Kenya is AMAZING!! My sister and I booked the trip as a birthday present to ourselves. It had been high on the list of places we wanted to visit. We traveled through Friendly Planet Travel and had a wonderful guide, Martin. There were 6 of us in our group including us, a couple from North Dakota, and a couple from Guatemala. One of the best things about traveling is the people you meet and the friendships you make along the way.
If you aren’t following Sheldrick Wildlife Trust on Instagram and Facebook, start following them now. Our first visit in Nairobi (and one of the reasons we chose Friendly Planet) was to their SWT Nursery. During the visit you get to meet the Nursery herd of baby elephants as they come up to the orphanage for their midday mud bath and milk feeding. All of the babies will eventually be reintegrated into the wild.
From there we traveled to Hells Gate National Park, the inspiration for the movie the Lion King. There are no predators in this park and you can actually get out and walk. And see the famous “rock” from the Lion King. It sits in the Great Rift Valley.
We then traveled to Lake Naivasha where we stayed a couple of nights. At check in they tell you to go to dinner or the main lodge after dark you have to call for security to escort you…. because the hippos graze on the lawn at the resort! We visited a wildlife refugee and did a boat safari while we were there.
The most amazing part of this trip hands down was Masai Mara National Reserve. Masai Mara sits on the southwestern part of Kenya bordering Tanzania. Our amazing guide Martin worked wonders as we zoomed around in our safari vehicle and we were lucky enough to see the Big 5 (Lion, Leopard, Black Rhino, Elephant and Buffalo)!! Along with so many other amazing animals. We even did one sunrise game drive in a hot air balloon. We stayed at Muthu Keekorok Lodge and thoroughly enjoyed it, especially unwinding at the Hippo Bar.
We finished the trip back in Nairobi where we visited Giraffe Centre and got to hand feed Rothchild Giraffes.
