From Savannah to Jungle Rivers

The last few days brought a few unexpected changes to our plans. Demonstrations took place across the country on Monday, and after being advised to stay home, we decided to cancel our outing on Tuesday until things had calmed down.

Luckily for us, the situation settled quickly, and soon we were able to continue exploring again.

What we have discovered is that the area around Mount Kenya is filled with conservancies and reserves. Some you can simply drive through, while others are protected areas with entrance fees. The landscapes here seem to change constantly. One moment you are surrounded by wide open savannah, the next by farmland, and suddenly you find yourself in the middle of dense forest filled with towering trees and colourful birds.

Driving through the countryside, we suddenly spotted rhinos, giraffes, zebras, and gazelles behind fences.

Julius looked out of the window in complete amazement.

“We are not even in a national park, and we have already seen rhinos and giraffes!”

A little later, we passed a group of camels resting together beneath a tree.

“This is exactly how I imagined camels in the wild,” he said thoughtfully, “just without the fence.”

And then, a little further along the road, we were lucky enough to see a whole caravan of camels walking together beside the road. We all found them fascinating.

We visited the Ngare Ndare Forest and walked along the canopy walkway high above the forest floor. At first, we all had to overcome our fear of heights a little, but after a while we relaxed and began to enjoy it. From above, we watched baboons leaping effortlessly through the trees while birds flashed between the branches too quickly for us to photograph them.

The walk felt peaceful and almost unreal.

At one point, Assunta looked around and said:

“It feels like being in the jungle.”

And honestly, she was right.

Afterwards, we continued to the waterfalls in the Ngare Ndare Forest for a swim.

The water was freezing cold, but absolutely worth it.

We swam right up to the waterfall, stood beneath the rushing water, and enjoyed what felt like nature’s own massage. Julius then discovered that you could swim behind the waterfall and look out through the curtain of water from the other side.

The children spent ages playing in the river, surrounded by dense forest and rushing water.

Polyxena looked around and smiled.

“It almost feels like home,” she said, “just a bit wider.”

“And a bit more tropical,” Assunta quickly added.

On the drive home, while watching the traffic around us, Assunta suddenly observed very seriously:

“The traffic rules here are really bad.”

And immediately Julius asked:

“What traffic rules?”

We all burst out laughing.

To be fair, compared to Europe, driving here often feels like a small adventure. You quickly learn that staying calm is probably the most important traffic rule of all.

Luckily, we have a sturdy car that handles the rough roads well. It does not go much faster than 90 kilometres per hour, but here that often feels fast enough anyway. More importantly, it reliably carries us through muddy tracks, potholes, and roads that sometimes suddenly stop being asphalt altogether.

Today, we also visited some lovely friends of Harry. The children had the chance to ride motorbikes for the first time, which immediately became the highlight of the day. They were so excited that they wanted to stay at their beautiful home straight away.

The more we see of Kenya, and the more people we meet here, the more we fall in love with this amazing country.