Kenya Safari & Beach

This was a very special birthday surprise from my partner Andy who whisked me away without me knowing anything at all until the day we checked in at London Heathrow and WOW I was totally overwhelmed. It was an absolutely amazing trip from start to finish.

He had booked us seven nights at Mombasa beach with two night’s safari. The hotel Southern Palms lie's on Mombasa’s south coast and sits on the dazzling white sands of Diani Beach, nestled amidst ten acres of tropical gardens. It is a great resort for a relaxing beach holiday, with its two large swimming pools, a choice of restaurants and an exciting range of facilities. The staff were friendly and could not do enough for us; the service was superb.

We then travelled and were lucky enough to have a private driver for our trip to the National Parks of Tsavo East and Tsavo West, together forming one of Africa's largest wilderness reserves. Tsavo as a whole consists of 10 million acres of pure wilderness, incorporating savannah and hills and an extensive river system. The sheer scale of Tsavo gives you a chance to really get away from it all, to explore the wild in total solitude. On safari here we could not believe our eyes as we saw absolutely everything including large herds of elephants, buffaloes, monkeys, lots of graceful giraffes. We were even lucky enough to see a lion, plus loads more. Words cannot describe this wonderful place. Tsavo is also a birdwatcher's paradise with numerous species of weavers, hornbills, sunbirds, rollers, and raptors commonly seen.

Our first game lodge was the Ashnil HoteI which is located in Tsavo East and is superb, close to Aruba Dam, with several watering holes nearby that attract wildlife and at night lots of elephants. There is no need for an alarm clock here! The hotel and game drive is second to none. A perfect safari lodge for your next Kenya visit.

The second game reserve we were lucky to stay is a classic stone built lodge which was one of the first lodges to be built in Tsavo National Park and overlooks its own waterhole, which is visited by a variety of wildlife at any time of day. Kilaguni Serena Safari Lodge is located within the Tsavo West National Park and the service and views from here are incredible. On clear days Kilimanjaro can be seen in the distance which is unbelievable.

Words cannot explain the experience we had nor can the pictures capture the beauty of this country. I would defiantly recommend this type of holiday to be on your top ten places to visit "bucket list". It was truly amazing!