Category Archives: Travelinds

Oribi Mom, Travelinds

Oribi Mom: Doing Life One Tree at a Time

“Mist-blanketed rivers with crocodiles have tales to tell, I’m sure.” – Heather Lind.

The mist in Oribi Gorge, just like in the rainforest. PHOTO BY: HEATHER LIND

October 16, 2024

More than a decade ago, we planted a tree in the rainforest. It was one of those last-minute decisions you make when you’re leaving a beautiful place and wonder how you can leave some sort of mark on it.

We’ve always been free souls who preferred to leave footprints and take only memories. I guess it was a sort of ‘ethical traveller’ decision. It’s the same reason we never rode an elephant or went on those boat tours to see the propeller-etched whale sharks they feed to keep nearby for tourists.

We don’t buy curios most of the time unless the mementoes on sale are directly helping a local person earn a living. In this case, planting the tree was the best of both worlds. We were supporting a local business and, at the same time, contributing to reforesting the badly depleted jungle.

That tree also contributes to the oxygen you and I are breathing at this very moment, 11 years down the line. Yes, we understand that this little side business of the place we stayed at was to make money.

Isn’t it okay to feed your family off the money tourists are willing to pay for a tree-planting exercise? You’re making a living and helping the jungle ecosystem. We even got a ‘plaque’ – a little wooden thing painted with ‘Linds’ on it. They stuck it in the thick mud next to our sapling. I guarantee that plaque is not there today. It was the kind you might recycle later for another tourist by painting over it. That’s okay. The tree, though? I often think about it.

I’ve planted many, many trees since then, particularly on our farm in Oribi Gorge. Hundreds of trees. But I still wonder what that tree looks like now. Is it towering over the little wooden huts with the rickety boardwalk? That boardwalk was really the only way to walk from your hut to the place they served food.

The ground was basically just thick mud up to the knee. Thousands of leeches were also just waiting for you to squelch over there so that they could feast.

I’d still go back to see that tree, but we’re older and wiser now, aren’t we? Imagine what else we would notice ten years on. Mist-blanketed rivers with crocodiles have tales to tell, I’m sure.

Oribi Mom, Travelinds

Oribi Mom: Escape the World – Read!

“Read wherever you can, even if it’s pouring with rain.”

The privilege of reading in a campsite next to Lake Navaisha, Kenya. Photo By: Heather Lind

 

November 2, 2023

There’s not much time to read these days. It used to be easy, grabbing a book in the evenings after a day of teaching or reading a quick few pages on the subway as we travelled up to Seoul or Pyeongtaek for various reasons. The ultimate relaxation was lying on a rickety lounger or a colourful towel with salt spray in my face. I’d fliick though an old, yellowed novel that I’d found on a resort’s shelf nearby or swapped with another traveller.

A Winter Escape With Piles of Books

There was one winter holiday where we had a few days off and couldn’t stand to be in -10 degrees for another second more than necessary. So, we hopped onto the cheapest flight we could find and headed south to The Philippines. In that case, it was to an island called Virac. The flights were cheap because it was the rainy season in that area, but who cares.

We took rain jackets, quick-drying shorts, and waterproof hand luggage. It absolutely poured when we arrived, and continued to do so for the whole week we were there. Since we needed rest more than adventure for those few days, we made full use of the hut on stilts we slept in with bamboo floors and a big mozzie net. And then we found the books.

Without much Wi-Fi around, even Oribi Dad got stuck into the whodunnits, corporate thrillers, and spies on offer. Days and days and days of reading, interspersed by meals of freshly caught crayfish… I mean who can really complain about a little bit of torrential rain?

Travelling To Tropical Islands Just To Read Books? Why Not

That happened to be a world-famous surfing beach with a festival of hundreds of people in July. But in January, we saw one other family arrive the entire time we were there.

The family who owned the five huts at our ‘resort’ seemed confused about why we were there. They kept apologising for the big box of books that were still wet from flooding before we arrived. We were glad that we could contribute to their income while getting a holiday out of it ourselves. And they made the most delicious crayfish and fresh fish meals for us every day.

When I pick up a book back at home, that’s the memory it triggers. Well, that, and the many other places I’ve been privileged enough to read books in. May there be many more in this lifetime!

Published here.

Oribi Mom, Travelinds

Oribi Mom: Shells, Shells, and Shells

“We didn’t take any shells away from our travels in these magical places; that would be against the rules.”

Sunset at the Tip of Borneo. PHOTO BY HEATHER LIND

August 14, 2023

 

There’s something about shells that has always fascinated me. Since I can remember, I’ve felt a calm descend as I walk slowly through the sand. I glance here and there to find the prettiest, most interesting shells the beach has to offer for the day.

Sometimes, you have to look for a tiny point sticking out among grains of sand before sticking your toe in and flipping it out to reveal what’s underneath. Sometimes, it’s just a piece. Other times, it’s an unexpected masterpiece that you can’t stop looking at in your hand.

Beaches Around the World Have Shells For Us To Find

When we were on the north coast in the school holidays, seeing old dried turtle eggs on the dunes was very exciting. It reminded me about the time we arrived at a beach in Kenya for a few days with family. It was raining. We jumped out of the car after a flight and a taxi ride from Nairobi. People were running to the beach to watch tiny hatchling green turtles emerging.

Only God could have timed that for us.

Those little turtles were awe-inspiring. Working with all their might to get out from their deep nest under the sand and poking out their heads into the rainy afternoon. They were absolutely covered in sand and moving their flippers constantly to try and move forward. Slow, awkward moments made their path a long one. but they kept going until they reached the shoreline. They’re so fast once they’re in the water; unbelievably fast after watching them struggle on the beach!

Another Fantastic Beach – The Tip of the Dog’s Ear in Borneo

Two years before that, we’d spent a month in Malaysia Borneo. My Number One favourite memory was diving in to snorkel in the Coral Triangle, the same area as the world-famous dive site Sipadan. The turquoise sea is stunning when you’re on the little speed boat. But once you dip the mask down into the salty water, it’s indescribable.

Incredible.

Paradise.

Colours as you’ve never seen them and moving things everywhere you look. The mantis shrimps shimmered next to blue spotted rays and parrot fish and thousands of other creatures going about their day.

But seeing the turtles was just magical. Huge green turtles you could ride on if you could catch them – you can’t, they’re too fast! – and munching on sea grass or zipping by in the current. Hawksbill turtles, too if we were lucky, big and small.

Thankfully, the military shells around Sipadan weren’t in action while we were in the area, though we did hear shots and explosions every now and then. Apparently, it was just a normal thing and we were told to ignore the sounds and rather focus on remembering to put on sun-cream.

Don’t Take Shells, Just Memories

We didn’t take any shells away from our travels in these magical places; that would be against the rules. But we did take a big cowrie home from our favourite North Coast beach. It was one that my then-boyfriend snorkelled to find deep in the reef so that he could use it as a ring holder. But that story, involving secret sibling setups and too-long walks that almost ruined the proposal, is for another day. And we still have the shell.

Published here.

Oribi Mom, Travelinds

Oribi Mom: Back To Paradise and Still Captivated

“If you ever go there, be sure to leave time for a long walk.”

Oribi Mom at Mabibi in iSimangaliso Wetland Park.

August 3, 2023

It’s been three years of this COVID stuff, with two sons arriving amid the chaos. With all that’s happened, we’ve also had to postpone a holiday we’d planned for July 2020.

Instead of COVID lasting a few weeks, it was still around the next year, so we didn’t go in 2021 either. Then, Boy Number Three made an entry in 2022. And now, here we are, with a one-year-old, his two brothers, and finally a three-year-old booking we have been able to actually use.

A Special Place for Our Growing Family

The place is a very special one for us as a family. It’s where we met 22 years ago as starry-eyed teenagers. It’s also where he proposed to me six years after that, when I was finally old enough to get married. So when we go, there’s always some history to it.

But it’s truly a gem of a beach destination on the North Coast. It’s the type that is beautiful just the way it is. It doesn’t need amenities to cover up litter or dirty sand or cloudy water. It has pristine soft white dunes, crystal clear water, and kilometres of space with not a soul in sight. Perfect.

Beautiful Beach Hours Above and Under the Water

The snorkellers in our little group saw rays, crayfish, lionfish, and all sorts of other interesting things in the water. The beachgoers admired the performing whales constantly passing by. And I found five turtle nests, marked by the dried eggs fanning out from the exit point on the dune. Super exciting.

In twenty years, not much has changed there except the popping up of a very exclusive lodge right below the campsite. The camp has also erected three little cabins with canvas walls, giving us the option to have our own kitchen and shower. It’s glamping compared to the outright campsites, but just as immersive in nature.

I like the cabins with small children, but we let the bigger boys camp for two nights just to have the memories. The kids also hopped around from campsite to campsite, visiting their cousins and friends who came with us for laughs, toasted marshmallows, and lots of sand castles. They even found some of the endemic bird species in the area, saw giraffes right on the main road, and watched the sunsets over Lake Sibaya. They heard the bushbabies and elusive Green Malkohas too.

Hopefully, they’ll always remember it as the best beach ever. That’s how we think of it. If you ever go there, be sure to leave time for a long walk. You might just find one if the giant cowries my love used to propose to me all those years ago. Best ringholder ever.

Published here.

Oribi Mom, Travelinds

Oribi Mom: Running Into Summer on the South Coast

“Summer is coming and it feels greener since the pandemic started making its exit.”

Jogging on beaches in Indonesia was often beautiful but home has less plastic rubbish. PHOTO HEATHER LIND

November 5, 2022 

I’ve started running again. Okay, let’s call it what it is: a slow jog. A very slow one after three babies and a long year.

The last time I started jogging was after Baby Number Two. I was bitten by a night adder about a month into my routine and it didn’t go so well after that. But, I’m back again, kicking up dust and looking for bird distractions up the crazy hills.

I’ve tried to catch up to the giant water mongoose that lives by the stream, but it’s too quick. I’ve snuck up to the African Pygmy Kingfisher that lives in the bank, but my cellphone camera is woefully inadequate to get a clear picture. I usually see a bright blur darting out in front of me and know I’ve missed it.

Panting Up the Hills Is Part of Running Again

It’s also a little embarrassing coming into view of one of the occasional workers in the macs. It’s about that moment you realise that you’ve been panting aloud like some old dog all the way up the hill. Did the person just on the side of the ridge wonder why an old gogo was coming up the road in the middle of nowhere?

The crowned hornbills sometimes sit at the tops of the trees and laugh at me while I pant up the steep bits. With an elevation gain of about 150 metres during the jog, the steep bits include the first 2.5km or so. If I can make it past that, I can ease up the heart rate and cruise downhill for most of the way home.

There’s one part of my regular route I’ve named Death Hill. That’s probably slightly dramatic, but it certainly makes you feel like death warmed up when you’re at the bottom of it and want to get to the highest point on the farm. If you can push through, you can turn around and have a full view of the sea in the distance, Gamalakhe next to that, and Oribi Gorge and Paddock the other way.

You can also see some of the Southern Drakensberg on clear days. The view alone is worth a little bit of sweat and embarrassing panting most days.

Jog or Run or Walk, But Get Out and See the World

I’ve jogged many places in the world, including around a tiny Indonesian island where we snorkelled with turtles every day. I’ve jogged in the Mara Triangle in Kenya and wondered about lions hidden in the grass. Now, I’m running on my farm on the South Coast and it’s just as beautiful.

Summer is coming and it feels greener since the pandemic started making its exit. Who knows, maybe we won’t even have to cancel the holidays this year.

Published here.

Oribi Mom, Travelinds

Oribi Mom: Clicking My Heels Because There’s No Place Like Home

“What a blessing to be right here.”

July 9, 2022

So, we had our first parent’s meeting the other day. It was just before school. My one-year-old came with us and played on the mat. We sat down and listened to how our sweet four-year-old is navigating RR. But all that my brain managed to process in those first few minutes was, “How did I get here?”

From the Classroom to an Exotic Beach

I had this flashback to lying on a slightly scratchy bamboo lounger reading a faded old novel I’d found at the reception desk that morning. The cobalt and turquoise sea was just ten metres in front of us. It was gorgeous in the sunlight, despite a few clouds left over from a recent cyclone that had passed through the central Philippines. We had endured a few days of rain with more sleep, more reading, and a cheap massage or two. Now, we were back in the sun and waiting for the tide to come in a bit so we could get to the reef.

It was quite sharp and rocky near the shore, but once you got deeper, the reef stretched for several kilometres in either direction. If you were lucky, one or two lazy hours with a snorkel and a rash vest brought endless colours; parrot fish, octopus, banded sea kraits, zebra fish, peacock shrimps and so much more. If you were really lucky, there would be a few green turtles or leatherbacks swimming by, close enough to follow but never slow enough to touch. Amazing!

But, here I was sitting on a yellow plastic chair as my son’s teacher spoke about our little boy. I’m almost a mom of three! We have lived in one place for almost five years, a record for us both. We undertook a quest in the Bornean jungle to find some of the last wild Pygmy elephants – and found them after five days! Now, I was watching my toddler happily dumping out every toy container he could find in his brother’s classroom, right before school.

There’s no place like home

How did we get here indeed. Life doesn’t stop for soaked-to-the-bone speedboat rides from Malaysia into Thailand. It only lets you remember all the fantastic things you’ve seen along the way. Maybe it was the sun rays on the wall that suddenly drew me back to our adventures.

As I listened to how much my boy has grown and learned, I had another thought. “What a blessing to be right here!” This is home now, with two tiny boys starting their own adventures alongside us. I could never have imagined how things would turn out while I searched the tree tops for that one wild orangutan we found, but I’m so glad that we kept going. It’s a new day, and I’m happy to be living in it.

Published here.

Oribi Mom, Travelinds

Oribi Mom: Great Memories Don’t Need a Shelf

“My expensive collectible 2012 Korean Grand Prix mug stared back at me.”

Heather and Robin Lind at the 2012 Korean Grand Prix.

April 15, 2021

I was washing my dishes in the outside sink (my kitchen renovation is three months overdue). The skittish lesser-striped swallow couple were feeding their cheeping babies above my head. Monkeys were starting to forage nearby. My fluffy, white bunnies were napping under the washing after a usual night of exploration and mayhem around the yard.

I reached past the terrifying earwig that appears on my sponge each morning, and picked up an item from the soapy water. Confused, I did a double take as my collector’s mug emerged with bubbles and coffee stains.

My expensive collectible 2012 Korean Grand Prix mug stared back at me.

The Mug Was a Genuine Collectible From Not So Long Ago

I could not believe this heirloom had been used for coffee. But I remembered that it had been a crazy week with too much work, too little sleep, and no energy for regular dishwashing in my scenic scullery. It had been sick babies juggled with looming deadlines. It has also been a month of several power outages, including a five-day streak after some lightning.

That mug represented all that came before this chaos, when we still contemplated having an adult display shelf instead of only toddler-friendly zones. It told tales of calm and adventurous years of travel, extended honeymoons, and lots of sleep. It was a different life stage; not better, just different.

That Time That Felt Like Another Lifetime Now

It was a time when it was the two of us taking a last-minute road trip in a foreign country to see a real Grand Prix, an event we only dreamed about attending during our lifetime. Vettel fans, we put the track into our Korean-speaking GPS – no small feat, I promise you.

In a comedy of errors that we laughed about afterwards, there was no room at the hotel. There was also no way to park at the track without a permit. Luckily, we chose a hotel that was full of press for the Grand Prix. Two kind French journalists overheard our predicament and shoved two press parking passes into my husband’s hand, saying, “Follow me,” just like that little shrimp in Finding Nemo.

Our borrowed Matiz kept up with their Mercedes as if its life depended on it.  It was living up to its local reputation as the mosquito of the highway.

Follow the Adventure and Don’t Get Pushed Off the Road By a Celebrity

The journalists told us explicitly to zoom through the checkpoints as if we belonged there, so we did. Before one of these obstacles, we were almost shoved off the road by a pompous black sports car carrying none other than Heikki Kovalainen.

Still, we found our seats in time for the parade. Those F1 drivers waved right at us as the thunderous Korean air force formation zoomed overhead, more deafening than anything that raced around the track that day. Even when my broken collector’s mug is a mosaic on an old pot plant in fifty years’ time, it will still be true that we raced our Matiz against an F1 legend.

Great memories don’t need a shelf. Oh, and Vettel won.

Published here.

Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Philippines, South Africa, Travelinds, Travelinds Top 10, Vietnam

Travelinds Top 10: Beaches of Africa and Asia

Travelinds Top 10
Beaches of Africa and Asia

We are certainly beach people, ever happy with sand between our toes.  From Travelinds personal experiences, the following beaches are definitely in our top ten choices from around the world:

10. Blue Lagoon (Bali, Indonesia)

One of the little known Balinese beaches, this secret beach lies over the hill and around the corner from Padang Bai Harbour.  Blue Lagoon boasts a fascinating reef just a few steps into the water.  Walk to the beach from the harbour by heading up and over the steep hill on the eastern side of Padang Bai Beach Road, then grab a snorkel for a day of underwater relaxation.  We even saw eels and turtles in the little reef.  Be sure to support the local restaurants (there are two) as these owners keep the beach clean out of their own pockets.

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9. Gili Meno (Lombok, Indonesia)

One of our Indonesian favourites, the Gili Meno beach actually runs around the whole island (which is only about 1 x 1.5 kilometres).  At almost any point, you can swim out about 10 to 20 metres and hit the reef, so be sure to bring a snorkel and some fins and make the most of it.  We swam with turtles, lion fish and schools of fluorescent beauties every single day. Wish we could have stayed longer!

Gili Meno Cowries

8. Diani Beach (Mombasa, Kenya)

A ten kilometre stretch of fine white sand,  gorgeous Diani Beach was definitely our favourite beach in Kenya, with neighbouring Tiwi Beach a close second.

Camels Diani Beach

7. Linapacan Islands (Linapacan, Palawan Province, The Philippines)

A whole archipelago of tiny islands somewhere between Coron and Palawan mainland,  each island with wondrous beaches and its own reef right off the shore.  How could we choose just one beach? Check out some of the names and descriptions from our fantastic four-day island hopping tour on the Brinze Kylene Expedition.

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6. Barra Bay (Barra Peninsular, Mozambique)

A Northern beach of Mozambique, there is little about it we did not adore. Warm, flat ocean and stretches of Barra sand with smiling locals and coconuts for sale.

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Photo credit: Barra Resorts

5. Anbang Beach (Hoi An, Vietnam)

In Central Vietnam, Anbang is a distinctive beach, which is perfect for lazy swimming days and scrumptious lunches at the local chain of restaurants.  We cycled over from Hoi An. Buy drinks from the restaurants and have access to lovely thatched umbrellas or wooden booths, especially helpful to escape the midday heat.

An Bang Beach

4. White Beach (Moalboal, Cebu, The Philippines)

On the western peninsular of Cebu, parallel to a long, beautiful reef, white beach is another gem in central Philippines.  Truly, one of the most superb coral reefs in the Philippines, the Moalboal reef (stretching all the way off White Beach  to Panagsama) is well worth taking your own snorkel to to swim out whenever you want.

Malapascua Island
Malapascua Island

3. Mawun Beach (Lombok, Indonesia)

The long stretch of Mawun white sand that lines a peacock-blue bay, perfect for long morning swims.  A fleet of tiny fishing boats floats upon sparkling, clear water sits to one side of the bay. Take a motorbike to get there from Kuta and be sure to take some cash to support the local vendors and family restaurants.

Mawun Beach

2. Sempang Mengayau – Tip of Borneo (Sabah, Malaysia Borneo)

Soft white sand borders the Sulu Sea of the Sabah Dog’s left ear. A secluded stretch of paradise all to ourselves is only one of the beautiful beaches in this area.  It was 7 days of bliss.

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1. Mabibi (Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa)

The place where Travelinds began their journey together on the Elephant Coast, part of the rugged Kwazulu-Natal coastline in South Africa. Look out for turtles laying their eggs along the dunes and whales passing by the north coast beaches.  Walk for kilometres and breathe in pure African air.  The Mabibi campsite is rustic, no electricity (except in the cabins) and hot water for showers in the communal ablution block.  Nearby, Lake Sibaya is absolutely breathtaking. This is our number one favourite beach in the world – by far!

 

Photo credit: Mabibi Campsite
Photo credit: Mabibi Campsite

 

Where is your favourite beach?

South Africa, Travelinds, Travelinds Destinations

Dullstroom

October 2016

Would you like to come with us to Dullstroom this weekend?

Where? Sure. Is that really a place?

Dullstroom, it turns out, is in fact a small town in Mpumalanga, South Africa – a three hour drive from Johannesburg.  As such, the Joburgers head out there regularly to enjoy the open spaces of this backwater retreat in the Mpulmalanga highlands.

The small town attracts sanctuary-seekers from all over the country, trekking to the beautiful rocky hills dotted with dams full of fat rainbow trout.  Fly-fishing, coffee, hiking, photography, crafting, artisans, small businesses – Dullstroom packs a lot into one weekend, if that’s your thing.

Our weekend consisted mostly of admiring the gentle rains over the wide open spaces, splashing off the koppies and making ripples in the sky-mirror dams.   Enjoying the fresh air and the beauty of nature, unhindered by traffic or crowds, serenaded by the frogs and woken up with the first golden rays of the morning sun at Zuikerboschhoek.20161008_174719

If it is possible to indeed feel completely rested and relaxed after just a weekend, then Dullstroom is the place to make it happen.

Check it out!

Kenya, Travelinds, Travelinds Destinations

Two Days in Nairobi

September 2016

We had two days in Nairobi and wanted a fairly relaxed schedule.  This is what we did:

The Sheldrick Elephants

The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust had us captivated from the first moment. The 11 o’clock feeding was surprisingly endearing, not commercial or money-grabbing, but educational and fascinating. It was wonderful to see the babies and their caretakers interacting. The love that goes into raising these orphans is amazing to behold.

This is a great initiative and needs loads of support to keep on going. I would recommend reading Dame Daphne Sheldrick’s memoirs (An African Love Story) for a deeper history on how this work came to be and the struggle to protect the Kenyan elephants.

The highlight of our trip was to go back (by appointment) and meet our little adoptee, Ambo (a ten-month old elephant rescued from Amboseli), put him to bed and meet his caretakers. Ambo is just one of many orphans at the Trust and we were happy to know that we have contributed something to his 24 litres of daily milk for the next three years, as well as the countless other costs of running an establishment of this nature.

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Keepers like Meshack, who has been here almost 30 years, love their jobs and their orphans.
Keepers like Meshack, who has been here almost 30 years, love their jobs and their orphans.

Thank you to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust team for all you do for these gentle giants, for Kenya, for Africa and for our children’s future with elephants and rhinos.

Giraffe Kisses

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Having watched the Giraffe Tea movie as a child (with the little girl who feeds baby giraffes), I had always wanted to meet these majestic creatures up close and see the famous Giraffe Manor Hotel. Taking a few hours, we headed over to the Giraffe Centre in Karen, Nairobi – The African Fund for Endangered Wildlife.

Cost: As at September 2016, it cost 1000 KSH per non-resident for feeding, viewing and trails for the day.

There were nine giraffe altogether, including two small babies that were too cute for words, and a pregnant mama who was grumpy (and HUNGRY) stealing all the other giraffe’s vantage point for pellets.  There are also warthogs and birds to see from the platform if the giraffe allow you a view around their enormous heads.  Like a horse, it has a long nose, almost the length of your entire upper body, so the Afrikaans word ‘kameelperd’ (camel horse) seemed strangely appropriate up close.

20160908_152843 20160908_125653Kissing the giraffe seemed unthinkable, but we were assured by giggling giraffe centre educators of the ‘antiseptic properties’ of their saliva and the kisses were indeed great fun to photograph (because only one half of Travelinds was brave enough to do it after watching a few people get plastered). A 45cm tongue is rather adept at twirling the pellet right out between your thumb and forefinger and the head butts signal a demand for more!

20160908_143051It was a hugely entertaining, and most of all educational visit, where we learnt about the subspecies of giraffe in Africa and how to identify them.  Before this, we were not even aware that we had seen different types of giraffe (Masaai with splotches, Rothschild with white legs and  the Southern Giraffe which we have in South Africa).

Nairobi National Park

This was a fun day out, twelve hours of driving around, picnicking, watching animals and enjoying nature. We arrived at sunrise, paid the exorbitant non-resident fees, and within the first minute of our drive through the gate saw a huge male lion walking in the road, roaring his head off and looking right into our car window. Wow!

We also saw more than a hundred ostriches over the day, all the antelope, black and white rhino, a couple of hundred Maribou storks, 10 secretary birds, a family of crowned cranes, Malachite Kingfisher and a bounty of other small creatures and birds.

Lowlights: Trash covered Kingfisher Picnic Site after the public holiday long weekend party and a brazen Sykes monkey stole our banana (out of the car!) at the one picnic area while we were stretching our legs (this might have been a highlight though).

These are the Kenya Wildlife Services park fees.

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At the end of the day, we visited the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust to meet our adopted elephant and put him to bed. We had to drive out of the Banda Gate (get a special letter to exit) and then go down to the elephant orphanage through the secure area.

Goodnight, Ambo!
Goodnight, Ambo!

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A wonderful end to a magical Kenyan trip!

 

Kenya, Travelinds, Travelinds Destinations

Lake Naivasha

September 2016

Lake Naivasha

At the end of our Kenyan adventures, we had a few days left for an unscheduled trip.  After looking at our options, we decided on Lake Naivasha.  This stunning body of water is one of many fresh-water lakes in the Great Rift Valley, bordered by volcanoes and geothermal vents.  There are campsites and resorts along much of the southern shore, as well as flower farms and conservancies.

20160909_130456A Sweet Camping Spot

Thanks to some recommendations from the locals, we headed off in a borrowed 4×4 to pitch our tent at Camp Carnelley’s (beside Fisherman’s).  Set right alongside the beautiful Lake Naivasha, two hours from Nairobi, under the cool shade of giant fever and fig trees, Camp Carnelley’s is a sanctuary – a place to breathe.   We awoke to the sound of twittering of birds and the African Fish Eagles competing for the loudest cries.The Colobus monkeys visited every day at the tip-top of the fig tree that shaded our campsite.  High up in the trees, flocks of birds congregated in a cacophony of chirps and melodies, feasting on the fruit and leaving “presents” on any unsuspecting victims within their trajectory.

The serenity of the days melted into the amplified frog symphonies of the nights, accompanied by the bass of hippo grunts and the cricket serenades.   The hot water showers were open to the sparkling night sky, reminding us gently that we were still under African skies in the wilds of Kenya.20160909_163625

In season, you can see the famous pink flamingo migration (both here and at Nakuru and Bogoria) as they gather at the shore edges and scoop the water with their comical bills.  We’ll have to come back one day!

New Friends

The beauty of travel is all the interesting people you meet along the journey. Travelinds met two sets of new friends on this trip.  The first was a family who had recently moved to Nairobi and spoke German, French and English. They shared their lunch with us, spent the day chatting and having fun; and then we barbecued a delicious fish that we bought from a local fisherman.  The other couple is from the U.K., currently living in Uganda and road-tripping through Kenya! You can catch Alex and Katie at https://tougandablog.wordpress.com/ and https://lifethroughmylens.net/

“A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles.”

– Tim Cahill