After weeks of talking about it, we finally set out on our road trip.
With bacon butties packed and ready, coffee made and sunrise slowly showing itself on the Nairobi-Mombasa highway, there were two very excited people sitting next to each other. Our first trip away together.
Both of our firsts to Amboseli.
The drive wasn’t too bad, but with that road, traffic (by trucks) is inevitable and overtaking is a must. One by one we finally turned off after Emali.
And there she was.
Her tip showing above the clouds – guiding us. My heart skipped a beat with excitement. With our GPS on as well as the pdf road map, we found our way to the gate and we were in.
Time for a game drive to the camp. Time for a beer.
Note on park fees; payable by card or Mpesa (no cash payments accepted)
| Citizen | Resident | Non-Resident | |||
| Adults
KSH |
Child
KSH |
Adults
KSH |
Child
KSH |
Adults
USD |
Child
USD |
| 860 | 215 | 1,030 | 515 | 60 | 35 |
The airfield was our “pin point”. However, we couldn’t find it… or any signs for one. Our phone map was getting confused and we were worried that we wouldn’t make it for lunch. Despite the slight anxiousness in the car, we did see a lioness. She was alone, skinny and could well have been on the hunt. Due to time constraints we hurried on and we will never know the outcome… I would like to think she just disappeared with no exciting action that we missed. We also passed (what looked like it could have been 500 metres in the distance) a line of shapes. Elephants. Too many to count and minding their own business. We drove on, and luckily they were not the last we saw!
We eventually made it to Tortilis and we were greeted by Beatrice who had a friendly smile, and she offered us a cold glass of fresh juice and a wet towel.
Tortilis is part of the Elewana collection of camp (http://tortilis.com/). Having been to the Loisaba tented camp I had a similar idea in my head. It wasn’t quite the same, but it was lovely nonetheless. The bed was comfortable, had a decent sized bathroom and dressing gowns and slippers were provided. An extra little touch was the welcome note left on our bed for us.
Feeling like a couple of overweight hippo’s, we went for a game drive after lunch and made it in good time to Observation Hill for sunset; scanning the incredible scenery around us. As Richard Mullin writes “The only man I envy is the man who has not yet been to Africa – for he has so much to look forward to.”
6am the following morning coffee and biscuits were brought to our tent while the rich, deep colours of sunrise slowly poured in and the birds stared their morning chirp. Glorious and magnificent and showing off her beauty was Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa standing at 4900 metres, and 5895 metres above sea level. Even with the hazy sheet that engulfed her, she was perfect. This is what we came to see.
It was short lived however because over the next hour the clouds formed and she disappeared from site once more, not to been seen again on this trip.
The rest of the day included game driving and spotting nothing (though we apparently drove past a pride of lions in a tree), eating, drinking and dipping in the pool. The barman seemed to be on a mission to get us drunk and poured us quadruple shots in our drinks instead of doubles for sundowners… oops! I emptied my G&T into two glasses so it was actually drinkable.
The trip was lovely. The company was perfect and it was a wonderful and romantic first trip away together.
Mike saw many animals in the wild for the first time and something surprising to both of us were the masses of flamingoes!
I am sure it is the first of many trips away.
xxx
A Kenyan Slice of Life 