Each day on a Safari is very different. The morning begins, sometimes before the
sunrises, or sometimes the day never ends due to the loud noises keeping you up
at night. So many possibilities and a large variety of encounters are waiting
to be discovered. The only thing that is
consistent, is that no two days will be a like.
I loved it.
There was however a pretty packed schedule that was
exhilarating and exhausting at the same time.
I have tried my best to explain what a “typical” day is like on Safari.
5:30-6:15 – Wake-up Call
No, there were no phones in our tents and the radios that
they gave us in the morning didn’t ring either.
An African wake-up call consisted of a gentle pleasant “Good Morning” by
one of the staff members outside our tent.
They would deliver your choice of Coffee, Tea, or Hot Cocoa. We got the Hot Cocoa on a daily basis served
with a type of biscuit to dunk in it. I liked to lie in bed for a few minutes
and just enjoy the early morning glow outside.
Sometimes I would even get up, sip Hot Cocoa, and jump back into
bed. Yes, it is chilly in Africa in the
mornings.
7:15-8:00 – Breakfast
Breakfast was usually held up at the lodge except for the
few times we would have “Bush Breakfast”.
A Bush Breakfast meant we would start out in the trucks on our game
drives and then have a picnic in the bush around 9:00 AM or so. Whether at the lodge or at a Bush Breakfast,
the food was always delicious! A large
variety of eggs, bacon, sausage, beans, fruits, yogurts, wheatabix (like large
wheat/oat cakes) granola, toast and juice.
Bush Breakfast!
8:00-1:00 – Game Drive
Game drives are where we spent a majority of our time in a truck
looking for wildlife and soaking in the surroundings. There were two trucks for our entire group
and we would switch drivers everyday to get a little more variety in our approach and perspective on life in Africa. We stayed at Lewa Safari Camp
almost the entire time and had the same two drivers: Thomas and Festus. The best Safari guides Africa has ever
known! The trucks were open, and you sat tall so you
could see out. They were bumpy and you
could be freezing cold and sweltering hot all in one day! There were only a handful of times we
actually made it to paved road so usually it was dirty, dusty, rocky or
muddy. We spent a lot of time in 4WD
which was great! I loved forging through rivers while elephants are bathing
right next to us. Crazy.
Beautiful Plains Zebra
Baby Elephant standing his ground.
Bathing Beauties.
Grevy's Zebra (Smaller stripes, bigger ears).
Black Rhino
Warthog
1:30-2:30 – Lunch
Lunch was always something we looked forward to, often
counting down the minutes and waiting at 1:28 not trying to mow anyone down in
our way! Not only were we hungry, but
lunch was my favorite meal of the day in Africa. I loved the fresh veggies and salads. Sometimes there were even curried veggies,
which had a great kick to them. I often
didn’t recognize what certain things were but I would ask the staff what I
should try and they would sweetly reply, “It’s African food! You should try everything!” So, that’s what I did!
2:30-3:30 – Break
This was a nice time to just go back to the tent and lie
down or sit outside and look for animals from our porch. I would often use this time to catch up on my
journal or my checklist. At the
recommendation of Patty, I bought a Checklist that has a few hundred, or more, common animals that can be found in this part of Africa. I
loved being able to check off new animals each day. Sometimes I would use this time to do small
little workouts outside, or do laundry (some items we had to hand wash
ourselves), or read about different animals we saw or were looking for so I
could know better what to look for. One
special day, I treated myself to a massage during this time. It was wonderful. The last time I had received a massage like
that was while I was in Guam. Weird.
4:30 – Tea Time
Yes, tea and a small snack were apparently offered at this
time. Ashley and I however didn't know
this until half way through the trip! This would've definitely helped curb the hangry mode from kicking in around 8:00 pm.
4:30-6:45 – Afternoon Game Drive
Same idea as the morning game drive, but we would get the
opportunity to see different animals at dusk and then into the night. The weather was usually a lot calmer in the
afternoons, which was nice. We did get
caught in a few rainstorms, but nothing too bad. During the day it’s easy to get distracted
with so many photo opportunities, that the afternoon drive was nice because it
offered more of an opportunity to just sit back and enjoy. Once the sun was setting, usually the
lighting was poor and you just couldn't capture the National Geographic photo everyone was trying to get. I liked being able to
just soak everything in.
Waterbuck
Tired little kitty
Black-backed Jackal
Young Male Lion
Cheetah after a kill
Cheetah looking out for lions. Kill is in the grass to the right.
Young Giraffe
Another sleepy kitty
More White Rhinos
6:45-7:30 – Sundowner
Sundowners consisted of driving to a different outlook spot
and either being greeted by staff with drinks and pupus, or our guides would
just bring some and we would sit and watch the sun go down. It was during these times that I fell in love
with the following things: Stoney
Tangawizi and Chivda. Stoney Tangawizi is a spicy ginger soda found in east
Africa and Chivda is a spicy Indian influenced rice and nut mix. My mouth is watering just thinking about it! I
love spicy foods and this was a yummy blend of both worlds!
Meet Chivda.....
And her lovely companion, Stoney's Tangawizi.
Sundowner
The intelligent and talented Thomas (L) and Festus (R).
Mt. Kenya
Sundowner
8:30-10:00 – Dinner
Dinner was, like lunch, always looked forward to. Luckily there was usually about an hour drive
back to camp from the Sundowner and the previous buzz of the Tangawizi &
Chivda mouth stuffing has started to wear off and the real hunger of the day is
coming through! Dinner was usually a
long process. Nice, but long. Upon
arrival at the lodge, we would be greeted with a new drink and asked if we
would like anything else. Almost like a
cocktail hour before dinner. The lodge
would have a fire going and everyone would just mingle and reflect on the
day. This is the time that they would
walk around and ask what time we would like a wakeup call and what we would
like to drink in the morning. I liked to
sit on the couch and look at different books on Africa. What an amazing place it truly is. The whole Safari concept is so different from
anything we have in the states, and I love how different this trip turned out
to be. This was the only meal that we
would sit down and actually be served our dinner instead of buffet style like
breakfast or lunch. Dinner always
started with a yummy soup and then followed by an entrée of meat or fish and
veggies. The proportions were never too
much, thank goodness, or I would’ve eaten it all! It was so delicious! There was always a dessert offered as well.
They liked to use Passion Fruit a lot, which was a familiar treat. Usually we were all tuckered out after dinner
and ready for a shower and bed, but we stayed up on a few occasions talking
and laughing, it was great. One of my
most memorable nights was when our guides got to have dinner with us, and we
went around the table taking turns acting out some animal and we would
have to guess what it was. It was
hilarious. Patty offered a real close
resemblance of a tortoise and the place broke into hysterics. One of the staff members, Ruth, had to leave
the room she was laughing so hard, which made us laugh even harder. It was a great time.
10:00-11:00 – Bed Time
When leaving dinner we would have to be escorted back to our
tents by one of the staff members who would wait near the lodge porch. The broken Swahili-English was always so cute
and sincere. I tried not to giggle. They
would walk us to the door of our tent, made sure we were in safely and then say
“Lala Salama” or goodnight. When I first
heard this I thought it sounded more like “I love Salami” and was always afraid
to say it back in case I said “I love Salami” instead. Thank goodness, this tourist didn’t have a
”Bon Jovi” moment. (You have to see the movie The Tourist in order to get that one).
Before going to bed we would take turns rinsing the dust
off before we jumped into bed. Water
was sparse so we would take “ship showers” where we turn water on, rinse, turn
off, then lather, then turn back on, etc.
During dinner, the staff would come and turn down our beds and place
warm water bottles between the sheets to take the chill off. We slept the first
couple nights with the blinds closed, but would get too stuffy during the
night, so we ended up just leaving them open at night. We did get frequent visits by barking zebras,
or loud hyenas, trumpeting elephants, loud crickets and other insects, alarming
birds, and many more sounds I may never know what they were. I slept pretty good most of the time, thank
goodness.
We did spend time at three other camps: Joy’s Camp, Il
Ngwesi, and Richard’s Camp. The daily
itinerary was a little different at those camps which I will write about in
another post.
