A Bucket List of Sorts Part 1

As we started planning this upcoming Labor Day trip, I began to realize exactly how much of Kenya we still want to see.  It seems like every time Josh and I flip through our Rough Guides we come up with a new location that we "must see".  Now if you know us or have read this blog, you know we like to travel and take every opportunity to see as much of this country as we can manage.

In the past I have always put the list aside thinking "Oh we have plenty of time" but this time it hit me; We really don't.  With all the build up to the wedding (November 25th is less than 3 months away :), I forgot, more so probably just put it out of mind, that we are leaving this amazing place in less than a year.  Its really sad to think about how little time we have to explore and make memories here.  Kenya means so much to Josh and I.  Its where we met and started our lives together.  So here is our Kenyan bucket list (in no particular order); Hopefully we'll manage to cross off most of these before we leave next year.

Sites in Kenya

1. Samburu National Reserve-CHECK! Josh and I are excited to be heading there this weekend.   Samburu  is located northeast of Nairobi and is pretty hot and arid.  There is still lots of animals to be seen as it is home to large herds of elephants and leopards.   It is also well known for providing the opportunity to see wildlife that only lives in the dry north of Kenya. Hopefully we'll see a gerenuk - an odd yet distinguished gazelle with a long neck, which stands on its hind legs to feed, the Grevy zebra and the rare species of giraffe.

The gerenuk feeding

2. Turkana-Turkana isn't a national park per say but more of a region in northern Kenya.  The land is desert like with very little vegetation.  The main draw of the area is the people and culture, both of which are unique to the country.  Here tribes are still nomatic, herding their cattle great distances for food and water.  The difficulty in this trip is the remoteness of the place.  It takes about three days to travel here in car due to poor roads or no roads at all.  Flying in is pretty quick but costs a great deal.  Once there the remoteness becomes an asset.  We're hoping to make this trek with a larger group of people possibly sometime at the end of this year.

Traditional Turkana dress

3. Lamu-Lamu is the Swahilli stronghold of the northern coastline.  It has a strong Muslim influence and is rich in Swahilli culture.  Our friends say its as close as you can get to Zanzibar in Kenya and since we loved Zanzibar, we'd like to give Lamu a try.  The problem here is security.  Due to recent attacks on the southern coast the entire coastline is a bit politically unstable.  Instead of borrowing trouble we'll wait this one out before planning an ocean holiday!

Rooftops in Lamu

4. Meru National Park-Meru is one of the lesser visited parks in Kenya which gives it appeal to us.  We enjoy being the few animals on two legs and would rather avoid all the safari vans and photography crazy tourists.  Meru is just south of Samburu but is again a rather difficult trek to get to.  The roads in these regions are very poor and make what could be short trips into whole days.  Meru has similar wildlife as Samburu.  Its famous as the home of the lioness Elsa from Born Free.  Again we're not really sure when we'll get here.  Its on our list but unfortunately toward the bottom.

The Grevy's Zebra

5. Amboselli-Amboselli is the iconic Kenyan tourist brochure.  Its where you can get those shots of elephants in the foreground of Mt. Kilimanjaro.  Although tourist isn't our thing, we're making an exception for this.  Josh wants those shots and I just want to awe at the sight.  As for planning, our only rule is it has to be a good time of the year for the view of the mountain.  No mountain, no visit.

The money shot!

6. Mount Kenya-This one is mainly for me as Josh has already made the hike up Mount Kenya.  He went two years ago with a group of friends on New Years eve.  My desire to climb is mainly to be able to say I did it.  Sure we attempted Mt. Kilimanjaro but I didn't make it to the top.  Technically I got higher than Mt. Kenya but that's not enough.  Josh says he'd do it again so we'll see.

7. Paragliding-We discovered paragliding in Kenya last Labor day when we took an impromptu visit to the Kerio Valley.  Ever since that trip, we've talked about going back.  Its not for lack of trying that we have yet to cross this one off the list.  We've just never been able to link our schedules with those of the para-gliders.  In order for us to go, there has to be a paragliding team at the hotel that also has a tandem kite.  This hasn't happened a lot and when it has we haven't been able to go.  Crossing our fingers on this one!

The record setting tandem flight

8. Mount Longonot- Mt. Longonot is near Hell's Gate National Park and is a small volcano.  You can hike up the steep mountainside and then hike along its crater rim.  Both of us have been to Hell's Gate but neither to the volcano.

The crater