Ol Tukai Lodge at Amboseli

To get to Amboseli from Nairobi, we had to get into a small plane that constantly made big drops. The plane ride was a little scary, but the view was incredible! The flight was only 1 hour. I saw some giraffes, some elephants, and even a dead zebra! The landing was super smooth and not bumpy at all. The drive to Ol Tukai Lodge was not too long, but it was super dry. There was a lot of water, yet the land was super dry. Amboseli has marsh areas but the water has a lot of naturally occurring salt and so the water is very salty.

What surprised me most was the number of dead animals. The animals were not all killed by lions and predators, but they died from the salty water! Too much salt can kill you. The dead animals smelled super bad. One time there were four dead animals within 50 yards of each other!  

The Ol Tukai Lodge was beautiful! They greeted us with a fresh juice and wet towels to clean our hands! We were led to our rooms which were little huts. The kid’s room had three twin beds, and they brought a fourth in for Zeb. The beds were super comfortable, and there were giant mosquito nets to cover the beds.

The dinner food was excellent! I accidentally ate some Gluten and paid the price. The service was also excellent, and the people were friendly. We did an early morning game drive and saw some lions, elephants, and dead things. Breakfast was also delicious, and there was always rice at every super excellent meal! They also had killer mocktails which are non-alcoholic cocktails. This was my 2nd favorite place, and I enjoyed it, and I would totally recommend it.  

a sleeping baby elephant

the flamingos were fun to see in Lake Amboseli

A Recap of Staying at Thulani

Thulani was amazing!!!! It was my favorite place out of the first three places we stayed. First was Melvilla Guest House (in Johanessburg), then Cradle Boutique Hotel (in Cradle of Humankind), and then Thulani (near Hoedspruit, in Northeast South Africa)! I shared a room with Emmy right next to the pool.

The staff people were terrific! Kelvin was the game driver, and he helped with other things too. Charlene was the chef, and Nmbuso was the chef’s assistant. Charlene was amazing! She cooked the best foods and was super friendly and kind.

The pool was freezing! Like super cold. It felt nice on my face, arms and legs when we returned from Kruger, but otherwise, it was super hard. The rooms were excellent, and the bathrooms were awesome!

On the first game drive, we saw things like giraffes, zebras, and lots of antelope and wildebeest. Kelvin had prepared a sunset snack of mango nuts cocktails for adults and soda for kids. Yes, we did get to share a sprite and a Fanta. Mom will say yes to soda for the first time and probably the last.

On Tuesday we went to visit a school. On Wednesday, we went to a wild animal Rehabilitation center. There we saw lions, leopards, cheetahs, honey badgers, birds, and many more animals. It was sad to see how animals are badly caught in traps and wounded. Some of them die from their wounds. The rehabilitation center was fun and painful, and I would recommend it. It is called Moholoholo wildlife rehabilitation center.