Ol Pajeta Conservancy

We have been to the Equator. I can now officially say that we have been to the Equator.

As we reached the equator, we made a quick stop and took a lot of pictures with the group. There was also a man there who gave demonstration of equator line phenomenon in water. He took a stick out of the matchbox, put it in a mug of water and gave it a swirl.

At the South of equator, the matchstick rotated anti-clockwise, and at the North of equator, it rotated clockwise. And finally, at the equator line, no rotation of match stick. He also drained the water in all 3 places and water drained in different directions. It was about 800 KES (Kenyan shillings) and was a good one to watch as we had 2 teenage kids with us.

After this little experiment, we continued to the second leg of our journey to - Ol Pejeta conservancy. We had originally booked this place assuming, we won't get to see any Rhinos so we could go to Rhino sanctuary and see some Rhinos. We were in an unbelievable luck. As we started to check in and walk, we not only saw 1 but 4 Rhinos, right up ahead strolling and drinking water.

Given we had seen all our beautiful Rhinos, we decided to cancel the trip to the sanctuary and visit Chimpanzee sanctuary instead.

Unfortunately, by the time we went there, they had kind of closed. It closes at 4:30pm but they were kind to see if we can spot a couple and we did. We saw Judy and Oscar hanging out, eating food. But we could not take a lot of pictures, it was almost dinner time for them and they headed out pretty soon after that.

Did you know - we share 98.8% of our DNA with Chimpanzees. They get the same diseases as humans. Judy had polio and had to alter her walk because of it.

Where did we stay

We stayed at Serena Sweetwaters Camp. The property is really beautiful and we enjoyed our stay so much that we really wanted to extend it by a day (we could not unfortunately). Property offers, multiple tents, beautiful restaurant facing the water pond so you can actually see all the animals while eating your food, and beautiful views of Mount Kenya and surroundings.

We were up right before 6am and saw beautiful and clear Mount Kenya peak and it was covered in dense fog in about 10mins from there on. The main park was covered with fog and you could hear beautiful birds chirping and animal grazing.

They also had a buffet style Breakfast, Lunch and dinner prepared for all of its guest. They followed the COVID-19 guidelines religiously. You should be wearing the gloves provided by the restaurant prior to touching any food and masks on all the time while not eating.

The food was delicious, they had Indian, Swahili, Pasta and other options for Vegans, Vegetarians and kids.

This place is perfect if you don't want to do a lot of game drives and have a relaxing day watching animals and sitting in peace and quiet.

#Baraka

The next day, we went to see the blind Rhino name "Baraka". Baraka is about 15 years old and lives alone in a 100 acre closure. He was born in the wild however lost one of his eyes in a fight with fellow Rhinos and other in Cataract.

You can visit the center and feed him green leaves. He loved eating green crunchy bits. People can feed him and take pictures/videos. Baraka is a friendly Rhino and knows the drill when people are out to feed him.

This is a part of Ol Pejeta so your driver in the morning can just you take there. This part of the center closes at 6-6:30pm so plan your trip.

We wrapped our trip and drove back to Nairobi. While going back to Nairobi, we stopped by at the famous Trout-tree restaurant for an early Lunch.

I would recommend this highly and it is a must visit. The entire restaurant is built over a tree. They farm their trout on one part of the land. The ground portion is the fish farm and you can take a walk down there to learn more about how they do it responsibly.

We all ordered grilled or tandoori Trouts which came with a portion of salad and breads. Their Coffee, food and service was excellent. I wish, we had more time to unwind at this beautiful place.