Kenya blues!!!

We recently returned to Italy after our first time in Kenya, and we discovered what the "Mal d'Africa" really is! We were two families of three people. We stayed at the Jumbo Orange Village in Watamu, a charming property managed entirely by Inviaggi. It was the first time we had gone through this tour operator and I must say we had a fair number of doubts about it. However, the offer we took advantage of was really interesting, so, after reading several positive reviews about the village, we decided to "take the risk". And I must say it was an excellent choice!! The village turned out to be a delightful "jewel box": everything excellent, from the impeccable cleanliness to the quality of the food (we thought the chef was Italian!!), from the speed of action in case of need to the extraordinary kindness of all the staff.

A special mention goes to Tony's management, a fantastic Roman who never sits still but works hard to make sure the guest is always at ease: always kind, available, present and above all attentive to everything. Another word of praise goes to the young (few but good) entertainment team, who worked hard for the guests, without being intrusive or pushy: fabulous the walks with Omar, pleasant and fun the chats with Lorenzo, funny the cabaret sketches by Marta or Jessica. We did our safari and our tours relying on the organisation of Filippo Bassamarea, and I must say that the Swiss would have a lot to learn from such planning!! Everything went perfectly, not a minute late, not a hitch. We chose to do the three-day safari to Tsavo East and then to Amboseli, staying at the Ndololo Camp and the Kibo Camp.

Apart from the landscapes, the sounds and the scents that take your breath away, that penetrate your being and are indisputably responsible for that veil of sadness that wraps around you when you then go home and resume your usual rhythms, I must say that although the trip is demanding, it is definitely worth it. The Ndololo Camp is nothing short of stupendous: you're right in the middle of the park, with no fence, which means that in the morning, while you're heading to breakfast, it's absolutely normal to see a herd of elephants, gazelles, giraffes and more passing a few dozen metres from you, showing absolute indifference towards us, heading back from the watering hole where they've drunk. The baboons wake you up playing at sliding on the roof of your tent and you finally manage to feel like an integral part of nature and the Earth.

For the rest, the Camp offers you all the essential comforts: the tents are well equipped and spacious, the food is excellent (you just have to defend it from the baboons!); it's advisable to bring a torch, because in almost all these facilities the light is only available at certain times. The Kibo Camp is certainly grander as far as the common areas are concerned (reception, boutique, restaurant, etc.), but the tents are rather small: the three of us had difficulty moving around inside at the same time.

But above all, the property is inside an enclosure, so the animals are kept out: for some this can be an advantage, but for us it was a disadvantage!! If you can, choose a Camp without a fence!!! Both the guide (the very nice Nino D'Angelo) and the driver did a good job, carefully following the news on "Radio Safari", which alerts you when there are lions or other animals harder to encounter, thus allowing us to truly see everything. With Filippo, we also organised the Blue Safari and the trips to Malindi and the Island of Love. Especially the latter turned out to be a wonderful surprise, because on all the sites we had consulted before leaving (and believe me, there were so many!!), it isn't praised as it should be: the colours the sea offers you are unforgettable and the tide in this place is more spectacular than ever. Then, the trip with the typical boats is definitely pleasant.

There we met Mama Maria, who delighted our walk with her stories of her 5 daughters, very politely offering us her merchandise. In this situation too, Filippo paired us with very nice, kind, capable people ready to satisfy all our needs: I must say that Buana and his cousin Giovedì spoiled us a bit!! After all, we didn't just feel accompanied by tour guides, but the impression was of having real "bodyguards" at our disposal. In Malindi too, they showed us particular corners of this city, entering its reality and not exclusively the tourist one.

Besides that, while we were on the blue safari, we simultaneously met other tourists who came from our same village and who had used the organisation offered by the local agency of the tour operator: this shows that the services were the same (apart from the certain advantage of not being in the middle of a thousand people, but only us 6 friends!), but I assure you the amount paid was very different!! Also and not least for this reason I recommend relying on Filippo: we had several quotes in hand, but none as competitive as his. Kenya also means Beach Boys. Don't think these young men represent a negative side of the holiday. They are just the first direct contact the tourist has with Africa, when they find themselves protected in the shell of the village.

In reality it's nice to go out and meet these young men, because some of them are truly fabulous!! One above all, the very likeable "Derossi", who in another context could be a successful cabaret artist!! A truly delightful young man, who tells you about his world and wants to know ours. A person gifted with a lively intelligence, who would have the spirit and initiative to go far, and, I'm sure, if he meets the right people along his path, he will manage to achieve some success: he would really deserve it! And then we should talk about "Nino D'Angelo", who tells you about his wife and his two children who already know English, and who bends over backwards to satisfy your every wish. And about Karafù, who accompanies you on walks at sea and tells you about his 8-year-old twins and his hopes for them.

They're not a nuisance: just give them the time to get to know each other a little, and you'll see they'll enrich you with their chatter and their stories. After all, everyone here says it: hakuna matata! Pole-pole! One last piece of advice: if you want a sea to enjoy with fabulous swims and splashing around snorkelling from morning to evening, don't go to Watamu. But if you want a sea to look at in its thousand shades, in its thousand forms, if you want a sand that gives you an irresistible urge to walk, if you want the scents of the sky when it marries the sun with the sea (and believe me: it really is like that!), well then go there, but know that afterwards you'll miss it like crazy!! But unfortunately the holiday ends and you find yourself thinking that maybe, next year, you could go back...

There, perhaps the Mal d'Africa is exactly this: it comes when you're forced to leave a place where you felt an integral part of a land that isn't "your" land, but the land of all humanity, a land that embraces you and makes you part of it. Perhaps that's what is meant by Mother Africa.