2023 Highlights
KENYA AFRICA
2023 has been my greatest travel year by far! If you are a new reader, HI!!! I wrote about my first trip of the year to Tokyo a couple weeks ago. Go check it out :)
The next stop on my year of adventures is KENYA AFRICA! I went on this trip with two of my childhood besties and one of their mutual friends! We had booked this trip more than a year in advance. It felt so far away but before we knew it, it was right around the corner!
There are a couple things we had to bring to prepare for this trip.
Vaccines! - Thankfully I had most of the recommended vaccines, the only one I had to get was for yellow fever. TIP: GO TO COSTCO FOR VACCINES! There are clinics that WILL overcharge! You will be spending $300+ for ONE vaccine.
Visa- Each of us had to obtain a Kenyan Visa to visit the country. It was very easy to apply for and receive!
Neutral Color Clothing- Khaki, olive green, cream, and white clothing was highly encouraged as it would keep inserts like tsetse flies away. These colors will also prevent you from standing out to animals.
BUG SPRAY- You will be outside for most of the trip, it is important that you bring bug repellent!
Okay NOW we are ready to spend 10 full days exploring the savannah grasslands!! Let's begin the journey across the world!!
The Journey
We had booked our trip through EF Ultimate Break. Not gonna lie, this trip was PRICEY but the things we got to experience made it worth it. We spent around $5k each on this trip :’). THANKFULLY, it was paid overtime. Our package included food, transport, tour guide, and stay. I just wanna say, this is by far the MOST expensive trip I have ever done. I usually like to book trips during the slow seasons and find the best travel deals.
ANYYWAYSSS…
The journey from Los Angeles to Nairobi, Kenya was a total of 19 hours.
Los Angeles >Paris = 11 hours
Paris > Nairobi = 8.5 hours
It was AWFUL. The worst part really is just being sat for so long. I walked around the cabin as much as I could to avoid being in my seat. Having my friends with me really made the experience better. After almost 24 hours of travel, we arrived in NAIROBI KENYA! We got picked up by one of the tour guides. Our group of 4 met up with 16 others that booked the same trip! We visited 4 different national parks/ locations in Kenya. Let's start with the first destination!
STOP #1
Nairobi, Kenya
Nairobi National Park
Most of our trip consisted of being on game drives. The trucks that take you on these game drives can hold up to 4-8 people. Each seat has windows that can open all the way down and a removable roof top. We traveled from each destination on these trucks. Our first adventure was the Nairobi National Park! We met our tour guide, Charles, for the first time. Charles was awesome! He would educate us on each animal that we encountered, down to the birds and there were A LOT of them. Along with animal facts, he would teach us phrases in Swahili to speak to locals.
*JUMBO JUMBO!! Asante Sana for reading my blogs <3*
Some of the animals that we saw right when we entered were impalas, zebras, and giraffes ! TIP: BRING BINOCULARS! You aren't always lucky enough to see something up close, having binoculars can help you spot something out in the distance. I had my eyes peeled to spot any of Africa’s big five. Africa’s big five is basically a sightseeing game to spot some of the hardest animals to hunt, which are buffalo, lions, leopards, rhinos, and elephants. Unfortunately, we didn't spot any of the big five in Nairobi National Park but we were still hopeful as our trip had just begun.
Giraffe Centre
During our time in Nairobi, we got to visit a Giraffe Centre! We all had the chance to hand feed giraffes! Their tongues were rough and gray. The giraffes ate anything in their sight, once they finished your pellets, they moved on to the next person with food. The best part was seeing small warthogs running around near the giraffes' feet! My friend described them as bulldogs and it was the most perfect description!
STOP #2
Amboseli National Park
We are now to our second destination, AMBOSELI National Park! This national park is 10x bigger than Nairobi’s and is surrounded with so much wildlife compared to being in the city. This was one of my favorite places that we stayed at!
Ol Tukai Lodge
We stayed at the Ol Tukai Lodge located in the middle of Amboseli. This place was fuckin beautiful! As we pulled up to the lodge, we saw tons of zebras and baboons right next to our trucks. Since the lodge is built within a ton of tall trees, there are HELLA baboons and monkeys running around. When the receptionist gave us our key, they told us to make sure we lock our doors because the monkeys know how to open them and will destroy our things. I thought that was the funniest thing ever, I love MONKES!
Amboseli is known for having the largest population of African elephants, you will see them everywhere! One of the coolest things about the lodge is that you can see elephants just outside your room and dining area!
Amboseli National Park
We got so close to some of the elephants in Amboseli it felt UNREAL. These animals are fucking huge and so beautiful to see up close. A lot of the time on this trip, I would stop and think, “Holy shit I’m really on the other side of the world in AFRICA, in the SAVANNA GRASSLANDS, and looking at some of the BIGGEST animals on the PLANET. I did not get tired of seeing elephants on our game drives. The best was getting to see baby elephants trouting around near their mothers! UHG it was so cute!
Amboseli National Park is located near the border of Kenya and Tanzania. Right off the border of Tanzania is Mt Kilimanjaro, a volcano and highest mountain in Africa. The views from our game drives of Mt Kilimanjaro felt like we were in an episode of National Geographic. Words can't describe how beautiful the view was so ima just show you.
Sunsets/Sunrise
Sunrise and sunsets in Africa HIT DIFFERENT. Waking up early to the red, orange, and yellow sky filled with quiet sounds of the wild, I felt at peace. Living in the city, you don't get to experience a slow and silent morning. I took in every second looking into the sun.
During an afternoon game drive our tour guides took us to the Amboseli Airport. At first, we thought it was just a bathroom break but our tour guides surprised us with a bunch of Kenyan beer, cider, and alcohol! We got to try one of Kenya’s staple, Tusker Cider. These were my favorite to drink while we were out there! We enjoyed our drinks in a huge open area looking out at Mt Kilimanjaro and the prettiest sunset.
We started to head back to the lodge before dark, on our way we stumbled across some elephants deep into a swamp overlooking the orange sky. Maybe I was just a little buzzed but it felt like a dream. Never would I have imagined I would get to experience something so rare and beautiful. Cheers!
Our journey has 2 more destinations… stay tuned for part 2!!! <3
Such a fun trip!!🐘
Wow, Africa looks like a dream😭 can’t wait for part 2😤