AFRICA
In October of 2024, we packed our backpacks and hopped on a plane to a new continent for us…Africa. We had strict orders of keeping our “soft sided” bags under 13 kg as we would be flying on bush planes later in our trip that didn’t have the room or weight capacity for normal luggage. We boarded our flight in Los Angeles and headed to Doha, Qatar for a layover, with final destination to Nairobi Kenya. This was our second time flying business class with Qatar, and the luxury of this flight is unmatched. We flew in the Q suite setup, that features seats that recline to form a double bed. The first leg of the flight is 18 hours from LAX to Doha.
Upon arrival in Nairobi, a pre-arranged airport transfer welcomed us to Kenya, and escorted us to our first hotel. I used “booking.com” for this transfer and was very happy with the price and service. I chose The Boma Hotel due to the close proximity to the airport and Nairobi National Park. Additionally it had a cool gym and place for me to practice yoga which is always a high priority for me while traveling.
TOP THINGS TO DO IN NAIROBI
Nairobi National Park
The Giraffe Center
Sheldrick Wildlife Trust
Karura Forest
Sheldrick Wildlife Trust
Raja is a young female Black Rhino. She was attacked by a lion and taken in by Sheldrick. She required many surgeries and intensive care, however has been nursed back to health and is now gaining weight and growing!
From Nairobi, we flew to the Masai Mara. The cheaper option is to travel by car, however the roads are extremely rough and the drive takes roughly 7-8 hours. They lovingly refer to the bumpy ride as the “African massage”. My father who is 78 didn’t find it as amusing as I did! We boarded a SafariLink charter plane out of Wilson, a small regional airport. Our first plane held roughly 80 passengers. As the plane approached the Kichwa Tembo runway I could see it was dirt landing strip surrounded by grass plains with zebras and gazelles. This is the moment I had been dreaming of for decades! The rear landing gear touched down, and as the nose gently edged towards the earth, the front landing gear grabbed the earth and promptly turned sideways yanking our plane off the runway into the grass. I was laughing at the ride thinking it was part of the fun, but my father’s eyes widened and he said “they shut off the engines, that’s not good”. My laugh quickly turned to concern as we were prompted to stay seated and calm. We soon exited the plane one by one down steps into the tall grass of the Masai Mara. We had to dodge elephant dung as they grouped us together in the grass while the airline staff made a plan. English is spoken fluently, however the locals use Swahili as their native tongue. 15 minutes after we “landed” we took off again in smaller planes all heading to our different lodge locations. The small bush planes held around 9 passengers. We landed to get gas, and then took off again to our final destination of Keekorok airstrip where we would meet our guide.
