You remember I told you in one of earlier travel blogs about us forgetting an entire suitcase on our Mega Family Trip to Dubai back in 2017?
Luckily that wasn’t the ‘case’ this time around but WELCOME to another equally FUNtastic Family Trip with the Patils and Shindes! You won’t be disappointed or bored, I’ll guarantee you that! So get ready for a travel experience that’s both crazy and wild, literally!!
Kudos to ‘Foliage Outdoors’, Pune for doing a remarkable job of planning and arranging everything on our much-awaited trip of the year! Yes, this was one of those rare times that we deemed it safer and wiser to trust a travel agency. They sent the itinerary well in advance for us to do the necessary BUT where’s the thrill in that!? We Patils don’t operate that way, a fact you already know by now! So let’s get to the fun part directly!
The Vaccine War
A visit to an African country demands that you get yourself a Yellow Fever vaccination. It’s a 300 rs. vaccine available at most Government hospitals. We didn’t fix a date until less than a fortnight before departure when I happened to discuss about the vaccine with my bro-in-law who works in the medical field. He immediately sent across the name of a centre in Panvel where the shot is available every Tuesday. On the afternoon of July 8th, PP and I walked in with the kids for an extremely harrowing experience that hurt way more than the vaccine!
1) I underestimated the vaccine protocol because the time spent at the centre before and after vaccine was enough to bring out the worst in my children!
2) That dreadful day I didn’t feed the two before leaving for the centre, nor did I carry any food. Shlok’s hanger pangs can make him exceptionally dangerous and when he exploded before the shot, the staff got worried!
3) When the Doctor learned about our date of departure, she right away told us that we had barely made it to the deadline but the rest of our family that was away on a religious trip would not be able to travel to Africa with us.
Wait. WHAT????
The Doctor’s lack of clarity on the travel rules put us through so much stress at that point as if the children’s tantrums weren’t enough! To make things worse, she refused to vaccinate Moksh on a grounds of his age. (He was 3 days short of a year old!)
Several calls later, we were relieved to learn that the family had one last chance to make it. The Airport Health Organisation administers the vaccine every Mon – Fri, so it was decided that we would take Moksh the very next day and the family that was to return on Thursday night would get their shot on Friday.
Come Wednesday morning, the plan was for us to leave for the Airport by 9.00 am with the kids and my Appa in tow. Take my advice as a mother of two young ones that’s perpetually late. You cannot wake up at 7.30 am to make breakfast, pack food for the two, clear up every mess, get ready and into the car at 9.00 am unless you are Lady Luck. Now you know why the new Airport is happening at Panvel and proposed to be named after a ‘Patil’ 😛
That Friday, PP took the family to JJ Hospital again. Thank you Atal Setu + Eastern Freeway.
Of course, had we gotten this job done earlier, we wouldn’t have been in this soup but then again, YOU would have missed an interesting appetiser!
FYI, you are not required to declare the vaccine certificate at our Indian Airport. It is only at the time of return that a check happens at the African Airport. Quarantine upon non-compliance, i.e. If your certificate is less than 10 days old.
Uber: The Dramatical Strike
Waiting for the lift with the kids and luggage, PP who was busy with the Uber booking, looked up from his phone and asked “Is there a Uber strike?”
Three days ago I had learnt about the strike and had passed that news to him in a casual conservation, completely unaware that only days later we’d be victims of the taxi struggle! Where were we going to find two cabs at this time of the night? Also we had to stop by at my mom’s to pick up an essential for the boy.
It was past 10.00 pm and the kids were getting hot and restless. The adults were trying to figure out a solution. So we cranked up the AC in our car and pushed the kids inside. Just as we were contemplating driving ourselves, we got lucky with Uber and managed to get two cabs. We reached the airport well in time after picking up what we needed. It was only upon sitting in the car and going through the itinerary did we realise that we’d left behind the entire box of safari hats that had been sent by the travel agency!
Tourist Family
Once we stepped out of the Airport after Immigration, we were greeted by a team from the Safari Tour agency in Nairobi – Pollman’s Tours and Safaris. Having two jeeps to ourselves was a blessing because it was comfortable and relaxed, given the drive to Masai Mara was nearly as long as the India-Nairobi flight! Also, these jeeps had a 20 litre water jar at our disposal! On day one itself, Moksh pulled the tap apart leaving the pipe to sink in the jar making it impractical to use!
After a couple of halts at gift shops that we explored but purchased nothing, and nearly 6 hours later, we reached the entrance to the Masai Mara Reserve. No sooner does your jeep stop for security check than the tribal ladies make a beeline to your vehicle with their wares! It reminds you very much of India!
One evening we were taken for an elaborate tour of the Masai Village that included a song-dance ritual, an understanding of their culture and traditions, a look inside their houses and they even showed us how they make fire without using ‘Maachees’! Yes, the head of the tribe used that word! The highlight of the village tour was the performance and the one person that outshone the Masai was my ever-enthu FIL! It was only later that night we wished we had taught them one of our Hindi hit songs!
Talking of Hindi songs, see this beautiful rendition of a classic! Wow right?
When I saw an uncle in the lobby of the Mara Sopa Lodge, I couldn’t help myself but tell PP that he looked South Indian to me and what do you know, I was absolutely right! Turned out the gentleman, Mr. Gopalakrishnan was a resident of Chembur and a C.A. by profession! Had there been time for more chit-chat, I’m certain we would have found a family connection as well!
While we did some shopping in the Masai village tour, the mandatory fridge magnet shopping was done on the last day. Nothing, however, could beat the joy of finding this!
Sopa-Man!
Beyond the entrance gates lies the Masai Mara Reserve, vast grasslands with animals roaming about freely, it is home to them after all! Nestled deep inside this Reserve was our Resort – Mara Sopa Lodge. Though a beautiful property, the only problem with a Safari vacation is that you don’t really get to enjoy the rooms and facilities but the food, hospitality and the overall ambience made our stay a very enjoyable one.
On day one, minutes after settling into our room, just imagine my shock when I realised that the one interrupting my bathroom time was not one of my boys as always but a surprise guest!
Two days later we were scheduled to leave Masai Mara and head to Lake Naivasha. Having heard rave reviews about the Sopa property in Lake Naivasha, we were excited to get there soon and believe you me, we were left mind-blown! The grandness of the Resort amidst so much greenery and wilderness by the lake was spectacular! It was too beautiful to not explore the place in whatever little time we had there.
That evening, we decided to just take a walk by the lake in leisure, do some photoshoot, stop and smell the roses etc etc. Well, there were no roses to smell, but what was there in abundance? So many zebras that we humans could have been outnumbered! It was an incredible sight! They were only glad to be part of our family photoshoot! “Say ZEEEE!!”
Over dinner, upon request, the staff at the hotel made Shlok’s birthday celebrations memorable in their traditional style! Shlok froze with shock initially when the team walked into the dining hall singing and dancing, with instruments and all!
Into the Wild
No matter where in the world and how many safaris you do in a lifetime, every drive is different, unique and has so much to offer!
To be able to witness ‘The Great Migration’ in Africa is the ultimate experience of a lifetime indeed! It is like being teleported into the world of Madagascar and The Lion King! It’s one thing to sight a few animals on a Safari but another thing altogether when you come across mass gathering of different species! When they say millions of animals, you ought to see it to believe it!
More than half of the million animal population is ruled by the scrawny Wildebeest though, that looks neither wild nor beastly! I’ve no idea why it’s named so, quite ironical if you ask me! But the zebras seem to like them for what they are! ‘Ye dosti hum nahi todenge’ type!
I particularly liked the giraffe! Tall and pretty with those brown spots, walking slowly in rhythm. So they have a peculiar pattern of walking wherein they move forward both legs on one side of their body simultaneously, followed by the legs on the opposite side. It’s called ‘Ambling!’
It’s not daily that a lion crosses your path, or vehicle in our case!! And can you believe it? The lion went one step further and sat under Shlok’s window for a couple of minutes before moving away!
Also, I like to believe that I had a Raj-Simran moment with another lion. We watched the lion lay on the rock for ten long minutes during which I even wondered whether it was dead. Squinting through the binoculars I even tried focusing on its breathing until I got fed up and commented “bass na, kiti zopaycha!? Uth atta!” And will you believe it!? The lion actually raised its head, looked around and posed. Then went back to sleep. Unfortunately I only have the Before-After video and not of the aww moment.
The third was a kill, probably done early in the morning. When we came across the lion, it was busy analysing the body of a wildebeest wondering from where to begin the treat!
We were also lucky to see two cheetahs! That was something unbelievable!
Just to make Moksh happy, some big elephants with impressive tusks marked their presence!
A morning boat ride in the beautiful and famous Lake Naivasha included bird and hippo watching. Funnily until then I hadn’t realised how humongous hippos could be! Only the earlier night, PP and Aksh (Shlok’s cousin) had gone hippo-sighting in the dark because the guard had informed us or rather warned us about hippos coming out of the lake to graze. Turns out he was right!
General rule states no getting out of your Safari vehicle. But what if your vehicle gets stuck in a ditch? Our driver Swami (it was Sami’s idea that we call him so!) suggested we all get into the other vehicle while he worked on freeing it. Those few minutes that we stepped down on the ground made us more sensational than the animals in the Reserve. A Chinese couple in another vehicle that was parked few metres away to see the wildebeests got down to take a picture of us instead!
Lost in Transit
1) It was only when he sat for the final packing on the night before our flight, that it came to PP’s attention that his brand new beige jacket was missing! He didn’t even have to rummage through the other bags because he knew where he’d left it, only it came to his realisation a lot later than it should have! He called the reception at the Resort in Lake Naivasha and requested them to check the cupboard in our room. Once it was confirmed that the jacket was there, PP had to work out the logistics to get it back! Last update: The jacket has reached the Pollman’s office in Nairobi after doing another trip of Masai Mara!
2) One piece of the brain teaser game that I gifted Shlok on this trip got lost amidst a major tantrum in the first Hotel. Though I traced back our steps, searched in the sheets, under the dining table, everywhere, it just vanished!
3) For a person who’s lazy to wash her hair at home, I decided it was necessary to shampoo my hair at 3.30 am in Nairobi before our flight to India. Result? I left my bottle back there and it’s not one that I can pick OTC and I find ordering beauty products online extremely tiresome!
The OG Lion King
What was supposed to be Shlok’s 4th birthday gift turned out to be an out-of-this-world treat for his little brother instead who enjoyed seeing the animals more than anybody else!
Waking up a fast asleep Shlok to tell him about the lion under his window was the perfect example of ‘putting your head in a lion’s mouth!’
I just mentioned to Shlok that I finished the blog and wrote about his lion episode to which he said, “ya, I woke up and saw the lion and thought ok, I saw the lion but what will it do to me? So I slept off again!”
I was rendered speechless by his response but my curiosity was piqued. So I asked him to list the top three things he loved the most on the Safari trip.
1) Eating chips (thankfully the flavour was associated with Kenya!)
2) Playing with his cousins in the hotel
3) Going in the aeroplane
Incase you still wondering what gift the birthday boy got, he became the youngest person to do a Hot Air Balloon ride!
When I suggested the Hot Air Balloon, it featured on no.4.
Cheers!! 🙂
C.A.: Confused Aquarian 