Start of the Safari!

Well we have had an absolute adventure so far. Rwanda absolutely exceeded our expectations and will hold such a special place in our hearts. The people, the landscapes and the animals were all incredible.

One thing we will take away from Rwanda is to be happy with what you have and love one another. We learned so much about their vast and gruesome history as well as the beauty that exists within Rwanda. Our experience with the gorillas was beyond anything we could have imagined and I would implore everyone to make a stop off in Rwanda if you’re planning a trip to Africa. It will NOT disappoint.

For now our Rwandan adventures are at an end, but it is now time for the main event. For the next portion of our trip we will be doing the Hemingway Wing Safari. This entails the following:

Nairobi, Kenya

Laikipia Reserve, Kenya

Maasai Mara, Kenya

Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania

Nairobi, Kenya

For Day 1 of our safari itinerary we headed back to Nairobi Kenya.

Once we landed in Kenya our awesome Safari guru (director), Peter met us at the airport and took us to the hotel. He told us about the other members of our group. We had the rest of the day in Nairobi to ourselves as we were waiting for 1 more person in our group to arrive.

We found a coffee shop that was close to our hotel called Java House and plan to go via the City Market afterwards. After our coffee date we head toward the market but had a change in plan after we saw how much we stuck out. We decided against it, we were targets for people trying to get us to buy things. We decided to get some respite in a nearby supermarket, I personally really enjoy going to foreign supermarkets to compare but also dive into the culture. I was shocked to see that in Nairobi they have massive jugs of cooking oil- imagine American liquid detergent jugs.. that’s what they come in! We then purchased some Kenyan sweets (candy) and headed back for the hotel.

The following day we all meet in the hotel reception around 9:30. Everyone in the group were beyond friendly (we honestly hit the jackpot), the owner of the Safari group came to meet us and thanked us for using her company. I was then presented with an amazing Kenyan bridal necklace. (Picture of me with the necklace below)

Then Sue (a member of the group) was celebrating her birthday so we all sung her happy birthday and they bought out an amazing butterfly cake.

After all the celebrations, we left the hotel and headed for the Nairobi national museum. Here we learned about the history of Kenya and the evolution of humans. After the museum we headed to the Karen Blixen house. We had a quick tour around her house, they had some props from the movie ‘Out of Africa’. In Karen’s boyfriends room they had the boots that Meryl Streep actually wore whilst filming! Very cool!

Once we were done there we headed to the giraffe sanctuary/ Giraffe Manor!

Giraffes are my FAVORITE animal, I especially love how they run as well as how they chew their food. The giraffe sanctuary is actually a conservation effort to help breed giraffes. They have 1 male (Edd the lucky boy) and 4 female giraffes (only 3 that mate with Edd), the purpose of this center is to breed giraffes. Once a giraffe hits 2 years old, the center releases them into the wild where they will join other giraffes. This effort is to help with breeding (alongside what is done in the wild) so they do not become extinct.

We walked into the center and got handed pellets, immediately we met Edd! He was absolutely massive, the workers explain how friendly he was. This was a bucket list for me.. I couldn’t wait to feed him! I placed a pellet in-between my index finger and thumb (as we were instructed to do) and reached out my hand. Edd locked onto the pellet, he opened his mouth and out came his cute gray tongue. He took the pellet and left behind a lot of slobber! I giggled and couldn’t believe it, Edd opened his mouth and stuck out his tongue prompting for more so I grabbed another pellet. I got plenty of pictures with Edd!

Let's zoom in on Edd's face there

Once my confidence grew I decided to feed Daisy, one of the workers explained that Daisy is a grumpy and slightly aggressive giraffe. I first started feeding her and it was all going well, until the slobber from her tongue made the pellets stick to my hand. Daisy tried to bite my thumb in order to tell me how displeased she was with my slowness. The worker explained that she’s very impatient, I wiped my hand with a wipe and then went in again. This time the hand off was exceptional, I was faster at putting pellets in Daisy’s mouth than a pit stop crew on a Formula 1 car. I mean she was absolutely putting these pellets back. After some time I felt confident so I posed for a photo. Oh well let me tell you, Miss Daisy did not like this. She tried to bloody head butt me. The worker kinda laughed and said yeah she’s a grumpy giraffe.

Definitely hilarious and a good story to tell as I walked away concussion free, but I guess even giraffes have bad days! I absolutely loved the center though!

Tomorrow we head out to the Laikipia Reserve where we will be hoping to see all the Big 5!