A Place Like No Other in Kenya Where Luxury Meets Wilderness
so we are here in Tsavo thanks to Ongeri Expedition and secluded Africa at the beautiful property called kipalo Hills so we've heard that there's something here close to the camp that we need to go see because in our three years of safari we have never seen this okay [Music] [Music] after almost three years and fifty safaris we finally found some wild dogs there like a pack of about 20 here well what a way to start our little Adventure weekend that's crazy I still can't get over that um but let me show you our tent because we actually have the best tent on property uh-huh so welcome to our room we actually have the one and only Suite here on property so it starts off you have a nice little day bed area and one thing that we do really love we've said this multiple times before we love when camps are a little bit smaller so on 10th there's only an extra there's five other tents and that's it plus the suite so six rooms total so you do get more of that intimate feel here at the Safari camp so we have a king size bed kind of looks bigger than a king size bed to be honest behind here we have our luggage area it's a great place to store things disregard our bags everywhere but then one of my favorite aspects besides what you're going to see last is the bathroom so as you're noticing I'm coming I'm coming through a tent right here your bathroom is completely open the breeze that you get through here we have a beautiful large shower your toilet here and then we even have a double sink with no netting on this side and you just look out oh nothing look at we're gonna show you a better View so when we come out to our porch area one thing I love I know I'm saying that a lot there's a lot of things I love about this property um is that it's still with the land so as you can tell there's still rock formation here and even on our day bed you can tell it's built into the Rock with The Rock on the armrest but this is what I was meaning about our bathroom see how it's completely open we even have a seating area here table we could probably have a meal out here if we request it and this is the view [Music] [Music] so fun fact about wild dogs there's only six thousands of them left in the entire world and for that reason it's important to do a conscious effort to keep them around so now instead of a game drive this afternoon we're actually going to go on a bush walk and then we'll end up with Sundowner I hear there's a great spot so I'm curious to check it out but first tea time right now we're very lucky because we're walking Against the Wind meaning that most animal cannot smell us coming so let's see what we can find [Music] kipalo means the place you come back yeah that's why they used to come back driving themselves closing like that so they named our lodge Kipalo so like we mentioned earlier the name of the lodge that we're staying at well camp that we're staying at is called Kipalo so basically what it is is they named it after the rock that you saw back there because the elephants kept coming back to that same Rock rubbing themselves on it whenever they're itchy and it's the corridor from Tsavo East basically all the way to Tanzania but from here it's like Tsavo East to Tsavo West so kipalo means like a place that you keep coming back to [Music] so let us tell you that secluded Africa always has some of the best Sundowner spotted in the business yes and so also when you go on like the Safari side of things so Instinct of the Mara and here um both times the second time we've had it and I love it they just roast like a leg of lamb over the fire and serve it up so good yeah anywhere else but there's other people and I have to share whatever it's very good that's Daniel their chef and on top of being an amazing cook I can just listen to his voice like over and over again just so soothing standing before you again I would like to express my menu to you for your dinner I'm starting with I've prepared you something I call mixed vegetable tempura with the ginger and soy and then to be followed by carrotsu prepared in the Indian way with coconut milk and coriander flavor and this is accomplished by homemade bread rolls with the second plate your main course I have prepared you grilled beef fillet steak going together with the Lioness potatoes and the cooked vegetables there will be a pepper gravy sauce on the table oh wow so a great supper a great evening great people yeah every time we come to one of their properties we just have meals with like owners and stuff but also like other clients that we don't know and it's just like always a good time yeah great dinner the food is fantastic so we're gonna go to bed tomorrow well you'll see tomorrow you'll see [Music] so secluded Africa maintains multiple water hole like this one all around the Conservancy this is one of the water hole that's very popular with the elephant they're not here yet but we can see them at the distance let's see if they're gonna come for a drink we found the wild dogs again today fun fact about wild dogs they're one of the most successful predator in the entire world with a success rate of almost 96 percent group Ranch conservancy and it's actually run here by secluded Africa um basically this is their headquarters here with all of the Rangers so we're gonna sit and kind of learn some more things from them so it's super interesting to see all the community efforts that the Rangers are doing but also the anti poaching stuff and patrols and everything I don't want to give you too much details because I don't want to be a nuisance for them but uh yeah it was very fun I highly suggest if you're staying in one of their properties to learn more about the conservation work that's secluded Africa does because even back down to cardamom house at the coast there's still conservation work going on there so take some time learn about it you won't be disappointed so before we go show you the rest of the lodge um we're gonna go look at a brand new accommodation that they're still working on but we're gonna go check it out so I'm gonna give you a quick tour of it it's not done yet but you'll get the gist of it so basically here you'll have your bed and then it's fully screened here you will have a deck there as well and then you come over this side and we have a double sink we're gonna have a rainfall shower right here and I like that they didn't close it off because it does make the place seem even more big if you come this way and then on this side there's a toilet hidden back in there as well they'll have a little cabinet to put your luggage and everything here you have a second shower so you have an outside shower here that's completely shielded and then when you come this way keeping with the rock formation they're actually going to build a small lunge plunge pool right there as well so this is all facing what you're gonna see upstairs so if we go upstairs this way so lastly this part as you can tell the rest is still going to be amazing but up here on top of the room house basically is they're gonna put a star bed right here and just look at this view I'm still kind of Blown Away you have you can literacy see over the entire Conservancy over Tsavo im lost for words so now that you've seen this Amazing Project which should open in May or June 2023 so very soon now we're going to show you uh the main Lodge the pool and everything because it's it's very nice so when we first arrived we just arrived basically over the Rock and this is our first view so this is the main lodge area and you can tell like my first thing I noticed was how the coaches and everything it's still just built into the Rock you look even closer the coach coach cushions are even carved out to stay with the rock so very much immersed into nature and I love that aspect so let's go see how the big the main Lodge is so when you come inside this is our table here because we've all been eating together the community style and then over there you see the pool but you would have most your meals up here if you wanted Separate Tables everything like that in the back is a bar as well so having the pool here is fantastic also because it gets very hot in this area but one thing that does make it uniquely stand out you have a veranda there and even the Rocks you can come remote lacing cushions because if you look over the edge there's actually a water hole directly below [Music] so like we said yesterday this is the type of camp that we absolutely love it's smaller it's unfenced and you just feel like you're so much more immersed in nature so one aspect that having this new house or accommodation on property is going to add to it is you have basically different types of accommodation based off luxury so you have your more budget Safari tents which really does give you that true authentic safari tent experience you even have bucket showers everything like that hot water and then you have what we're staying in which is a fantastic room more of a suite A little bit more air more space but that you have the star bed so that gives you your wow luxury side of things as well so for lunch today for the bread we have some amazing looking fukaja [Music] [Music] this is so weird guys because as you can see there's Sun everywhere it's a very beautiful day but right now there's a dark cloud over me and it's raining but about just here around the pool that's it one two three I love those little guys so tonight we're doing koroga and for those of you who don't know what koroga is still new to us too it's the first time that we've ever done it um kuroka in Swahili basically looks like to stir so you're stirring a pot and it's more of like a metaphor for like stirring a friendship as well um so here it does have Indian influence and sense of like the spice box and everything like that but it's a community supper and the men do the cooking and the women get to sit back and relax so koroga and Kenya it's kind of like barbecue and doing the grill in America like the it's a manly thing [Music] so with secluded Africa they have a saying which is you come as a guest and leave as a friend and it's so true because every time we come we go to one of their properties that's exactly the feeling that we have we become closer like just with the people around and even with guests um so I do want to say that like even though we choose to do the communal dining and everything like that you don't have to but I would encourage you to do it for one of your meals just to see I know it's a little bit of a different concept sometimes but you just I don't know there's no new people new culture from different countries like it's just interesting to like talk to new people I I at least we fun but like Tracy said if you want to come here with your significant other and have like a quiet time together that's totally fine yeah you can make your trip in any property of secluded Africa whatever you want it to be and I think that's what it comes down to there's no rigid structure it's okay you want to go on a safari today cool okay you don't cool that's cool too like it really is what you make it yeah now tomorrow we have a massive Safari day so we gotta go to bed because it's 15 after 10. I go to bed at 8 30 normally this is really late and we get we gotta wake up at six so uh night night good night good morning we are up ready to go on a full day of Tsavo but of course always starts with some coffee on the team this morning we have tise our driver Mustafa our Spotter and Tracy our coffee drinker so this is our first time ever in Tsavo National Park we are in Tsavo East let's face it we are here for the elephants because the elephants here are some of the most beautiful in the country and probably in Africa and so far well no elephants so we just arrived for breakfast and looks like we're gonna climb on the Rock and see if we can find a good spot to lay everything out so welcome to our breakfast spot it is called mudanda Rock and mudanda means dry meat so basically back in the days the tribes living here were hunter gatherers when they were killing an elephant for the meat only they would use this rock basically to dry the meat and this is where the name comes from and it's beautiful apparently sometimes there's actually water all down there right now like it is still quite dry but what a view so we have a beautiful breakfast spread we have some fruit granola yogurt eggs pancakes bacon sausage toast all everything you need oh actually coffee that's really all you need but and a beautiful view [Music] delicious breakfast 10 out of 10 breakfast spots here in Tsavo and now well let's go try our luck so as much as nature can be beautiful it can also be very harsh behind me you actually have three dead drafts you can only see two of them there's a tiny unborn baby behind there they're thinking a pride of lions coming just like from the tracks and stuff and killed one well killed them all but only ate one and the baby it's like they took the baby out of the womb because the baby was unborn like it's so tiny it's just sitting there [Music] welcome to lunch a bush lunch so now to switch things around Yes you heard that right switch things around we're gonna take our safari guide on a game Drive which is gonna be different you two behind yeah and Tracy's gonna be my spotter yeah yeah yeah [Music] we have water for you guys in there so if you need anything you please let us know okay okay guys so my name is Dave I'll be your Safari guy today we have an awesome spotter too we have Tracy there and she's actually from Canada meaning that she's super good at spotting uh polar bears beaver and moose so if we find any of those it's gonna be a great day Dave today you have black americans from united states fun facts about elephants their entire blood circulation goes through the ears and this is how they cool themselves down by about seven degrees Centigrade before going back to uh to the body fun fact so these ground here are very flat with not a lot of like trees and things like that so this could be cheetah territory here is that true yeah yes so David is doing a good job driving thanks to the instructions from our from our clients who are telling us where to go um so we're headed down to the river and hopefully we'll be able to show them some hippos maybe an alligator but the water might be too deep so we'll see best day ever [Music] [Music] made it to the fall let's see how our clients are doing how was i as a guide did you learn a lot about animals yeah you guys can have the truck back you guys are just better than us spot animals drive around fun fact behind me is the longest plateau in the entire world it starts right there where we were where the river is and it goes almost all the way down to mount Kenya which is about 300 kilometers [Music] thank you very much a towel shower I do thank you oh they're even Frozen this is fantastic great Safari driver almost as good as me now you're much better you're much better so we're just gonna stop for a quick shower because we have dust sunscreen sweat you name it oh all over it don't fall uh so quick shower change and then we're gonna relax for sundown tonight that's for tonight for Sundown we actually have a spot set out right here overlooking basically the entire Conservancy um and then we're all going to eat supper here as well so it's another great spot [Music] so tonight for supper we have a beautiful setup it's just Tracy and I for a last meal no not a last meal we're gonna have breakfast tomorrow Last Supper yeah yeah and can I say the lesson most important part is so we're in this like romantic setup well over the I can just see the water hole and we're really hoping the leopard comes through tonight that would be quite something I'd be happy with just a buffalo to be honest but the leopard would be like this game earlier yeah I saw it so what's for dinner I'm standing again before you here I would like to express my menu to you for your dinner so can we just once again appreciate how nice Daniel's voice is like it needs to like he's like the Kenyan Morgan Freeman that's pretty much it so the rain did unfortunately start to come so we are going to move inside so first of all a big thank you to ongeri Expeditions for sending us to Kipalo Hill it was a blast so if you want to book a similar experience or any other trip within Kenya we highly suggest them their link is going to be the first one down in the description so back on the train going to Nairobi and it's probably the best way to go to Tsavo as the easiest and cheapest less complicated yeah coming to Kipalo Hills did not disappoint it was exactly what I expected it to be you this is our third property with secluded Africa and every time you come back you feel like you're just part of the family like immediately again it's so good something that else is their passion is so noticeable not like in your face but just like with the conservancy and the work that they're doing around the communities I think that is fantastic and if you're going to one of their properties please talk them with the conservation efforts that are going in because you will be shocked yeah you'll see their passion and something super cool to know about those properties is actually a portion of what you pay to go to those camps actually goes back to conservation and back to the community so it's a good thing winwin so you probably see us back there at some point for the starbed because if you know us you know that we love to star beds there's nothing like a good star bed here in Kenya but until then see you guys in the next one
2023-05-12 13:59
