Every jungle has a heart – one hidden deep inside the trees and the grass, one that moves with the herds, eats with the elephants, and roars with the lions. The heart is very hard to see and even harder to understand because the jungle does such a wonderful job hiding it – in the thickness of trees, the shyness of the animals, and the vastness of the greens. The jungles of Africa love to bare it all – and that is why thousands crave to visit this wonderland.

I heard Nairobi has some wonderful nightlife and there is a beautiful beach somewhere in the South East. There is a picturesque mountain in the Northeast and a line where you can stand on the Equator. The trip I made was only focused on the wildlife, both the animals and the birds. We had some awesome food along with an opportunity to see the culture and the people, but it all came down to the jungle and the life within. We didn’t travel in the migration season because of the schedules of the many people involved and I wanted to avoid the tourists, but I will go again to see the crowds – pun intended.

We planned way ahead in January for a trip in mid-June and in no time we had six families ready to travel. There was a direct flight from Delhi to Nairobi, so that made life easy. I wanted a day in Nairobi to see the city and some of the famous experiences, like the Giraffe Center. There was a tough choice to be made between Lake Naivasha (which has a hotel worth a fairy tale), Lake Nakuru (flamingos and amazing birds), and Amboseli National Park (elephant herds, and backdrop of Kilimanjaro). We chose Naivasha with a day trip to Nakuru, just because a stay in the Naivasha Sopa Lodge is a once in a lifetime exeprience and it gave an option to cover two of the areas we wanted to visit. The choice in Masai Mara was between the Fig Resort and the Keekorok Lodge – we chose the former but there wasn’t much to separate the two. Keekorok is a little inside the jungle and Fig seemed to have better rooms (based on reviews). In hindsight I would have chosen Keekorok because the floods damaged the bridge connecting the Fig resort and it added a 15 minute commute time to safaris in one direction. We obviously didn’t know that at the time of booking. We stayed 3 nights in the Mara and did five safaris.

We had originally planned to book all this ourselves but it was getting tough to figure out transport. So we found this travel agent who booked the same hotels for us but also planned all the transportation, safaris, and tickets – wherever needed. The Landcruisers that would take us between Nairobi, Naivasha, and Masai Mara would also take us on safaris, just with the roofs open while in the jungle. This was convenient and the drivers were amazing.

A few things to know about Kenya:

1. Nairobi is a modern city with wonderful roads, electronic payments are accepted everywhere (including the local M-Pesa), and lot of nice open restaurants, etc.
2. Masai mara has no electricity. All the hotels and lodges run on generators that are switched off late at night or in the afternoons when the tourists are sleeping or on safaris. I assume in peak season they stay on longer. However, this was never an inconvenience as the weather was awesome and the dark hours for us were midnight to 4 am.
3. Most jungle lodges/ hotels serve only buffets, there is no al-a-carte menu. The buffets have many options including some vegetarian ones. There are usually some Indian options too, like dals (pulses) and paneer (cottage cheese). The dals are mostly good and the paneer terrible – but I am an Indian judging Indian food outside. The food overall was mostly good, just don’t expect a Las Vegas buffet.
4. The local food is very rustic and simple but delicious. The most common item we found was Ugali (maize cakes) which is eaten with boiled and chopped spinach. They have a lot of potatoes, tomatoes and beef. All things which help the working class feel full after breakfast till dinner.
5. The people in Kenya are very nice, warm and jovial. Almost everyone in the tourism sector understands and speaks good English. The crime rates in cities are high but if you aren’t venturing out alone in the night, there isn’t much to worry about. Restaurants provide security cover for the time you are waiting for your cab.
6. Highways are very good mostly everywhere. The roads are smooth and finding convenience stores with clean washrooms wasn’t much of a problem.
7. Souvenir shopping is best done closer to Nairobi – as you go further, the prices increase, and the quality drops.
8. There are many tourist traps, as would be expected in a country so dependent on tourism. Carnivore in Nairobi is one of them. Just use your common sense and you will avoid most of them.
9. Tips are expected but generally, they didn’t seem to change the quality of service.
10. There are some good bars all around. Even in the jungle lodges you could come back from a safari and enjoy a delicious cocktail. There are some local spirits (we tried the Origin) but mostly the locals recommend the Tusker beer.

The story of the Kenya trip is all about the stories we saw in the jungle. Unlike most national parks in India or other countries, there are hardly any trees. The vegetation is just savanna grass, meaning you can see far inside. You don’t spot the wildlife, you see as the day their life evolves. It is even better that the wildlife chooses to ignore you. You become a fly on the wall and watch some surreal stories of the wild come to life…