Top Kenya Safari with Abdul

Finally a few days of relaxation after a really intense period….a friend of mine has been telling me about Kenya for years and I say…why not…this time I want to be the one to live the African dream! I have her tell me the people she usually relies on and I contact Safari Kenya Top and a very kind young man named Abdul answers me, we understand each other immediately, on the spot, you can see he has worked with tourists for many years and in no time we organise safari and excursions! Looking at their website I immediately understand that they are reliable people, feelings confirmed by the extreme courtesy and punctuality in the replies I get both by email and by phone. So I do not hesitate to confirm the booking immediately, already from Italy. My boyfriend Mirco and I leave from Bologna on a night flight on Friday 4 February 2011 for Mombasa.

Here the Staff of the Jacaranda, which is located in Watamu, welcomed us. From Mombasa it takes about 2 hours by minibus to reach the village. From the window we begin to glimpse Kenya, its colours, the children, Kenyan life, the villages, which we watch with curiosity and impatience, wanting to discover everything at once in those moments... Arriving at the Jacaranda we find ourselves immersed in a village camouflaged in a garden full of flowers, plants of every kind, with a very white beach and a sea of various shades of blue and green, which is part of a protected Marine Park, Sardegna 2. The beach is not so white because of the algae, brought by the high tides and which at low tide are collected, and then thrown back into the sea.

As the boys of the village tell us, being a protected area, it is the sea, the force of nature, with its cycles that cleans the beach and makes it very white. They say that in December it is the most beautiful beach in Kenya. On the beach there are all the Beach Boys. Knowing about the new arrivals, they wait for us to offer all the most varied excursions, safaris. We already have our agreement with Safari Kenya Top, so here...Abdul arrives on a motorbike...We recognise him immediately and call him by name; after seeing a lot of photos of him on his website and on facebook we could not be wrong, it was certainly him. We start talking; the contacts by email had already conveyed to us security, seriousness and competence. The meeting with him confirms all this. You can see he has a lot of experience and speaks Italian very well.

We decide to meet the following day in the centre of Watamu, so we will also take the opportunity to have him accompany us to get a safaricom and to change money into shillings, since the resort is rather out of the way this was the first chance to venture into the middle of real African life! After doing all our rounds of the stalls in Abdul's company we try to repay him by offering him an ice cream, at an Italian ice cream parlour, so we relax for a moment. After a day at the hotel we had understood that Africa must be experienced in contact with real Africans. Meanwhile the sun is shining and it is really very hot, the ice cream was just what we needed! We confirm 3 days/2 nights at Tsavo East and Amboseli with departure on Monday morning at 6.00. And also a blue safari to the Mangroves for Thursday.

In reality there are so many excursions that could be done, that should be done (Masai Mara, Lamu, Marafa, the Ruins of Gede). We take a walk with Abdul along the seafront, listening to his stories. Monday morning, as agreed, we meet at the entrance of our village, where the driver is with him too. We stop at another village to meet our travel companions. A very nice couple from Bologna. We set off. It will take about two hours to reach the entrance of the Tsavo East park, but the journey gives us many beautiful images. As a first stop Abdul takes us to see the crocodiles, up close, very close… and he skilfully makes them come out of the water so we can photograph them. My boyfriend is not feeling very well and Abdul, in this respect too, proves to be a very attentive and thoughtful person.

Of course the magic phrase, in use in Kenya, "Hakuna Matata", is never missing, which he uses very often: No problem… We set off again and enter the park, where the first game drive of the day awaits us. Abdul has promised us that we will see Lions. We see Zebras, Elephants, Hippos, Impala, Antelopes, including the one he calls the "giraffe gazelle", it is small and stands up on its two little feet to take leaves to eat from the trees. Waterbucks, Guinea fowl, very colourful birds, Ostriches, Dik Dik, Buffaloes, Wildebeest, Savannah Storks, Giraffes etc. etc. As we see them he explains and gives details about the life and habits of all of them. The landscape is made of red earth in contrast with the blue sky and the umbrella trees or giant Baobabs. Then suddenly he spots, among the bushes at the edge of the road, a lioness.

She does not want to come out, but we see her beautiful face very clearly. What an emotion… At the same time behind us there is a herd of Buffaloes crossing the road, they are all in a line, a very long line… We arrive at our Lodge all covered in red earth dust. Abdul has booked us at the Voi Wildlife, in welcoming rooms. Here, if you wish, there is also the possibility of staying in the "tented" camp. The place is very beautiful, it has a pool and also waterholes where you can see at all hours of the day the animals that come to drink. In the afternoon we go out for another safari, where we will see in the distance the lions and lionesses that have killed some antelopes, and now, after the meal, are resting. The following morning we set off for the other park, Amboseli; initially kilometres of red road, an endless strip, then the landscape slowly changes, it is no longer so red.

It is much more arid, then it becomes light and barren expanses, few plants, while arriving at Amboseli it becomes greener, there are waterholes and there is the lake frequented by animals of every kind that come to drink. Eagles and Vultures eating the leftovers of the Lions' lunch. The very ugly Warthogs, the Hyenas. We will see two different types of them. And again Giraffes, Elephants… Suddenly we receive a radio message of a Lion sighting and our driver sets off at full speed. We find him asleep under a bush, indifferent to the comings and goings of the minibuses, he does not want to wake up. By now it is almost sunset and we head towards the Kibo Camp. Our tents are immersed in the Savannah, comfortable, with bathroom and shower inside. A wonderful position with a view of Kilimanjaro, which at sunset shows itself completely to our view.

Its snow-capped summit, which lights up red, orange, pink… Although the climate was good, and there is no cold in the evening, they light the fire, where we gather after dinner to chat and admire the African starry sky, with the Milky Way. The following morning, wake-up at dawn for the last game drive in the savannah before returning to Watamu. We are almost at the exit of the park when suddenly we see a still young lioness crossing the road, continuing and then stopping and observing us. It was a wonderful holiday, and thinking back to Kenya is always an emotion for me; finally these emotions are mine too! My fiancé and I are already organising the next trip to Kenya; this time we want to go to the Masai Mara, naturally always with Abdul Abdul's contacts at Safari Kenya top:

info@safarikenyatop.com