Kenya, my love!

Kenya, my love!

Let me start by saying this is my fourth trip to Kenya, and I keep leaving my heart there more and more!

Friday 13 October, departure with Eurofly from Malpensa, and as usual super-comfortable seats and perfect service in business class.

A stop in Rome, where my son boards too (for him it's the first time), and here we have about an hour's delay at departure.

The flight is very smooth and I even manage a good long sleep.

Arrival in Mombasa at 06.00 local time, the usual queue for the entry visa, a request to open the suitcases, and an even stranger request: "Do you have clothes and toys for children?"

I'm later told by the beach boys that the guards, or whatever you'd call them, want them for themselves.

The weather is muggy and cloudy.

Outside, our dear friend Sergio, manager of the Blue Bay village, is waiting for us and assigns us our minibus, which in about two hours takes us to the village, where we're given rooms right on the beach.

Always on Sergio's advice, we book the Masai Mara safari, and this time he'll be accompanying us himself.

Monday morning (16 October), wake-up at 07.00, breakfast, minibus to the small Malindi airport, where we leave at 09.00.

We land two hours later right in the savannah, and here we find a wonderful sun, while in Malindi it was raining.

In jeeps they take us to the Masai Safari Club (elevation 5800 FT), and already on the short ride we begin to see wildebeest, zebras and even cows.

They assign us our tents (calling them tents is an insult, they're so lovely and welcoming); we're up high and below flows the Mara River, where we see many hippos.

After a good outdoor lunch and a short stroll, at 15.30 we head out by jeep for the first game drive, and we're lucky because we immediately come across wildebeest, zebras, giraffes, buffaloes, etc…

We wait in the savannah for the sunset… a spectacle that takes your breath away!

Back at camp, after a hot shower we head to the restaurant (indoors in the evening), where they've lit the fire in a beautiful fireplace, and outside the braziers.

We're tired but happy, and at 10.30 off to bed… and we discover a hot-water bottle under the covers!

The single beds with the usual mosquito nets are very warm and we fall asleep at once like children.

Tuesday, wake-up at 05.30 and the start of the real, long safari, with breakfast right in the savannah: coffee, tea, milk, pastries, fruit…

The tour begins and after a while they have us get out of the jeep and the rangers walk with us to see a family of rhinos… a pregnant mother rhino… 18 months of gestation.

The tour goes on, and there on a tree we spot a magnificent leopard enjoying a gazelle, while below the tree the mother leopard keeps watch.

Our driver has truly exceptional eyesight: suddenly he stops, and here come some lionesses with their cubs crossing our path… they go to drink and then play as if they were children. Further away we also see two male lions… one a bit old.

We move on and spot a family of giraffes, and the little one, the driver tells us, is only two weeks old.

We spot the elephants, and here we perhaps get a little too close, so much so that a mother elephant, to protect her young, comes towards us menacingly, spreading her ears, trumpeting and raising her trunk. We move away…

We go along the river to see more hippos and crocodiles.

At 12.00, back at the Mara Club, and after lunch outdoors overlooking the river, they take us by jeep to the "airstrip" to catch the small plane, and two hours later we're back in Malindi, where the minibus is waiting to take us back to our village, tired but thrilled.

Wednesday, a rainy day, and we stay at the village.

Thursday morning, departure for the Blue Safari organised by the village with the famous Mrs Ines, an Italian who has been in Kenya for 12 years.

We leave on the usual two boats; the first stop for snorkelling, the second to stop on the tongues of white sand where we're offered an aperitif with white wine, coconut and cashews, a third stop where the boat boys bring starfish, puffer fish, boxfish, etc…

At 14.00, back at Mrs I***'s house, where we find lunch of spaghetti with octopus, lobsters, groupers, good wine and Italian coffee, pastries.

Friday afternoon, a walk to Sardegna 2.

And on Saturday my son leaves, reluctantly but happy about this experience; for us there's still a whole week left!

Saturday afternoon, accompanied by a beach boy I now know, I have myself taken to Watamu, where we go to order the lovely made-to-measure sandals I'll bring back as gifts for my friends.

Always with him, we go to see his house, his wife and his beautiful little boy.

Then he takes us to a place for orphaned children where girls who give birth are also helped.

I get a big lump in my throat thinking about how lucky we and our children are.

I bring them various items of clothing and also leave a donation in cash.

I also go to Mama Lucy, where I buy food that I then take to the boys and girls I meet on the village beach.

We meet a very young girl, 18, with a one-year-old child, who was left by the boy who got her pregnant. We leave her some clothes and money to buy milk for the little one.

Getting around Watamu is also a problem because of the many puddles formed by the rain.

We also make our usual trip to Malindi, where I go to see my friend Sarto Moderno and have trousers and shirts made.

As every Sunday evening, at the village the priest comes to celebrate Holy Mass with gospel singing and children dancing.

I won't tell you about the village's various attractions, the entertainment, the excellent food… Or the various snacks mid-morning and mid-afternoon.

The second week the weather settled down, the sun scorching hot, and at low tide the sea formed beautiful pools where we'd lie in a circle chatting.

This time the road from Watamu to Malindi is truly wrecked, full of potholes, and from Friday 27 they started repairing them.

I've only just got back, but I'm already waiting for March to return!!!

Jambo