Aberdares weekend

With excellent timing the national holiday that falls on the 12th of December fell on a Sunday this year so Monday the 13th was a public holiday, and we took a three-day trip to celebrate my birthday up to the Aberdares, a massive forest in the center of Kenya that is entirely fenced (400+km) and full of wildlife as well as many hills/mountains and the main waterfalls in the country.

We stayed at the Ark, a fairly unusual hotel that is inside the national park, designed to look somewhat like a ship, and the sister property of the Aberdare Country Club. We had lunch at the Country club and enjoyed the pool and horse riding in their small conservancy full of giraffe there before we went to the Ark, which doesn't have many facilities, so most people just stay for the night. The attraction there is the location next to a small pond that is salty so many animals come for the salt in the water, in the mud and in the rocks.

Each of the three floors of the hotel have either an outdoor or indoor balcony right next to the pond so you can be a few metres away from the animals whilst having tea and cake. There are almost always elephants there, as well as other wildlife, though we didn't see any rhinos or leopards unfortunately. It is quite surreal, and simllar to the Salt Lick Hotel in Voi where we went for Andrea's birthday.

After eating dinner, sleeping very well (with hot water bottles due to the relative cold at fairly high altitude), and eating breakfast, we went for a game drive to see more animals and to see the second highest waterfall in Kenya, driving higher and higher from forests to bamboo and then to moorland. On the way we passed Treetops hotel that is currently closed, but which in a previous incarnation was where Princess Elizabeth was staying when her father died and where she became Queen Elizabeth 2nd. The waterfall was nice, though it was quite a long drive to get up there and back.

After lunch at the Ark we went back to the Country club to enjoy the facilities there and have dinner, sleep, and then have breakfast before leaving to go back to Nairobi. Though we stopped off for another wonderful 3 hours of whitewater rafting in Sagana yet again which is always really good fun.

In other noble recent activities, back in October Leah had her birthday party at our house with one of these horizontal water slides that you run and jump onto and slide along, as well as some party games; the kids went trick-and-treating for Halloween in a shopping mall where each shop had sweets; I did the Nairobi half marathon up and down the Southern Bypass along the Nairobi National Park; we fostered 2 kittens and a puppy for 2 months; we went camping with the Travelling Telescope to look at stars at night and also went to their Planetarium in Nairobi another night. Highly recommended, especially the planetarium.