After our day trip to Rwanda we traveled along the rough roads back to the familiar compound of Red Chili, still in a gorilla induced haze, tented for the night for a change. Then another travel day to Jinja – still in Uganda, we slept beside the nile in an overpriced shack with less than adequate mosquito proofing *but* stellar wifi in the restaurant. The things no one tells you, you won’t be getting any wifi connection for weeks. We were in Jinja for 2 nights and it was a nice reprieve from the long days on the road. We were free (not interested in white water rafting – already ptsd for life) or going on scooter rides around town. We sauntered over to the neighbouring hotel with our lovely British travel parents, a prime view of the nile, an amazing pool with loungers, fantastic curry chips -also poolside, refreshing mojitos and menacing monkeys. It was a delight. But we couldn’t stay for too long, there were game drives and adventures to go on!

After departing Jinja we stayed in the nicest place we had laid our eyes on. Behind a humble gate in the grasslands of Nakuru, beautifully appointed little cabins with a thatched roofs, tile floors, soft lighting, an ensuite bathroom just as large as the sleeping quarters, relatively new construction. Here’s the kicker. Affiliated with an on site yet hidden orphanage. Maybe we have differing views, but I was taking no part in the “white savior” tourism aspect of travel, not in Africa, not ever. So we declined the offer to walk through, exploiting children for pictures and in turn doing more harm than good. We donated previously acquired bags of school supplies and other goods. We heard through fellow tour mates that the conditions were beyond deplorable. Thin urine soaked mattresses on a dirty floor. Dozens of kids per room. The buildings not visible from the rest of the property. Suspicious to say the least. Our guide seemed to be all for the gang going to have a look, we were the only two that refused, and once the rest of the group had left his vibe changed, and he seemed to approve of our educated and thought out decision once he understood. We heard many of our tour mates reflecting that they had regretted going.

The following morning we are up and off on a game drive through Nakuru National Park, where, at one point, baboons had hopped down from the canopy onto the top of the bus – terrifying yes – and if you grew up with the Simpsons like me, you know there’s one specific episode that’ll conjure up in memory. Chris our guide shouted manically to shut all the windows, since the baboons knew how to reach down, check for any openings and potentially hop in to do a quick b&e massacre. Fun times. We were lucky to see an array of wildlife that Nakuru National Park is home to; a pair of critically endangered black rhino in the distance, a lone depressing lion, herds of zebra & antelope, giraffe and many pink flamingos in the shallow soda lake. We stop for lunch and disembarked in a stand of trees where there is an observatory and armed men on the lookout for predators, we were warned to not wander far. We returned to our cabin for the night and had the best sleep in a week, enjoying it even more knowing we were camping the next night and sleeping in the air the night after.

The following day we pack up early and head out to Lake Naivasha. Sister and I opted for an optional excursion, a walking tour around Hell’s Gate National Park with a knowledgable fellow, I believe he was a professor, or at least he gave off professor vibes. We were unarmed, and only saw Giraffes from a large distance, but it was incredibly nice to stretch our legs for a while. We did a loop and climbed up a bit of a hill for a better vantage point of the area. Back at camp we went on a little afternoon boat ride to look for hippos and birds, as our camp was right on the lake. We saw an African Fish Eagle, with it’s loud distinctive call, the “iconic sound of Africa”. It’s fishing skills and size are similar to our bald eagles in Canada, but the African counterpart has more white onto its chest and a little swoop of white feathers off the back of its head. Later that evening someone from our group noticed some hippos on land in the neighbouring plot, only separated by a flimsy rope fence, to which our guide (understandably) freaked out about and called us all back after some – not us – wanted a closer look at the beast. We all got a little lecture after that about how we could’ve died, lol. Very reassuring that we were tenting it that night, in hippo alley. The most dangerous animal in all of Africa.

The following day is the 10th, and we were headed back to Nairobi, only a few hours away. We say our goodbyes and thank you’s to our lovely crew and spent some time at a hotel where some of the crew will be staying before either departing later, or the following day on flights or to continue their overland journey. Chris our guide returns after dark to organize our transport to the airport which looked to just be friends with cars, who arrived late. During the drive we were instructed to get out and walk around the toll booths and pray to sweet Jesus that our driver would collect us and not just take off into the night. He didn’t. It was fine. We eventually check in to our flights, utter chaos at the airport. Departure is 11pm, a nice little red eye, direct – thank the heavens – a long layover in Heathrow, which is fine. We relaxed, didn’t leave the airport, had pretty decent fish & chips and were home the following evening, catching another flight out’ve Vancouver to Comox. T’was a whirlwind of experiences, wouldn’t change a thing, and I highly highly recommend.