We took a small prop plane from Nairobi to our first stop on the safari. When I say it was a small prop plane, I mean it had space for a pilot, a co-pilot, and room to seat 12 passengers. And when I say it could seat 12 passengers, you'll notice I didn't say comfortably seat 12 passengers because we were crammed in there! I am not prone to claustrophobia, but I was beyond relieved to get off that plane!
We had been assigned seats 2A and 5A, so I boarded and went to seat 2A. C boarded and discovered that there was no row 5 and no seat 5A! There were four rows of very small seats (A being on the left by itself and B&C being pairs of seats on the right) and a "center aisle" that was approximately 8 inches wide! Absolute insanity.
Once everyone had boarded and was seated, C asked an employee about the missing Row 5 and was told,"That's no problem - there's an empty seat somewhere you can sit in." What on earth! So he ended up in seat 1B, between a French couple and when he realized they were together because they kept talking to each other as he was getting settled, he offered to switch with one of them so they could sit together. (As window seat and aisle seat connoisseurs, C and I never talk to each other when someone gets seated between us!) They declined his offer, both wanting a window seat for the view, but the joke was on them, because C's seat was in the center so he could easily see out both sides AND the front of the plane! They did continue having conversations with each other over/across C, which was rather annoying.
The flight was one hour in length and despite the lack of space and comfort for everyone on board, things went very smoothly! Thankfully, Sasaab Lodge was the first stop, and like I said, we were thrilled to disembark. We were met by two people who would be our driver and spotter for the duration of our stay, and they drove us from the airfield over to the lodge!
Once we checked in, we went to our room to get settled (the property has nine tented rooms), then got some lunch, and spent a few hours enjoying our plunge pool. At 5:00, we went for an evening game drive, on which we encountered elephants, took a short walk up to the top of a hill for incredible views and drinks, and then returned to the lodge around 8:00 for dinner. Because there is wildlife everywhere, between dusk and dawn, we were required to have an armed escort take us to and from our room for our safety!
After 17 months of planning, it's super exciting that our safari is finally underway!
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| our plane |
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| C was sitting in seat 1B |
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| some views from my window |
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| still hard to believe 14 humans fit in that plane! |
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| the "Arrivals and Departures" gate at the airstrip |
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| main building |
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| this was our "tent," which I just referred to as our cottage because I've slept in a tent before, and this was no tent! |
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| this is the path from our cottage to the main building, so having an escort in the dark really made sense! |
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| lots of creatures on either side of the path (although most were harmless, you just can't take unnecessary chances!) |
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| Hornbill |
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| Dik-Dik |
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| while we were having lunch, we spotted a herd of elephants across the river |
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| the vehicle for our game drives at Sasaab Lodge |
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| I was sitting in the back row crying because I was so overwhelmed with joy at seeing those 15 mama and baby elephants |
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| Hyrax |
Even though we've been in Kenya for a few days, we decided to wait until our safari began to take a pic to commemorate traveling to our sixth continent!
Happy Tails to you!
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