Jambo Kenya

arrival at the village

after a smooth flight we land in Mombasa...finally in Kenya! We head to the STEPHANIE SEA HOUSE. The trip by minibus is really stressful. I want to point out something that really annoyed me and Mattia. The guy who accompanied us to the village, a certain ABRAMO, almost engaged in psychological terrorism... throwing mud, to say the least, on the local beach boys (when he probably a year earlier was in their same situation) thus forcing the more hesitant to book at his agency affiliated with the village for the modest sum of 245 euros for the 2-day safari. I URGE YOU NOT TO LET YOURSELF BE INFLUENCED!!!!!!!!! Apart from this unpleasant incident we arrived at the village in MALINDI (3 hours by bus). The village is very spartan, but nice.. after all we weren't looking for a 5-star place =.^ the sea is the ocean...and it's full of seaweed....but it's absolutely fascinating.

The beach in front of the Stephanie has been wiped out by the tides but walking a few steps there's a beach stretching for kilometers. I feel like giving you another warning: DON'T BRING DOLLARS, THEY'RE HUGELY DEVALUED....we only had those because I had read on the internet that the exchange rate was 1:1....that's absolutely not true!! Bring shillings or euros. Even though we're tired we decide to go to the beach to organize our excursions. Here we find a ton of beach boys...reading here and there I had already heard about a certain Ali. So we decide to negotiate with him.....to discuss the price he takes us (at his own expense) to Malindi to his agency. His "boss" was mayor of Malindi. The price we manage to get from him is 185 euros for 2 DAYS OF SAFARI IN TSAVO EAST (there are more animals there than in the west...

with everything included except drinks), 1 day in WATAMU and 1 day at SARDDEGNA II with grilled fish!! (AGAINST THE 245 EUROS FROM THE VILLAGE FOR THE SAFARI ALONE!!) with the RECEIPT of the deposit and with the agreed price written down (the balance only at the end of the excursions...an extra guarantee!!) we return to the village. I strongly recommend Ali because he has many years of experience, speaks Italian very well and is full of helpfulness and courtesy...rating 10 with honors! I'll leave you his contact details "ALI SHEYUMBE cell. (+254) 723 237 627 email alimalindi2004@yahoo.com"

sardinia 2

we leave with a colleague of Ali for the Sardegna II atoll.. we arrive on the little boat and wait for the tide to go out...it's an idyllic place (sellers are never missing!!)..we have the chance to see and hold a pufferfish...then a little lunch based on grilled fish and lobster to your heart's content....it feels like being in paradise

watamu (the island of love) and the ruins of Gede

Here too we leave in the morning on a sailboat accompanied by another boat with the little seller women singing the usual little song "jambo buana.."...very cute ^-^ the island is shaped like a heart and if you climb on the rocks it's possible to see the open ocean....truly suggestive. The strip of beach at low tide is enchanting. After lunch in the village we decide to contact Ali for an extra...we decide to go visit the ruins of Gede. Extremely helpful...after 10 minutes a minibus was already waiting for us...and at the price of 3 euros each (round trip with the minibus..) + 5 euros entrance to the ruins + 5 euros for the guide at the ruins we truly spent a lovely afternoon. Gede was a city made of coral and precious stones dominated by various ethnic groups and then abandoned inexplicably. Very well organized from the point of view of hydraulics and "urban planning".

Now very suggestive thanks to the big trees and the little monkeys....ever-present!

tsavo east

We leave at 6...and it's needless to say we were super excited! after about 4 hours of "blender" (minivan + potholes) we arrive at the entrance of the park (it's 40 euros each...but they're already included in the agreed price...this is just to tell you what a good deal it is to book with ALI). We immediately set off on a game drive among the animals...we see warthogs, herds of buffalo, zebras and breathtaking landscapes. We arrive at the NDOLOLO tented camp for lunch. The camp is very nice, the tents are spacious and have private facilities. There's water only in the evening when you return from the safaris. The light generator is only on from 5 in the morning until 11 at night.

The good/bad thing is that the tented camp is totally immersed in the savannah...as a result at night it fills up with animals...felines, elephants....according to the Maasai there's no danger...and I believe it's true otherwise it wouldn't be approved by the state. We rest until 4 p.m. (also because the heat is unbearable and the animals don't come out...) and then we set off again for the game drive... In the afternoon we're lucky enough to see a lioness while she's tearing apart a buffalo carcass...all of this just a few meters from us. Towards dusk we return to the camp and after a good dinner and Maasai stories around the fire we go to sleep...

tsavo east

wake up at 6 and departure at 7...today was truly a lucky day..we managed to see a mother cheetah with three cubs just a few steps from us. A unique emotion also because it's really hard to manage to see them (about 300 specimens over 14,000 square km).. heading to the Maasai village outside the park at the VOI exit of the park. Mattia and I decided not to visit it because it's blatantly touristy and then at the price of 10 euros for 10 minutes... we then went back into the park and as we approached our exit we saw giraffes, jackals, mongooses, hippos, thousands of brightly colored little birds... by 1 p.m. we arrived at the buffalo restaurant just outside the park. Before lunch we went closer to the river to see the crocodiles.... We ate warthog..a very tender and very tasty meat.

After lunch we set off again for the village (the program is exactly identical to that of the village...except that they went to sleep on the border of Tsavo West and the following morning they visited a small part of that park...in my humble opinion absolutely useless for half a day...)

sun and sea

a bit of rest and sunbathing on the beach...

last day

we ventured into what they call the "jacuzzi" that is a natural pool of transparent water not far from the village...a nice dip and then psychological preparation to be able to leave such a paradise..=.='