This year for our Virgo birthdays, we decided to go away for a weekend of rejuvenation. Jonathan has been working so hard and he's also still trying to come to terms with his sister's death. So with that, we decided to go to a place that had little to no distractions so that he could get a lot of rest. My job was to find a place that we could enjoy solitude and be still for a moment. I did my research and found the ultimate destination and knew that he would be really psyched at the choice of lodge/camp I picked. I sent him off to make the payment the day prior to our departure and guess what? The tour agent had mistakenly booked us in for the weekend after! I was livid and told Jonathan to do whatever he could to get us in there but unfortunately the camp was fully booked. The tour agent told us about this other place and said that we would have just as much fun and seclusion there so we decided to go with her recommendation - Mbweha Camp.
Mbweha Camp is located at the edge of
Lake Nakuru National Park and sits on a private 6400 acre game conservancy. The property is owned by
Cholmondeley, the infamous great grandson of Lord Delamere who was convicted of
manslaughter last year. Sorry for that little digression but I had to mention it...Anyway, the drive from Nairobi to Nakuru takes about 1.5 hours and then add another half hour to get to the actual camp. The National Park is home to Zebras, Warthogs, Gazelle, Waterbuck, Impala, Hyena, Buffalo and Dik dik among others. For this reason, when we got to the camp, we had to sign an agreement that the camp "could not guarantee our safety". Jonathan gave me a look of "WTF, lets get outta here!" but we ended up staying and loving it.
During the day, the camp is safe to walk around but you can't even go to the car park without alerting someone because there is no fence...an animal could just be chilling and waiting on unsuspecting tourists! When you check in they give you a very powerful flashlight so that when you are ready for dinner, you step out of your cottage and flash the light a couple of times and a
Maasai warrior comes and walks you back to the dining room. The Maasai respect animals/wildlife and therefore have created a symbiotic relationship with them so they make the best guides! When we got back to the cottage after dinner it was quite a nice surprise to find 3 hot water bottles snuggled in the sheets:-)
There are 10 cottages made from lava stone and thatched makuti roofs. The decor inside is to die for...exactly what you need for a bush vacation! The only problem I had with the makuti roofs is that little annoying creatures (read: SPIDERS) can get through. Yes, I know, what did I expect booking a camp in the middle of the National Park? Whatever. Our first night while Jonathan was catching some much needed sleep, I was wide awake and scared to death that a huge hairy tarantula was coming to get me. Reason? We had found a spider on the mosquito net and all I could think of was more spiders coming to attack us for killing their buddy. Arachnophobia in full effect! Meanwhile outside my door some stupid hyena seemed to be laughing at me..yes we found some prints the next morning! Mmhh, the agreement makes sense now huh?
Apart from my overactive imagination the camp is very serene and the folks there get two thumbs up for customer service! Did I mention that this is considered an Eco-lodge as well? The camp is fully solar-driven so there are no outlets in the cottages. That means no TVs, Radios, Alarm Clocks, etc. Should you need to charge your phone there is a charging station at the bar close to the dining room. If you don't have good conversation skills with your loved one, this is not the place to go:-) If you are an avid reader like me, it is the ultimate getaway and also its a great place to take pictures of the flora (around the camp) and fauna (if you go for a game drive).
The one thing I was not impressed with was the food. Jonathan enjoyed his meals but I was a little disappointed with the vegetarian meals they offered. For instance on the day that Jonathan had Lamb Chops with a mint sauce, roasted potatoes and steamed veggies I had a vegetable casserole with couscous. It sounded good but what came on my plate was carrots and cauliflower cooked in a very tomato-ey sauce and unflavored couscous. Every cook worth their salt knows that you should infuse flavor in a dish every chance you get and with couscous being a blank slate the possibilities are endless! I did enjoy two soups and my breakfast...can't beat sauteed mushrooms with toast, coffee and OJ!
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There are 10 cottages made from lava stone and thatched makuti roofs. The decor inside is to die for...exactly what you need for a bush vacation! The only problem I had with the makuti roofs is that little annoying creatures (read: SPIDERS) can get through. Yes, I know, what did I expect booking a camp in the middle of the National Park? Whatever. Our first night while Jonathan was catching some much needed sleep, I was wide awake and scared to death that a huge hairy tarantula was coming to get me. Reason? We had found a spider on the mosquito net and all I could think of was more spiders coming to attack us for killing their buddy. Arachnophobia in full effect! Meanwhile outside my door some stupid hyena seemed to be laughing at me..yes we found some prints the next morning! Mmhh, the agreement makes sense now huh?
The one thing I was not impressed with was the food. Jonathan enjoyed his meals but I was a little disappointed with the vegetarian meals they offered. For instance on the day that Jonathan had Lamb Chops with a mint sauce, roasted potatoes and steamed veggies I had a vegetable casserole with couscous. It sounded good but what came on my plate was carrots and cauliflower cooked in a very tomato-ey sauce and unflavored couscous. Every cook worth their salt knows that you should infuse flavor in a dish every chance you get and with couscous being a blank slate the possibilities are endless! I did enjoy two soups and my breakfast...can't beat sauteed mushrooms with toast, coffee and OJ!
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