I had been wanting to take a trip to Kenya for some time, but I didn't like the idea of a holiday in Africa only to shut myself up in a hotel, and I also had no intention of booking all the excursions through the tour operator the agency was proposing, because I would certainly have paid much more for all the various commissions and I didn't even really know how they would work.
Luckily a friend of mine, who had already been to Kenya, told me about Abdul and his perfect organisation! I contacted him via facebook (he didn't yet have the beautiful website I saw online a few days ago!), I explained how long our holiday was and what we would have liked to do and he advised us in the best possible way! He explained clearly what was best to see first and how much time to dedicate to the safari, but he also took us to a beautiful beach, around Watamu and to see the ruins of the city of Gede! He didn't want us to get too tired, but it's incredible everything he managed to show us during our holiday! He truly made it possible for us to enjoy the holiday, relax and at the same time appreciate, with the help of an expert guide, the Africa that every traveller dreams of knowing: a wild environment to explore, boundless spaces, animals you only see in documentaries and also a
bit of relaxation. We flew with KLM and Martinair to Mombasa and from there we were taken to Watamu, where we had booked a hotel. We settled in for a few days (quite different from the winter cold in Italy!) and we already couldn't wait to start the safari.. Our safari lasted four days (and three nights). My boyfriend and I weren't entirely convinced by the prospect of spending so many nights away from the hotel, but in reality both camps (first the Ngutuni Lodge and then Campi ya Kanzi, where we spent two nights) turned out to be luxury accommodations and didn't make us miss our hotel room. The first day we had the Ngutuni Reserve waiting for us, a small private reserve located inside the much larger Tsavo East park. There are several reasons to treat yourself to a safari at Ngutuni and we completely agree with Abdul, who proposed it to us.
Firstly, it's a very special destination, appreciated even by the most demanding travellers, because it offers the chance to do the so-called "off-road" drives and also the night game drive. The special feature of this private reserve, in fact, is that there are no set paths, so it's possible to go into the middle of the greenery as you please to follow the tracks left by the big cats. The Ngutuni lodge is the only one inside the reserve; as a backdrop it has the spectacular Sagala hills and it overlooks an always-lit waterhole where we were able to observe the animals at night. Also at night, it was possible to take part in a safari, so as to be able to see the animals at the moment of the hunt. We didn't know it, but this is a rare privilege: in the rest of Tsavo Park and in the other national parks, night safaris are absolutely forbidden.
During our stay we managed to see an incredible variety of animals, including lions, cheetahs, elephants, buffaloes and giraffes. Next, we went to the Chyulu Hills reserve, which Abdul strongly recommended because it's off the normal tourist routes. As I said, we spent two nights at Campi ya Kanzi (it means 'Camp of the hidden treasure' in Swahili), an exclusive eco-lodge run in very close collaboration with the Maasai, where you breathe an atmosphere outside of space and time. Besides the beauty of the Chyulu Hills, moreover, the accommodation offered a breathtaking panorama with a view facing Kilimanjaro! The Chyulu Hills are located inside a 1100 sq km Maasai reserve, adjacent to the Tsavo and Amboseli parks. Here too, as in the Ngutuni reserve, and unlike Tsavo and Amboseli, there are no fixed dirt paths, and so it's possible to go into the middle of the greenery..
and it's wonderful to go off-road in the savannah! Moreover, in this Maasai reserve you can also have the experience of a safari on foot or on horseback, something that next time I would absolutely love to try, just as I would love to fly over Kilimanjaro by plane! For this time the thrilling experience of visiting authentic Maasai villages uncontaminated by mass tourism, having breakfast and dinner in the bush, was enough for us. I discovered that I adore the Kenyan tea that our personal Maasai assistant brought us on the veranda.. sometimes I felt like I was Karen Blixen! Abdul didn't limit himself to proposing and guiding us on the safari. He took care of us even when we were in Watamu, where we were staying. He also proposed a trip to Gede, which is just a few minutes from Watamu.
Here there's a beautiful forest of baobabs and cinchona trees in the middle of which play friendly little monkeys that live among the ruins of an ancient Arab city. The history of Gede is shrouded in mystery: abandoned without an apparent reason, it is considered a "ghost city", about which numerous legends and superstitions circulate.. apart from this it is considered one of the best-preserved archaeological sites in Kenya. The excavations have brought to light the remains of houses, palaces and mosques. We were also offered the so-called "blue safari", again a short distance from Watamu, to the Mayungu atolls, better known as Sardinia 2.
Basically, an entire day dedicated to the sea, on a beach so white it takes your breath away! It reminded me of the typical landscape you see in photos of the Maldives! The landscape was in fact very different from that of the Watamu coast, which has various rocky islets reachable on foot at low tide. In front of the fishing village of Mayungu, on the other hand, when the tide goes out, tongues of very white sand emerge where the sea previously was. We set off from Watamu beach by boat early in the morning, no later than eight thirty. The boat had a glass bottom for observing the fish and a sun canopy. We were also lent masks with snorkels for snorkelling, to make the most of the extraordinary spectacle given by myriads of fish that came close to us.
When the moment of low tide came, then, we reached the white sand atolls where we enjoyed an extraordinary lunch based on lobster, fresh fish and just-caught prawns, grilled right there on the beach!
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