The smile said it all. A broad grin spread across the pretty little face expressed her delight in the doll that Fitz had just given to her. Her mother’s smile was just as wide as she fussed with her child’s hair, plaiting it ready to go to church when they got to Mombasa.
We were on our way to our second lodge, Ngutini, in the Tsavo East Game Park. It was with regret that we had left Shimba Hills lodge earlier this morning as we had all enjoyed the peace of this timber structure built on stilts by a water hole. Special guests at dinner the night before had included a tree squirrel, a bush baby and a civet cat.
Ngutuni Lodge was a two storey building that faced a waterhole and it was lovely to sit and watch the comings and goings, a large monitor lizard flicking it’s long tongue, a baboon sneaking up for a sip of water, Egyptian geese waddling at the water’s edge and marabou storks standing around. During our full day game drive here we tracked down two lions sleeping by the roadside and elephants in the shade of the trees not to mention a wide variety of colourful birds.
On our day of departure we had an early morning game drive through the private sanctuary that surrounds the lodge and then, after a hearty breakfast we set off for Mombasa. This time we took a back route rather than queuing for the ferry and it was a fascinating mixture of villages and schools, each village seemed to have at least two schools with pupils in their smart uniforms milling around outside. Each uniform was a different colour and the children waved cheerfully at our vans. The road wound up through the Shimba Hills before joining the main road towards Diani on which the Tiwi Beach Resort was situated. It was good to get to the seaside!
Within a short time of checking in people were out on the beach or by the pool enjoying the cooling breeze. That evening was African Night in the hotel and everyone dined on the beach, selecting from a delicious buffet and being entertained by Masai dancers. Every night in the hotel there was a different theme for dinner and the venue varied from the restaurant, the beach and the grassy area outside the restaurant.
Mwaluganje Elephant Sanctuary was not far from the Tiwi Beach Resort and the elephant lovers in the group went there for the day and enjoyed two games drives, lunch at a lodge where we were entertained by a family of warthogs wallowing in the mud and a demonstration on how to make paper from elephant dung! Another day was spent aboard an old wooden dhow on a dolphin watching and snorkelling trip organised by Pilli Pippa. Everyone, even those who could not swim well went in the water and watched the colourful fish swimming around the coral reef. There was great excitement when we spotted a turtle on the rocks beneath us.
The second week at Tiwi Beach Resort was much more relaxed with people concentrating on acquiring a good tan and enjoying the excellent service by the pool. Some people wallowed in the luxury of 2 mattresses on ‘their’ sun bed in their regular spot by the pool not to mention fresh flowers every day. We also explored more of the area and went to Paradise Lost in Shirazi Bay where we splashed around in the warm shallow pools created by a sand spit and chugged down the river in motorised canoes looking for crocodiles and marvelling at the brilliant flashes of kingfishers flitting amongst the overhanging trees.
A trip to Haller Park, a re-claimed area now home to a variety of wild animals gave us a chance to feed giraffes and watch crocodiles and hippos lazing in the water while strolling through a beautiful natural landscape.
Unfortunately I failed in my last mission this trip and was unable to organise a baggage handlers’ strike at Mombasa airport so we all had to return to the chill of an English winter – sorry Ulrike, sorry Ellie!
