Travel Journal- Nairobi

Travel Journal- Nairobi

Do you travel with kids? I bet you have, or are planning to. The thing is, children (babies certainly included) are unpredictable, fussy, and at times to put it simply, very hard to deal with. We decided to take ours (3 and 1) completely out of their comfort zone and travel to Kenya.

It's not for everyone, but we love discovering different cultures and places. We have always known that having children will make it harder but not impossible and let me just say: no matter the planning and preparation there will be times (quite probably as soon as you step onto the airplane) when you will be very close to regretting it. But experiencing is the best type of learning.  I was sure amazing learning would happen. After all I have seen it in the school children I taught- the best lessons were always those with new experiences and practical activities.

Fast forward briefly to the end of our trip. After spending 3 days in Nairobi we have joined the rest of the family in Mombasa, Ines (3) could not stop retelling the things she had picked up. She talked about elephants making their own sunscreen, mosquitoes and how and why they bite, the food she had (especially the Ethiopian restaurant where we used our hands to eat).

 

 

 I have no tips to share with you for the journey. Sisi cried a LOT even though Turkish airlines went out of their way to accommodate us, moved passengers around just so we could have the best seats on every flight. She even had her own cot and we had every activity under the sun.  Once we landed and both girls had a good sleep, exploring Nairobi was incredible.

 

Fairview Hotel Nairobi

An absolute highlight was a visit to the Sheldrick  Elephant Orphanage, where we watched babies being fed milk from bottles and found out so many interesting things that a book could be written!

 Sheldrick  Elephant Orphanage

Another highlight was the Giraffe Manor. We fed and watched giraffes and their babies. I am quite sure that Tom and I enjoyed it just as much as the girls. Ines watched a baby giraffe have a feed and asked what giraffe milk tasted like, I love the innocence at that age!

Giraffe Manor

Karura Forest is incredibly beautiful and we were so glad that we decided to hike down to the waterfall. It turns out that, contrary to what they will tell you on a supermarket trip, 3 year olds can walk amazing distances without whinging and whining that they are tired! 

 Karura Forest

 Nariobi is a developing capital. Its not at all buggy friendly and you cannot rely on public transport BUT having a huge, purple giraffe tongue slobber saliva all over your tots hand and her squealing with delight is just in itself worth a visit. 

Watch out for our our next installment about Mombasa and Kenya's South Coast.

Follow some of our adventures on Instagram 

 Image result for instagram


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