Happy New Year! On the 31st everyone had dinner at Hemingway’s, black tie etc. At about 1am I went to Driftwood Beach Club in Malindi with some friends. After lots of dancing we returned to Hemingway’s at 7 for breakfast and a swim. Unfortunately Ben had gone to bed and not left the door open for me, so after knocking on the door for a while I was forced to knock on the room next door so I could do some balcony climbing so I could get my bikini! In th...

Adventure! Gray woke Kristy and I up at 2:30am telling us to quickly get dressed and get into the mess tent. The river had flooded due to rain in the North and the water was already surrounding our tent. We did as we were told (having to exit the tent by slipping through the gap in the bathroom at the back) and watched the water rapidly rise from the mess tent, keeping a keen look out for crocodiles and hippos! As the water got higher the others were woken up (ou...

I met my family and the Donnelly’s at the airport yesterday morning and we flew down to Malindi where we were met by Gray, our host and guide for the next couple of days. We drove to Kulalu Camp near Tsavo where we were spending a couple of nights. Kulalu is a beautiful little camp by the river with only four guest tents. We’ve been before but they’ve done it up a bit with a nicer mess tent etc. Today we went into Tsavo and the place was full of...

I spent Christmas day morning frantically compiling a report on animal photographs and birds so it was all sorted before I left. Other than that it was quite chilled out and very quiet as everyone had either gone home or was hosting guests apart from Alfie and I. Boxing day was the day of my departure. I was told I would be picked up at midday by a taxi so I’d get to Nairobi well before dark. Due to car problems and multiple breakdowns in communication (aft...

Christmas Eve and my first Christmas away from family! I was invited to Christmas Eve dinner by Kuki at her house at Kuti. There was 11 of us – Kuki, 6 guests staying at the Mukutan Lodge, Philip, Tanguy, Alfie and I. The house and garden were beautifully decorated with flaming torches and rugs outside and Christmas trees, decorations, etc inside. Even the staff were festively dressed up for the occasion. Dinner was a lavish affair (I lost track of how many...