I cried as we were leaving the property because I was so sad to go! I loved our time at Sasaab and would happily return again! Our driver, whose name was Washington, and our spotter, William (I realized I neglected to mention them by name in my previous two posts!), drove us to the airstrip at 9:30 am and on our way, we encountered a journey of giraffes. Fun fact: when giraffes are standing still, they're referred to as a tower of giraffes, but when they're moving, they're referred to as a journey of giraffes! I felt like they were giving us a send off! Our flight was at 10:00 am and no traffic, no security, no other people meant that they dropped us off and five minutes later, we were in the plane!
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| the views from our cottage were incredible |
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| when we travel, we take tufts of Avalanche's fur with us to leave behind, so it's like he's been there with us! |
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| this was truly a fabulous room!!! |
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| breakfast with a view |
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| here's the female Dik-Dik! |
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| the male (he has horns) was pretty skittish so i just tossed the carrot pieces to him |
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| she was the most precious little being |
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| I am obsessed with these birds! |
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| I adore giraffes! |
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| my heart!!! |
We flew in a Cessna 182, which holds four people, including the pilot. Neither of us had ever been in a plane that small, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous before the flight (and I am not a nervous flyer whatsoever!). However, our pilot, Ian, was incredible and the flight was so smooth! MUCH better than the 12-passenger plane we took from Nairobi to Sasaab! I'd fly in a Cessna 182 again any time!
The best part of the flight was the take off, which took two attempts. Why, you ask? Ian began to accelerate and then we heard through the headsets, "Oh, Jesus! Someone let their animals cross the runway!" followed by his laughter! We had to slow down, turn around and return to the end of the runway, turn around again, and then wait a couple of minutes for the donkeys to clear the runway before we could leave! First, and likely last, time I'll ever be able to say that donkeys thwarted a take off attempt for my flight!
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| our plane |
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| Washington and William |
it's quick, but you can see
Washington and William
waving to us as we took off
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| C sat beside Ian |
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| some views from the plane |
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| spotted rhinos from the air as we were coming in for landing! |
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| the air strip where we landed |
Our flight was only about 30 minutes (during which time we flew over the equator!) and when we landed, we were met by a staff member from Solio Lodge, where we stayed for two nights. He drove us over to the lodge and we met our driver (Anthony) and spotter (Theuri) who would be with us for our stay!
When we arrived, we were greeted by the staff AND by several rhinos roaming the grounds, which is what Solio is known for! The property is gorgeous and our room was beautiful with views and animal sightings that repeatedly wowed me during our stay!
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| main building |
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| our cottage |
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| so many animal sightings right from our room! |
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| this guy is referred to as a unicorn because he only has one horn (he lost the other in a fight) |
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| we stopped in an area filled with rhinos and buffalo to enjoy some snacks and drinks |
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| the buffalo weren't particularly happy we were there! |
What followed can only be described as one of the most insane, yet incredible things we've experienced, because in order to get to the lion, we had to deviate from the road/path to first find the lion and then when we did, follow him as he was hunting. This meant we were driving through fields of meter-high grasses over very uneven terrain and at relatively high speeds. During all of this craziness, C and I were hanging on for dear life while being jostled around, thrashing from side to side, with Anthony and Theuri calling up to us, "Are you two ok up there? Do you want to get back inside the car?" and us answering, "We're fine! Keep going!" We were dodging bushes and trees, fully aware there was a good chance we wouldn't even see him and trying to appreciate the adventure even if it ended in disappointment, when all of a sudden, our headlights caught sight of that magnificent beast! What a moment that was for us! The way he walked, in such an unbothered manner, like he owned the place, was fascingating! We followed him for a while until he disappeared into some thick greenery where we could no longer drive, and began our return to the lodge.
C and I were feeling so incredibly fortunate for having had the opportunity to see an adult male lion in action (we'd seen three other so far - one in Nairobi National Park and the other two on a game drive at Sasaab, but none of those guys were really doing much other than lazing around LOL). We only wish our cameras could have captured what we saw, but between the pitch black and the off-roading, there was zero chance of that happening!
We had one more surprise; we came across a lioness about 20 minutes into the drive between the lion sighting and the lodge. She was out hunting and watching her confident yet careful strides was mesmerizing (unfortunately, no pics of her, either, because of the dark)!
When we finally got back to the lodge, we had dinner and called it a night. Just like at Sasaab, we had to be escorted by an armed guard because of potential wildlife threats. The temperatures are much cooler at Solio, so the guard built us a fire in our room before he returned to the main building, and much to my delight, we discovered that our room attendant had place hot water bottles in our bed, so the sheets and blankets were nice and toasty despite the chill in the air! So cozy!
Happy Tails to you!
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