It’s always good advice especially when you’re packing for a vacation and I don’t always follow it. I’ve found myself without waterproofs when it rained in Turin and I’ve shivered for lack of a fleece or similar when we travelled from Melbourne to Adelaide in the early Spring. But I’ve always made the excuse that I could always buy necessary clothing if I had to.
And so it was that I went to Kenya on safari last month. I noted that it’s on the Equator and that generally means hot weather year round so I packed accordingly. What I hadn’t realised is that Nairobi and the other places I was visiting are at altitude, 1500m plus, and that means cooler temperatures. Add in a bad weather spell with less sun and frequent rain showers and that meant day time temperatures in the low 20s.
To make matters worse I was ‘on safari’ and that meant sitting in an open vehicle with plenty of wind chill as we drove across the Masai Mara. I ended up wearing all the layers I’d brought with me plus a fleece that I’d bought in the camp. Just about enough.
But the weather notwithstanding it was a super holiday and Kenya delivered the animals which I went to see. This was complemented by first class facilities at the two locations (Masai Mara and Lake Naivasha) to deliver a memorable week despite the best efforts of British Airways which chose to cancel my return flight.
The altitude also made a difference. I didn’t clock it at the time but I always felt a little under the weather, there were early starts and despite me going to bed earlier every night I got pretty tired. Add to that the malaria tablets which are associated with all sorts of side effects and I was ready to sleep on my flight home!
It’s always the details which make a holiday memorable. Here’s my five from this trip:
- Number one has got to be the animals and birds but first amongst these was the cheetah. I expected a blinding flash as it ran off but we saw a proud animal showing itself off to the world viz the half dozen or so vehicles which just about surrounded it;
- Soup on the menu. Our food was pretty good but maybe a tad formulaic. For starter there was always a soup and this was always wholesome, nourishing and tasty;
- The wines at both sites. Generally when you’ve got free drinks the wine is pretty ordinary but not at Governors’ camps. They were all from South Africa and a full range of grapes was available;
- Universal WiFi at both camps and at the Eka hotel in Nairobi with easy sign on and plenty of bandwidth. It shouldn’t be of course but these days it’s expected and it is useful. It allowed me to maintain a perfect Wordle run and to complete several Guardian crosswords; and
- The roar of the river overnight day4/5. It was quite a surprise and I wouldn’t describe it as a massive positive but it was a very prominent feature of the week. Every other night it was quiet.
There’s an album of photographs at:
David Jenkins' weblog 
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