Sweet Waters tented Camps!

So this weekend i ended up on a sudden trip to Sweet Waters tented camps! It is a beautiful space located in the heart of the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in the shadow of the great Mount Kenya! The mountain had cloud cover most of the time we were there, but no matter what you were doing, you could feel its presence looming. I kept orientating myself by checking where the mountain was....

First we stopped at Barneys in Nanyuki for a quick lunch. what a cute place! As you eat your lunch you watch the small twin engine planes land and take off. Most of these belong to the surrounding ranch owners. I could have done with a ride in one : ) check out some pics of the place here - http://www.barneysnanyuki.com/

Being in the game park was amazing. After being in the prison last week. I felt like, wow....opposite values are really complimentary! The feeling of being in the prison, the sights, sounds smells of the prison, the faces of the inmates were floating in my mind as i looked over the top of the roof of the hired safari van. I couldn't help thinking, what would they give to be here right now ? Could i organise a trip for them ? would the prison accomodate that ? I wanted to share this beauty and the vastness with them.

The vast wilderness before me, behind me, all around me. The best thing was the freshness of the air. NO pollution, no smell at all, just pure pristine cool fresh air! Thousands of miles of pristine savannah wilderness.....totally untouched by humans. A space reserved for the most amazing animals on the planet. As soon as we entered the conservancy we saw 4 lionesses and a HUGE male lion. My camera it turns out was only for happy family pics, and did not work so well for the long shots i needed to shoot the lion. Nimo took some great pics, and will post them up when she sends them to me. The lionesses were so majestic and elegant, there is no mistaking why the lion is called the King of the jungle. You could see raw power in the way he moved, his stride, his mane and i think one swat of that paw could send a human flying a meter away!

This was just the start, we saw Cheetah's (a cute baby one too) hiding in the long grass. we saw a family of about 60 elephants! has anyone noticed that the size of elephant tusks have started getting smaller than when we used to go game drives even 8-10 years ago ? Giraffe (my favourite animal!) did you know its the only animal whose both right legs move together and then both left legs move together ? other animals use opposite legs to walk/run. Fascinating! We saw buffallo herds, Rhinos, hippos, chimpanzees, babboons, some really funky birds! (too many to list), bush babies, etc etc....It has been raining a lot, so the park was lush and the animals were all really fat! Its true, they all looked so healthy and well fed. The lions especially, i guess as usual the lionesses (read women!) were hard at work while the male lion (read man!) sleeps 20 hours a day! Its a fact about lions! he he....

Anyway - want to keep my blogs short and sweet. To sum it up - we are very small, our existence is very insignificant compared to the millions of miles, and millions of years of life that i saw this weekend. It made me feel so good and greatful that i have been a witness to such beauty and wilderness. every trip into the national park gives you something different to love about it, respect about it, and learn from it.

Friends reading this from out of Kenya - Dont think twice, book a trip to Kenya now. It could be a life changing experience.....JGD