Wednesday, 25th May, 2016

25th – 31st May, 2016

Segera Retreat, Laikipia, Rift Valley, Kenya

If you like food, go to Segera. That is it. Full stop, the end. Oh, also if you like everything else, like animals, planes (they have the plane that is in the movie Out of Africa in their aircraft hanger), croquet, swimming, and everything else that is fun. Did I also say making beaded anythings?

Segera is an awesome place. We all agreed this place has the best food of all time. The chef is called Elizabeth, and my favourite meal here is the Peking duck. Nice crispy  skin. Nice tender meat. Makes my mouth water because it is so good. Anyway, enough with the food, it is making me hungry.

The property is really big, the land is about 50,000 acres, with the lodge in the middle. All the villas are hidden from each other, which is a 2-story huge house/villa, with a private pool as well. The main building has two floors. The lower floor is where you eat brekky, the higher level being the ‘Explorer’s Lounge’, a place with heaps of stuff from the past, including a German bible from 1730 about 1 cubit long. The main pool is where you can play croquet, and make your own pizza. We made pizza twice, and it was great.

Now to the animals. Big cats are often seen here, so  you would expect good sightings. In 6 days we saw 2 cheetahs, 11 lions, and 1 African Wild Cat. The 2 guides we had, Elvis and David, were really good. David was the ‘veteran’ of the lodge: he had already finished his guide training, which can take longer than 10 years. In total, we saw 52 Lions in Africa, which  is pretty incredible, considering  they are so rare.

While we were there, we had the most exciting quiz and treasure hunt. The quiz had 101 questions about nature, and Nicky and I got 99/101. The treasure hunt was fantastic, it consisted of 13 clues, spread out across the huge lodge, and the 13th clue led you to treasure. Our treasure was an ‘I love Kenya pin,’ pencil, notepad, and Elizabeth’s chocolate chip biscuits. It was great fun.

You can have picnics by one of the 4 rivers that runs through segera, visit a waterfall, do archery like the Masai warriors do, and so much more.

They had this building dedicated to the ‘4 C s’, called the C4C room. The C’s stand for Community, Culture, Conservation, and Commerce. This is like a sort of Museum, with a lot of cow tails and the skeleton of a Patas monkey, of which there are only 12 left in Segera. The room is also where we made the beaded anythings. And the room is nice to go to after a hot afternoon (it is cool in there).

This was the last stop in Africa, so it was a little bit sad, but Segera was a great way to leave Africa.

Ta Ta,

I will be writing about San Sebastian next week.

Ashman

Our villa in Segera
Our villa in Segera
Waiting for lunch
Waiting for lunch
Vervet monkeys checking us out when we arrived
Vervet monkeys checking us out when we arrived
Grevy's zebras. The rarest zebras in the world. Only 2000 left in the wild.
Grevy’s zebras. The rarest zebras in the world. Only 2000 left in the wild.
Whistling thorn acacia. They were everywhere on our Kenyan safaris.
Whistling thorn acacia. They were everywhere on our Kenyan safaris.
Me checking out the scene on safari
Me checking out the scene on safari
Reticulated giraffe
Reticulated giraffe
Many more reticulated giraffes. Different from the ones in Namibia
Many more reticulated giraffes. Different from the ones in Namibia
Sunset
Sunset
Sunset
Sunset
Beautiful sunset through the clouds
Beautiful sunset through the clouds
Picking up our lunch from the gardens
Picking up our lunch from the gardens
Nesi found a Nesi-sized carrot (in her left hand)
Nesi found a Nesi-sized carrot (in her left hand)

thumb_DSC06842_1024

African elephant
African elephant
Lilac-breasted roller - the National bird of Kenya
Lilac-breasted roller – the National bird of Kenya
Two juvenile giraffes play-fighting while an older male looks on
Two juvenile giraffes play-fighting while an older male looks on
Nicky on safari
Nicky on safari
Visiting the SATUBO beading group of women, made up of 3 tribes: Samburu, Turkana and Borana.
Visiting the SATUBO beading group of women, made up of 3 tribes: Samburu, Turkana and Borana.
Some of the women working at SATUBO
Some of the women working at SATUBO
At the main pool
At the main pool
Looking at Segera coming back from a game drive
Looking at Segera coming back from a game drive

thumb_DSC06896_1024

Picnic lunch at the riverside. Yummy food from Elizabeth!
Picnic lunch at the riverside. Yummy food from Elizabeth!
Elizabeth
Elizabeth
Yum!
Yum!
After lunch..
After lunch..

thumb_DSC06915_1024

Mummy and daddy went elephant tracking with David and Elvis on foot while we stayed at the picnic
Mama and dada went elephant tracking with David and Elvis on foot while we stayed at the picnic
Found some elephants
Found some elephants
Found 5 elephants.
Found 5 elephants.

thumb_DSC06931_1024

Explorer's Lounge
Explorer’s Lounge
Sunrise game drive
Sunrise game drive
Sunrise
Sunrise
With Andrew, David and Elvis
With Andrew, David and Elvis
Nesi on safari
Nesi on safari
"Carry both!"
“Carry both!”
Good shot!
Good shot!
Robert made me a bow and some arrows
Robert made me a bow and some arrows

thumb_DSC06979_1024

View of Mount Kenya at breakfast
View of Mount Kenya at breakfast
Dada with his giraffe friend
Dada with his giraffe friend
Napenda Afrika!
Napenda Afrika!
Speke's weavers everywhere making their nests
Speke’s weavers everywhere making their nests
The original plane from the movie Out of Africa
The original plane from the movie Out of Africa
The Segera people who looked after us. Our plane at the back waiting to fly us back to Nairobi
The Segera people who looked after us. Our plane at the back waiting to fly us back to Nairobi
One of the main buildings - used to be stables. Now converted into bar, restaurant, art gallery
One of the main buildings – used to be stables. Now converted into bar, restaurant, art gallery

thumb_IMG_6287_1024

Making pizza
Making pizza

thumb_IMG_6299_1024 thumb_IMG_6309_1024

Dada with the same giraffe friend every morning
Dada with the same giraffe friend every morning
Mama trying to make a fire with wood and elephant dung
Mama trying to make a fire with wood and elephant dung
My fire!
My fire!

2 thoughts on “Wednesday, 25th May, 2016”

  1. That is terribly interesting, Ash, and beautifully written and illustrated. Maybe you could turn it into a book when you finish your trip!

Leave a Reply