffalo and zebra from the safety of the camp enclosure. We saw enormous herds of wildebeest and zebra which took our breath away. We would just ask our trusty driver William to stop and we would watch them for many minutes. We saw lions at a kill, topis and hartebeest, elephants, buffaloes and many other types of game. Needless to say we took a lot of fantastic photos here. The sunsets are stunning!
After Maasai Mara we took a lovely route through Mau Narok to Lake Nakuru. William said that there were not many flamingos but we found there to be thousands. Apparently the entire lake can be covered in pink at times. We enjoyed watching the pelicans clowning around on the shore. Other special things about Lake Nakuru are the rhinos (black and white), Rothschild Giraffes and the beautiful Colobus Monkeys. We saw a tiny white rhino calf suckling totally unafraid of our attentions and picture taking. We would have loved to stay another day!
For the first time we experienced Akamba land and we did a really interesting cultural tour. This tour is a speciality of Woni and we loved it. We passed by a quarry where workers explained the business, a local farm where we were shown around. We visited a women’s group where we had a traditional lunch of maize and beans, tomato soup, ugali and chicken. We had great fun and the people were very hospitable. We ate together with the women and their husbands and we felt right at home. For prospective travellers I would definitely recommend this extension. It will definitely be taken up in my programme for “Malaika Safaris” in 2008. It was with sadness in our hearts that we had a goodbye lunch with the Woni Family in Nairobi. We had a meal of traditional “Nyama Choma” which we thoroughly enjoyed. Next year we will be back to do another Woni safari!! | 
