A group of tourists during a safari in Meru National Park, Kenya. PHOTOS/ COURTESY/ EDGAR R. BATTE
It was heartwarming to walk into ‘my room’ and be welcomed to a message on the television screen, appreciating me for choosing to stay with Ole Emara Sereni in the heart of Nairobi.
In the fresh, airy and natural earthy scented confines of the room, was a king size bed and dimmed lights on either side that illuminated the room to showcase a portrait of a lion just above the bed.
As the curtains swayed to the gentle wind of the evening hour, they revealed the slow-moving traffic at the early evening hour. I got the idea to boil some water, fix myself a cup of tea and sit by my balcony on the eighth floor to watch Kenya’s capital ease into the night.
The last hour of the day faded fast into the night, giving way to darkness to absorb the colourful shades of the skies. It was flattering seeing the street lights switched on to give motorists and pedestrians visibility but also shining bright to cast light on the tarmac of the winding roads on and under the bridges.
The storeyed buildings noticeably popped out in a structural linear that beautifully dwarfed the shorter buildings but on the all, each worth a second look for design, colour and other architectural details.
While some motorists could have been biting on their nails wishing for a speedier ride home or to their favourite hangout, the scene of them in the traffic was a relaxing sight that melted the jet lag as a few impatient ones expressed themselves by pressing on their car horns.
As the minutes ticked away and an hour or so passed, the heavy traffic subsided. The tummy reminded the mind that it was time to excite the taste buds to something sumptuous.
But first, we had to meet, greet and break ice with our hosts from the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) and with each other; we were eager, excited and motivated hosted media from around the world.
We were slated to go out for familiarization trips in and around Magical Kenya so we were hosted to a cocktail where we exchanged nineties, got to introduce ourselves to each other and also happily reconnected with those we’ve distantly chatted with online but were now up-close and personal to hug one another, share a joke, smile and heartily laugh, shake hands and tap to a hi-five as the waiters and waitresses served snacks and drinks.
We were split into groups with team leaders to guide us on trips to different places in Magical Kenya. There were those headed to the generous Masai Mara, others to the unsullied Lamu, the group I was put in, headed to Meru and Amboseli national parks.
Our leader, Josphat Mbatha, was warm, cordial and friendly which was good basis for the six of us to gracefully connect as we immersed ourselves into the travel experiences in providential hotel and lodge lounging spaces, convivial restaurants, cosy connecting flights, bumpy safari rides on rugged terrains, photo moments in the wild and more.
Our first destination was Meru National Park, a remote wilderness spot that teems with wildlife in its fairly sparse golden grasslands and fauna that took curious keen eyes and ears to identify bird species, wildlife on land, in the river streams, open skies and swamps as well as tree branches.
So, the eyes roused, the neck rotated and the cameras kept clicking away. Meru, situated some 350 kilometres from Nairobi, can be accessed by road, train and air. We used the latter, and our chartered flight from Wilson Airport took an hour.
When we landed, our ground handlers jovially welcomed us. They offered us bites, tea and water to hydrate our bodies under the mid-morning sun. We hit the road, and you could say that luck was on our side because enroute to the Rhino River Camp where we stayed for two nights, we made sightings of a gazelle and then a colourful Lilac-breasted roller perched on a lone dry wood, close by the road.
It turned its face and beak as if to say hello and pose for a photograph. Further on, a troop of baboons was having family time. In the group, three harems were fending and caring for their younger ones while the fathers and siblings took strolls as if to bolster their egos as the guys in charge.
The sound of the safari Landcruiser engine must have alerted the elegant giraffes to gently crane their necks in our direction then get back to feeding on leaves off the towering trees as they took a step or two.
When they were in full view, the calf could be seen feeding too, under its mother’s front legs, enjoying her care and watch. Onwards we drove, and somewhere in the thickets, we saw what seemed a shy-looking rhino with only a good part of its sizable body visible.
Metres away, we saw a couple feeding on an open grassland, along with white egrets and some birds atop their grey backs. Further on, was a herd of buffaloes and then an elephant, and another.
Soon we were at the gate to the community that borders the park and close enough to our lodging camp where the staff welcomed with smiles, a soft organic drink and a helping hand with our luggage.
The big white sofa seats and reading material on the tables were inviting for us to collapse and relax as we listened to the brief about the property. Somewhere down and adjacent to the reception, was a swimming pool whose waters were a complementary idea to the sun’s hot rays that sipped through the trees and green foliage for eager swimmers who couldn’t help but bliss in the idea of immersing their bodies in the pool.
After a warm bath, the idea to sit by the room terrace and listen to the sound of silence that was occasionally unmuted by the stridulation of insects and whistles of chirpy birds, was one to fall for.
The environment was right to turn some pages of a magazine or novel. But while at it, the body teases its way into slumber only to be woken up a staff member who had come to turn on the lights and deliver a hot water bottle ahead of the chilly night in the Meru woodlands.
Dinner was filling, the conversations delightful but the night sweet and short. The golden sunrise peeped through trees as it warmly reached out at the 6am hour for the early risers that included a zeal of zebras who fed on the grass that must have still had the moist dew.
Then more giraffes, sauntering marabou storks, suspecting Africa Cape buffalo ‘soldiers’, more confident elephants. And we had a bush breakfast, right by the modest grave in which Elsa the lioness is buried.
Elsie was a female lion raised along with her sisters ‘Big One’ and ‘Lustica’ by game warden, George Adamson and his wife, Joy after they were orphaned at only a few days old.
The couple wrote a book which was adapted into a movie titled, ‘Born Free’. Bush breakfast as we listened and took in the history tale was all satisfying as the sun boosted our vitamin c intake.
According to GameWatchers Safaris, Meru National Park is one of the least visited and therefore one of the least spoiled of Kenya’s national parks. It has 13 rivers and a myriad of mountain streams that feed into the Tana river where birdwatchers are sure to see a number of species.
