Before traveling to Kitengela, I had never visited the continent of Africa. We went at the request of some friends to facilitate some art and business training, but we ended up falling in love. The people we met are the most hospitable, caring, kind-hearted people you’ll ever meet. The weather was great, especially considering we were coming from England in February. My daughter did not want to leave. She now wants to live there.
Kitengela is located just outside of Nairobi, about an hour drive from the Nairobi airport. Goats and cows wander the streets. Boda-bodas are everywhere, carrying abnormally large loads for such a small, two-wheeled vehicle, and the mangoes and bananas taste better than anything you’ve ever tasted.
We took a safari in Lake Nakuru National Park, which is about a 3.5 hour drive from Kitengela (traffic is always a questions mark). While Nairobi National Park sits just on the edge of Nairobi, Lake Nakuru National Park came highly recommended. So it’s no surprise to anyone that it ended up being an incredible adventure. The landscape, the water, the animals, even driving into Nakuru the scenery above the Great Rift Valley is spectacular. Throughout the safari we saw loads of zebras, rhinos, water buffalo, impala, and desert warthogs. We pulled up next to a Rothschild’s Giraffe eating some leaves so close to our truck that we could almost touch him. Later, we saw his whole family of about 14 giraffes grazing in a field. To cap off the adventure, we found a pair of female lions resting near a tree in the distance. It is a trip that will never be forgotten. We cannot wait to go back!
