Kenya. Part 3: Tsavo Park East 

Kenya. Part 1: Getting There. Kenya. Part 2: Diani beach.

Esther, who had collected me from the airport to bring me to the resort, came to the hotel in the morning to help me sort my bags and belongings for my safari trip.

Once ready, we went to reception and met with Raphael, who was going to be my driver and guide. Quiet, calm and gentle I knew once again I was going to be in safe hands.

We set off in the safari van for Tsavo Park East, a national park famous for its red elephants due to its red earth.

It felt great to be on the road and seeing beyond the resort. The roads were bumpy, the streets busy and Mombasa was full of traffic and daily life.

The roads got busier and busier the further into Mombasa we came. Nose to tail buses, tuktuks, motorbikes, hand drawn carts, until we reached the Likoni ferry to cross the harbour.

Once on the other side we drove past an enormous burning rubbish tip and the black smoke from it was choking. I could still smell it in my clothes when we arrived. It was a highly populated area and a sad, stark reality check.

It was not a relaxing 4 hour drive from there to the National Park, but it was an experience!

On the way back, we hit a big traffic jam, which was obviously going nowhere. Raphael just turned the van off the the side of the road and we took a crazy route through the bush and villages, turning around whenever a hole or a ditch was too deep to drive through until, eventually we found the road again and carried on!

Driving into Tsavo Park East was a similar contrast to arriving at the resort. Wide open landscapes and peace. My first wildlife spotting was an ostrich. The roads through the National Park were deep red and wound through open plains and thick bush.

We arrived at Ashnil Aruba Lodge, and once again I was met by incredibly friendly staff. Apart from Raphael, my safari guide and driver, I didn’t have anyone specifically arranged to assist me here. I was introduced to Joan, who had been assigned to look after me. I couldn’t have asked for a more wonderful woman to help me.

She came and met me in my room every morning and helped me get ready for the day. She would meet me at the end of each safari drive and then collect me again for dinner before taking me back to my room for bed.

She set me up by the pool for some sunbathing, positioned so that I could look out over the watering hole for warthogs and zebras. There was a lone male elephant roaming in the distance during the whole of my stay.

She took me on a tour of the lodge grounds where there was all sorts of wildlife. She took me out to stare at the stars and joined me on a drive on the last day. It was that day that two young lions walked right next to the van.

Lions were the main draw of the safari drives. The drivers would be on their radios reporting sightings of paw prints or lions themselves, but once out in the park, Raphael would just drive me all over the place through a wide range of landscapes, stopping whenever we came across elephants, giraffes, hyenas and so much more.

Impala and zebras were so common we just drove past them after a while. One day we stopped and looked out over a large vista and it was like a picture from a children’s book. Elephants, giraffes, zebras, impala and sitting in the distance leopard. It was breathtaking.

Lion spotting was rare and often from a great distance so those two young ones on the last day were really special. Wherever there were lions there were four or five other safari vans full of tourists like me.

My favourite times were around the giraffes and more than anything the elephants. Large lone males, big herds led by a matriarch and tiny babies.

The time that will stay with me for the rest of my life, was on a dawn drive. We came across a group of five or six elephants.

Raphael stopped the van and there was complete silence. I was able to stand myself up in the van and just stood sharing the sunrise with the elephants, listening to them breathe. I didn’t take any photos, I just spent 20 minutes of silence with them.

The phrase ‘it sounded like a herd of elephants’ is completely wrong. Even on the move, they are pretty much silent. 

I absolutely loved my time out in the van with Raphael. I saw vans full of people and felt so lucky to be on my own with the nature and wildlife of Kenya.

My time at the lodge was peaceful and relaxing. I had a porch at the back of my room which looked out over the watering hole where I could watch the lone male elephant. There weren’t many guests there and the staff were incredibly friendly.

I was always conscious of my white privilege. The best I could do was return the sincere friendship and kindness shown to me. I would tip all the time and bought souvenirs and crafts when offered. The Kenyan people, wildlife and landscapes have so much to offer to tourists and they do it very well.

It was hard to leave Tsavo Park East, but wonderful that I was going back to Diani Beach for a couple more days rather than straight home.

It really was an amazing holiday and it has been such a pleasure to look back on it and reminisce.

August 2023 I booked another dream holiday to South Africa with the holiday company that took me to Sicily and The Caribbean. I was due to travel on October 31st 2024.

I kept it a secret from everyone for sometime, just something for me to know and savour, and I didn’t want to jinx it. I told my family in March 2024 and then April 2024 the holiday company called me up and told me my needs were too complex for them to be able to take me.

I was and still am devastated.

I need to be able to look up holidays online, make some phone calls and book a trip without anyone else’s input. This ability has been taken away from me, and there is no going back, fixing it or finding a way around it that I am happy with.

From a teenager to the present day I have travelled to Germany, Denmark, France, Holland, Romania, Italy, Norway, Greece, Egypt, Ibiza, Formentera, Ireland, Croatia, America, Canada, Belgium, Lanzarote, The Azores, Japan, Kenya, Mallorca, Sicily and Curaçao.

Every trip I’ve gone on in the past 10 years has been with the attitude of do it while I can. I never really believed the day would come, but my travelling days are over.

I have changed and adapted the way I travel as my MS has progressed. There are now so many limitations, complications and compromises that I have decided to stop.

Thank goodness for the journeys I have made, the places I have seen and the people I have met.