The Travel Connection

Lioness and her cub The "spotted" land , a dream for every wild life enthusiast, become a reality thanks to my two friends! The gentle rolling grasslands interrupted by the lone acacia tree, marked by the shadow of the clouds and spots of t he scrubs stretches to an area of 37,3000 acres. what a pleasure it was to explore this nirvana. Budget travellers that we are, we drove into this heaven of a place. But the ride to paradise was hell. For political reason , the budget traveller has to endure an extremely 2 hour bumpy ride. One is most likely to find a mini van or a cruiser stranded with a puncture. But the amazing experience for us Indians was the camaraderie between the drivers irrespective of the tour operator. Help is offered immediately however little possible. Wish it was so across our country. As one approaches the resort that one will call home for next few hours or days as the case maybe, one can notice somethi

Lake Naivasha Sopa Resort! This enchanted resort left us with some amazing memories so much so that it had to be mentioned before its neighboring " wild" residents. Set in 150 acres of grassland with acacia trees and shrubs, the lake side resort was an experience never to be forgotten. But let's look at  the reason we were there. Lake Naivasha is a fresh water lake, its name derived from the Maasai word Nai'posha meaning " Rough water". Covering an area of 34000 acres and with swamps surrounding the water, the lake is home to many species. But the resort beats it all! Getting back to the resort, imagine giraffes , Zebras , bush bucks. Not a big deal you say .What if they are residents of the grounds around the resort. Why not wake up in the morning to a  sight of a giraffe grazing outside your room. Is that a exciting enough or is being escorted by armed men more thrilling. Well, at the Sopa resort no one is allowed to venture out without armed escor

Maybe it was the sight of Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in the continent of Africa,clearing up on the day we arrived after 4 days of hide and seek! It could be the sighting of a mommy and young adult cheetah, a first for me. The parade of tens of African Elephants of all sizes just made it even better or was it the moment when we were greeted by the handsome fella the Gerenuk as we entered the park, what ever the reason, Amboseli is the best! A 97000 acres park, translates to Salty dust in Masai. Wish we had tasted the dust longer! But first we had to make a long journey of 404 kms from Sweet waters to Amboseli. A stipulated 7 hour journey turned out to be a 9 hour journey without any breaks. It also meant we could not go on the evening game drive which was very disappointing. But then as we approached Amboseli sopa lodge , we were greeted by the sighting of Gerenuks. The slender animal with its doe eyes was a sight to tired eyes.  I would move gerenuks high on my list of attract