This one is epic. Buckle up for some fun stories and a wild ride on the first part of our Kenyan Safari. But first, how did we get here?
Getting to Kenya
Pa came across a good flight to Kenya and got really excited. Ma thought it would be a good idea to do some research first. She got in touch with an old friend of hers who lives in Zimbabwe. He put her in touch with an old friend of his who lives in Kenya who was called “Squack.” Next thing I know, Pa is all excited and, while we were on our trip to New York, he managed to talk Ma into agreeing to it. We were heading to Kenya to visit different camps: Ekorian Mugie and Offbeat Mara!
We began planning the trip and got all the crazy shots and medicines we needed to be able to travel to Africa. We needed very specific items, but we could not pack a ton of stuff. There was a strict weight limit on the flights within Kenya because the planes were so small. I think we packed and repacked half a dozen times until we got it right!
The journey from Houston to Nairobi was a long one. 24 hours of travel. Two 11 hour flights with a 2 hour layover in Frankfurt. Thankfully the first flight was overnight. I curled up onto the seat after take off and passed out. I woke up 10.5 later and deplaned in Germany fully refreshed. Pa on the other hand was not. He doesn’t sleep much on planes.
We scurried through the airport, getting through customs quickly and grabbing a bite to eat before the next 11 hour flight. I had a bunch of movies and tv shows downloaded to my Kindle to keep me entertained. The flight was an easy one. We landed in Nairobi late at night, got our bags, and headed to the hotel. I was in much better shape than Ma and Pa. Those two were struggling!
We got some sleep, but not much. We had to get up early the next morning to head to another airport to catch the small plane that would take us out to the Mugie Ranch Conservancy. The airport was unlike anything I have ever seen. A dozen different companies taking tourists all over the country. Thankfully Squack had arranged a driver for us, and he knew where we needed to go.
Oh boy, were these planes small. 12 seats. I was the only person that could stand up inside. I was super excited to see how the plane works. We sat directly behind the pilots so I could keep my eye on them. Other than hitting a bird on takeoff, it was a fairly uneventful flight. We landed on a dirt airstrip out in the middle of nowhere.
Ekorian Mugie Camp
We were greeted at the airport by George and Bob. George was going to be our safari guide for the next few days and Bob was our driver. We loaded up the vehicle and began our trek to the camp. We had about an hour drive, but the animal sightings started almost immediately.
It started with some hippos in a pool of water right as we left the airport. Then we saw some “pumbas” or warthogs just hanging out. Then 2 male impalas were battling over some turf, and we even saw a herd (or dazzle!) of zebras (pronounced zeh-bras not zee-bras). This was all in the first hour!
We made it to camp and settled in. I think this is when the jet lag started to set in. We were all pretty exhausted. We went out for a quick tour of the land surrounding the camp but headed back in for an early dinner and to get some much needed rest.
After sleeping in the next morning, we grabbed some breakfast and were off again. George had a really cool surprise for us. Our first stop was to a lion’s den. There was a small pride of lions with some brand new babies. They were only 3 or 4 days old. We couldn’t really see them, as they stayed in the brush, but we could definitely hear them. George told us they would generally stay out of sight until they got stronger. There was also a young lion, maybe a few months old, and an adult male lion keeping watch.
After that, we explored some more areas. We came across a herd of elephants. They were all different ages and sizes. There were some young elephants, just under a year, to several that were believed to be 40-50 years old.
George had some more treats for us. He took us to a bloodhound demonstration. Bloodhounds are used to track poachers and help keep the animals and conservancy safe. The trainer had one of the bloodhounds sniff Bob’s hat, and then we were off. George put me on his shoulders so we could run after the bloodhound. It only took a few minutes for him to find Bob hiding in the bushes. It was quite impressive.
After the bloodhounds, we went to the Mugie Conservancy headquarters. Here we got to learn more about Mugie and how it operates. They also have a giraffe named Tala. Tala has been around for several years. She was found following a herd of goats when she was only a few days old. The herder brought her to the headquarters where he knew someone would be able to take care of her. She has become a staple for any visitor when coming to Mugie.
Tala was there when we arrived. George grabbed some pellets of food and we stood on the porch so I could feed her. She was so gentle. She would eat the pellets right out of my hand. The craziest part, her tongue was black. We hung out with her for a few minutes but then she got bored and wandered off. We called it a day and headed back to camp.
The next morning we headed to a small lake to go kayaking. However, to get to the lake, we rode camels! Yes, camels. It was a bit difficult to get on its back – those guys are super tall – but once we did, it was great. We meandered our way down to the lake.
George said there were times when the elephants would come down to bathe in the water, but we had no such luck that day. We kayaked around the lake and then enjoyed some lunch by the water. It was really quite nice.
Ma had requested to see a school. We had brought some geography educational materials (of course) and some soccer balls to give to the local school. Ma teaches a lot of education majors, so she wanted to show her students what schools look like in other parts of the world. We were given a tour of the school and the grounds. We also got to meet and talk with the headmaster.
Ekorian Mugie camp was amazing. It was run by a family with a few kiddos around my age. It was fairly small with only 6 luxury tents, but it was very family friendly. We had another family join us for a few days and it was great. We would have dinner each night as a group. We would exchange stories from the day and get to know each other. One night, someone even brought out some marshmallows for all of us kids to roast over the fire. Yum!
Our time at Ekorian had come to an end. It was time to hop on another small plane to the next camp in Mara North. These few days in Mugie Ranch Conservancy were just incredible. George and Bob were great. They were so patient with me and took time to teach me about their culture and their country. The rest of the staff at the camp were wonderful too. Great people, great food, and just an overall great experience. Thank you Ekorian Mugie!
