Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
It somehow seems funny that we could stay at a place like the House of Waine which is a fabulous small hotel (12 rooms) that is expensive and be disappointed but that's how we felt after coming here after the Giraffe Manor. The staff at the manor were so amazing & friendly, it almost felt like you were at a friend's home and nothing was too much trouble (yes, it was even more ridiculously expensive but it felt worth it). The only upside to the House of Waine was the bathroom which was the size of Adam's bedroom back home (if not bigger) with a fabulous long & deep bathtub and amazing shower.
We had a quiet afternoon here, relaxing by the pool before heading out once more to the elephant orphanage for bedtime. Malim, the sick rhino had been out in the park all day and was heading into his stable when we arrived. The poor thing did not look so good, limping quite badly but the keepers explained this was because he has been having injections for the past 14 days in the legs and he is quite sore but they do believe he is going to get better. It is so peaceful at the orphanage; I could go there day after day and watch them.
This morning we were collected at 9am by Ikua, our driver/guide for the next few days. First stop the supermarket to pick up some bottled water for our trip before heading on 'safari'. We headed out of Nairobi and the first stop was the lookout over the Great Rift Valley and of course there were curio shops for us to buy goods. Mum had her first experience of someone following you around the shop pointing out all the good stuff you could buy and how 'cheap' it was. We resisted temptation and disappointed our friend but I'm sure he made plenty of other sales.
We were meant to head straight to our accommodation overlooking Lake Elementaita but we arranged for a stop at Lake Naivasha where we could go out on a boat ride over to Crescent Island for a walk amongst the animals. Out on the boat, we saw our first hippos of the trip, chilling out in the water and lots of bird life. Continued to the island where a guide took us for a walk amongst the waterbucks, zebras, impalas, wildebeest, thompson gazelles & giraffes. It is amazing to be able to walk so close to them. There were lots of baby impalas and we saw one running after its mum which is an 'ahh' moment!! Interesting fact of the Impala world is that one male lives with all the females after he wins the battle with another male for this right - our guide likened it to winning the world cup.
Back on the road and we headed to our accommodation for the next 2 nights. Greeted with a welcome drink and then we sat down for lunch which they had held for us as we were later than planned. We were then taken to our room. This lodge overlooks the lake and there is 10 cabins scattered over the grounds, some quite a few steps down. Luckily, ours is quite close to the main lodge and no steps to walk up or down. We found out at dinner there are 110 steps to the bottom cabins and where the pool is. The room is lovely with our own deck and hammocks and big glass doors looking out over the lake. In the lake there are flamingos and pelicans (which we have seen through the binoculars). There is the option of walking down to the shoreline but just after being shown our room it started raining so no other option really but to hang out on the hammock and read a book!!
While having dinner, they came and turned down on our beds (which is something that has happened every night so far) and also put a hot water bottle under the blankets to make it nice and cozy. We also have mosquito nets around the beds. Very much an African feel. Tomorrow we are heading to Lake Nakuru for our first game drive.
- comments