Safari

I am a born traveler. There is no country in the world I am not interested to see, no food I won't taste and no trip I won't make to discover a new land, encounter different people and see a new sky.

I want. To go. Everywhere.

The further this takes me from my comfort zone, the more last minute the organization, and the more random the destination, the better.

But there is one word that, for as long as I can remember, has sent my heart racing Safari.

Setting up the original camps

There is something about this word that I find totally irresistible. A safari is, in the words of Tony Dyer, "full of excitement...of adventure and romance."

Growing up, Vivienne de Watteville, Beryl Markham, and of course Karen Blixen, were my heroines, their adventures, romances, and dogged determination in the face of physical, mental and emotional challenges, my inspiration. Those pioneers who embarked on the original safaris are, to me, some of the bravest, most fascinating individuals one could ever wish to meet.

A safari guide surveys the scene

For me, every trip to Africa ended in much the same way. A "lost" passport (making it impossible for me to return, you'll just have to leave me here), tears, and the inevitable bout of khaki fever (an incurable crush on the nearest safari guide.)

But it is through these years of obsessing, pining and daydreaming that I now, somehow, find myself living a dream come true and I am starting two months of traveling in the home of safari, Kenya.

The Trip

Ready for safari in Sirikoi camp

I will be moving between camps, home stays and lodges, from the savannah to the coast, from the mountains to the valleys, using every form of transport available. Flying, (in Super-cubs, Saratogas and helicopters - for what is better than flying over the African savannah), riding, (on camels, horses and mountain bikes and in Land Rovers) and walking (sprinting as and where necessary.)

Along the way I will be meeting some of Kenya's most celebrated characters and conservationists, seeing some of the countries most prestigious properties while listening to as many tales (both tall and short) as is humanly possible.

And so it begins...

My first stop is a night at Ngare Ndare (goat water) farm, home of Rose and Tony Dyer. I could not have asked for a better place to start and set the scene for this adventure.

The veranda at Ngare Ndare

Rose and Tony are the matriarch and patriarch of the Dyer clan, one of Kenya's most legendary families. Tony is a highly respected author, photographer and the former chairman of the East African Hunting Association. Rose is the daughter of pioneering farmer Will Powys.

Tony taking a well earned nap while out in the bush.

As I arrive its tea time on the veranda in their home, a place that has changed little since it was first erected in the late 1920s. Nothing but nothing beats tea and coffee (all day everyday) in Kenya. Add to that a view of the bush and you've got a little slice of heaven.

Teatime at Ngare Ndare

Today, their four sons each manage, care for and work the land on Borana and the neighboring farm Kissima, where Rose was born in 1934. Rose still rides out everyday. My first morning there she was off to locate a wounded zebra. Not bad for a lady of 74.

From here my next stop is the infamous Borana Lodge, one of Kenya's first purpose built eco lodges where some of the countries most renowned riding safaris take place.

Photos by kind permission of Rose and Tony Dyer