For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to go on an African Safari. Thank you to Rene Carter, my dear friend and travel companion, for helping to make this adventure a reality!!!!

Our journey began on July 13, 2021. Well, actually it began nearly two years before that when Rene and I were chatting about places we would like to go. When we discovered that an African safari was high on both our bucket lists, the quest was on!!!!

We reached out to Audley Travel and were contacted by their African Safari expert, Tom Wilkinson. For the next year and a half we corresponded, planned, replanned, organized and reorganized our trip.

Finally on July 13, 2021 our meticulously orchestrated journey began. Despite months of careful planning, the beginning of our trip was not exactly smooth, drama free, or what we planned. We had only made it to Nashville, Tennessee when things went sideways!!! However, Rene and I are both pretty tenacious and delayed and canceled flights were not going to rob us of this trip! So from the Nashville airport, we cancelled all of the flights to and from Africa, rebooked with a different airline, and despite the crazy mess, we arrived in Nairobi, Kenya two days later. We were 6 hours later than originally planned but given the circumstances, I’d call it a WIN! We were in Africa and beginning our amazing once in a lifetime adventure!!!!

A six hour jeep ride took us to Lewa (Lāwah) Safari Camp in the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Northern Kenya.

A quick Swahili lesson. In Swahili, a is pronounced ah, e is pronounced ā, i is ē, o as ō and u as oo. So the word Swahili is pronounced swah-hē-lē. Hello is Jambo – jahmbō. Thank you is asante sana – ahsahntā sahnah (literally this is thank you much), please is tafadhali – tahfahdahlē, you’re very welcome is karibu sana – kahrēboo sahnah. It’s nice to know some of the basics.

Lewa Wildlife Conservancy is in Northern Kenya. It is a huge wildlife preserve – 62,000+ acres! Established in the early 1990s, its mission is to protect the endangered black rhinos as well as other endangered native animal populations. Poachers and hunters, out to make trophies of the Big 5 – rhinos, elephants, leopards, male lions, and cape buffalo – had hunted these amazing animals nearly to extinction. Gratefully, thanks to the establishment of conservancies in Africa, these populations are thriving and their numbers are slowly growing! Poaching is still a problem, but a determined and heroic effort is being made to end this horrible practice. Safaris and tourism help fund the important work of these conservancies, so book your trip soon!

Lewa Safari Camp is rustic and beautiful!

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The accommodations and the staff of Lewa Safari Camp were lovely! Though it was late evening when we arrived, they were there to welcome us. They showed us to our tent and brought us our dinner there – room service on safari, who knew!

The next morning, Rene and I met our driver, Misheck, who would be our guide for the next 3 days. His job was to take us on the morning and evening game drives, tell us about the conservancy and the wildlife within, and show us the wonders of Lewa. He did all of the above, and more, spectacularly!

A quick note about game drives. The best time to see the animals is early in the morning and late afternoon/evening. So that’s when the drives are conducted. The morning drives started at 6:30AM, so we were up at 5:45 – now that’s really roughing it!!!! Sometimes we stopped for breakfast.

Being on the opposite side of the globe, it is winter in Africa. Mornings were very chilly, especially in an open jeep. Morning temperatures were in the mid 50s but warmed up to the low 80s by 11. Certainly better than the 100° summer weather they were experiencing at home!

Evening game drives started about 4:30 in the afternoon and most drives lasted about two hours – sometimes longer if we were tracking something cool!!! Evening drives always included Sundowners – in layman’s terms, safari happy hour! Sweeeet!

Misheck is an expert in his field and extremely knowledgeable about the wildlife, the conservancies, and all things safari. He asked us what we wanted to see, to which we replied,  “EVERYTHING!!!” He did not disappoint!

Our first trip out we saw a cheetah snoozing after a large meal!

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We also saw so many other animals on our game drive ventures.

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Rhino fact: Adult males average 5,100 lbs and females a mere 3,700 lbs. Height of males 5’6″- 6’1″, females 5’2″- 5’8″ LOL about the same as humans except for the weight! Gestation 16-18 months, life span 40-50 years.

Double tap on the small photos to see full screen. Then hit the back arrow to continue reading.

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All but the zebras are types of antelopes. Misheck informed us that Africa is home to 72 different species of antelope! WOW!

All of this wonder on our first outing! AMAZING!!!!!

The next day we encountered two more cheetahs resting before their morning hunt.

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We drove on in search of giraffes and whatever else came our way. True to his word, Misheck delivered!

A quick anecdote: A couple of times while we were stopped watching something, Misheck stated that he needed to check the tires. The second time this happened, I became a bit concerned about the state of said tires. Rene noticed that Misheck went behind the jeep and was facing the opposite direction of the jeep. It occurred to us that “checking the tires” was code for using the outdoor facilities. Misheck thought it was very funny when Rene or I said that we needed to “check the tires.” LOL

Now off in search of the elusive reticulated girafffe. It’s name comes from the geometric pattern of it’s coat. Misheck said to think of it as a rectangular pattern – reticulated – makes sense to me!

Notice the small bird (African tick bird) on the left side of her neck. The bird goes along for the ride feasting on ticks and mites. The bird gets a full meal and the giraffe gets free pest control – a mutually satisfying symbiotic relationship.

Reticulated girafffe facts: Giraffes range in heights – a towering 14 to 19 ft. With males taller than females. The average weight is 1540 – 2600 lbs for females and 2400 – 4250 lbs for males. The gestation period is 15 months and the life span averages 25 years.

We frequently spotted lone male ostriches strutting around their territories on the plains. It was pointed out to us that usually there was a female somewhere in the area also, but she was much harder to see.

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We were lucky enough to witness the mating ceremony! When the male spotted a female he would begin his courtship dance – swaying side to side and flapping his huge wings. Slowly, they would move toward each other as he continued to dance. When they reached each other, if she was willing, she would lie down and they would mate. If she rejected him, he would run off at breakneck speed! We got to see both occurrences.

The next morning we bid farewell to the staff and Lewa Safari Camp. Misheck drove us to the air port – an open field with a couple of small huts like the one we had stayed in and a wide dirt road…hmmmm. But the small twin-engine prop plane arrived, we boarded and were off to the next leg of our grand adventure!

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