I am currently sitting on the porch outside our bougie safari tent, typing this blog with four zebras about 300 ft in front of me. There may also be a wildebeest. I wasn’t going to blog on this trip. I wanted to be in the moment, but so much has happened, that I want to document it for y’all while it is still fresh in my mind! 

We flew into Nairobi late Sunday night and spent two nights at a hotel there, to recover from jet lag. We did walk around the city a bit and discovered a local restaurant on the top floor of a Catholic building. It was delicious and I was very proud of us that we found something that was not too touristy. I know a little bit of Swahili (although everyone in Kenya speaks English), so I try to use it out of respect. Everyone has been very kind and welcoming.

Today we got up early and took a puddle jumper to Maasai Mara National Park in which we are staying at Cheetah Camp for four days and three nights. This is our safari tour and Nikki booked a very fancy place. Originally this trip was supposed to be my six month holiday from my South Sudan MSF mission, so I requested we not stay in tents that I was currently staying in for work. It is way fancier than we usually travel and currently we are the only guest at the camp. Another couple will join us tomorrow but right now it feels very strange having so many people waiting on us.

The jeep ride from the dirt airstrip to the camp was about 40 minutes long and we saw a lot of wildlife! We were “lucky” to come upon two lions mating, which are guides say are very rare to see. They did not seem bothered that we were watching. Actually, a herd of giraffes were all staring at them in the background. It was hilarious. We also saw zebras, monkeys, wildebeest, warthogs, many native birds, giraffes, mongoose, impalas, elanes, topis and gazelles. And that was just getting to the camp. We were met with fresh juice and a delicious vegetarian lunch. They have accommodated Nikki and her gluten allergy quite well. 

The plan is to do day trips out to the conservatory each day, including sunset rides in which they bring our favorite beverages. They greeted us with fresh water in beautiful glass bottles that we get to keep with their logo on them. The guides, (Jacob and Philip), even had a cooler in the jeep and Nik and I had cold ginger beers while they had Fanta and Diet Coke. We toasted to a Swahili saying “Maisha marefu!” which means long life or cheers! It is all very surreal and I am so grateful to be here!

We did an evening safari in which we saw more giraffes, zebras, wildebeests, warthogs, monkeys and even baboons! It was just Nikki and I with our two tour guides and it really felt out of this world. We got very close to an elephant family and watched them eat for a bit. Then we went back to the lions we had seen earlier. They were still hanging out together. It was a bit strange watching them together but it was also great to see them so close. We couldn’t see a sunset tonight because of clouds, but we had drinks with the lions.

We ventured back and had a late dinner which was superb. I will not be one of those that takes food photos and gushes about the food, but just know it is all out of this world and I really don’t feel like I deserve this kind of care, but I am trying to accept it and enjoy it. We ended our evening with a campfire with coffee. Tomorrow we will wake up early for more safari and animal sightings. There will be other people in our group in the afternoon, so maybe it won’t feel so weird being waited on by so many people.

The weather is dreamy- 70s throughout the day and a little cooler at night. It is not at all what you would expect from Africa! It certainly was not my experience in South Sudan. We are in our bougie tent which they made up our beds for us and included hot water bottles! Is this real life?

  We do have to say we are sisters and we have to sleep in different beds because people who work here told us they would wake us up by coming into our tent in the morning with coffee. Currently, “sex acts between men are illegal under Kenyan statutes and carry a maximum penalty of 14 years' imprisonment, except 21 years in certain aggravating circumstances. Sex acts between women are not mentioned specifically in those statutes, although it is arguable that the gender-neutral term "person" in Section 162 of the Penal Code includes women”. I plan on doing a different blog post about my experience as a queer woman in Africa another time. Just know, we are being very careful and everyone thinks we are just really close sisters.

Thanks for reading all that! It is good for me to write down so I don’t forget all the wonderful things I have done and seen! It has been overwhelming!