My family safari in Kenya

For a long time we had been debating over going to Kenya on a family safari. We went ahead with the holiday and from the moment we landed in Nairobi to the moment we took off again at the end of the holiday we did not feel insecure or nervous for the whole time we were there.

We used an agent called Somak Holidays, and  every time we got off a plane we were met by a friendly Somak representative taking our bags from us and driving us to our new destination. As we drove away from the airport we realised how friendly the Kenyans were, as every person we drove past would wave and smile. This made us feel really safe too.

When we arrived at the Ole Sereni Hotel we were met by a lady called Joyce who was a Somak representative. She was so enthusiastic and helped us with everything we needed help with even on her day off!

Our first destination for our family safari was Samburu. We stayed in a tented camp called Ashnil. When we arrived we were led to our tent facing the river. I have never seen a marble bathroom in a tent before! As we opened the curtains we were amazed to see a huge bull elephant standing several meters in front of us! Luckily we realised that there was an electric fence between us. When we got to the restaurant for dinner we were taken to our seats and were surprised to see that most of the waiters and chefs already knew our names.

On our first morning game drive we were overwhelmed to see so many animals in their natural habitat and we were lucky enough to see the Samburu five! The Samburu five is a group of five rare animals that are only found in Samburu. Then we had breakfast and relaxed at the pool. On our afternoon game drive we were extremely lucky to see a Grevy’s zebra being eaten by a male lion that had caught it. I am not joking when I say that every night we sat down and said that tomorrow could not get any better and every day it did!

Our next safari destination was the Masai Mara. We arrived at the airport to be welcomed by our guide for the next four days. Driving back to the camp we were lucky to see more animals wherever we looked including a cheetah outside the camp relaxing in the warm sun.

We got to the camp called Mara Intrepids and walked to our tent next to a river where we found we all had four poster beds and a lounge area connecting our tent to our parents tent. We then went to the traditional Kenyan wooden restaurant complete with a resident bush baby! We enjoyed the food and daily talks on the animals and culture of the Masai Mara.

We had a huge but tasty picnic breakfast every day at different locations and viewpoints such as the hippo’s waterhole and the top of a huge hill overlooking the Great Plains. The other place we had breakfast was at the side of a river watching the great wildebeest migration where our guide estimated we saw 50,000 wildebeest cross the river. We even saw a crocodile slowly approach the train of wildebeest and take one under the water and kill it before dragging it off downstream again.

Once the safari in the Masai Mara was over we flew back to Nairobi where we had to wait at the Somak lounge for 4 hours. When we got there we were happily met by Joyce again who took us upstairs where we had a delicious meal. We then asked if we could go to the Ole Sereni Hotel as they had a nice restaurant outside overlooking the national park and Joyce was happy to arrange this. We went there to pass the time and soon we left for the international airport where we said goodbye to Joyce and left for Zanzibar.

I would recommend a Kenyan safari as a fantastic holiday as it is so different from anything else. The people are so friendly and the wildlife is incredible. There is so much to learn and see about their culture too. It was the best holiday I have ever been on.

By Max Coult

Aged 12

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