Cécile, 29 years old:
« What a pleasure to come back to Kenya! And what is more, for an ecovolunteering experience, five years after the Taita Discovery Centre (TDC) inTsavo. I am here again in this beautiful country. And in a very different region than the ones I already know! It was an evidence for me to go to Subukia, after knowing about Wild Routes of Kenya and Astrid on internet. Especially as the activities would be supervised by Korir (former guide of TDC I already knew, and one of the best guides in the country)!
The welcome in Muringa Farm is great, thanks to all the team (Astrid, Erick, Korir, Benjamin, Vincent, Charles, Godfrey, Samweal, Sally and the others but also Kennedy and all the team of Mara) to have insured a very pleasant stay, in typical African bandas, with a restaurant on a small lake, where very good meals are being served … Furthermore, Muringa Farm abounds in animals: horses, donkeys, cows and also wild animals like colobus, blue monkeys, trees hyraxes and ibis which can be heard at night!
In brief, the place of Muringa Farm is idyllic, in this green Kenyan countryside (thanks to El Nino this year!), where coffee, tea and flowers of any kind are growing! Come and read at the same time Anne Spoerry's book: " They call me Mama Daktari ". She is the former owner of the farm, and you will be bewitched by this place full of history! Concerning the program, you will never get bored! The program is adapted to everybody. And there are so different activities to do there, that anybody can have a great time. Astrid concocts a personalized program to the ecovolunteers, according to their preferences. To train horses in the longing built in the property and to go and walk outside is a real pleasure, especially when you see how beneficial it is to offer a second happy life to these horses! Isn’t it Typhoon, Hurricane, Santos and Justice?
To observe wild animals in the property is great also, to admire the graceful colobus, birds, have fun with the blue monkeys’behavior, are activities you will never get tired of!
The property has been planned to leave space for wildlife. The excursions outside are nice also: we understand the usefulness of Astrid and Erick’ presence and also of ours, when we visit people Muringa Farm is sponsoring - as Lilian and her orphans, or the children of Lower Subukia refugee camp. It was such a big emotion when we visited these children on horseback and when they all wanted to ride Justice one after the other! It is also necessary to explain to people how to treat donkeys in a better way ; there is a program of the KSPCA (Kenya Society for the Protection and Care of Animals) for that. Samweal knows how to find all the owners of donkeys in the surroundings to distribute them headcollars!
Let’s speak now about safaris: the Nakuru National Park is not very far from Subukia and abounds in beauties. With Korir we were able to observe the flamingos of the lake, rhinos, buffaloes and other animals, and even to spot a female leopard, pregnant, coming down from its tree to go hunting! Magical!
Long stays of ecovolunteering also allow to go and visit for three days the mythical park of the Masai Mara. June is a good season from any point of view: dry season, temperature not very high and it is the beginning of the wildebeest migration from and towards Serengeti! You can find also elephants, hippos and "big cats" as lions and cheetahs (even if they where hiding this time!), which completes very well the Nakuru National Park!
After all that, you will tell me: what else? The answer is: you have to come back! You never want to leave Masai Mara's camp, surrounded by Masaïs, or Muringa Farm in Subukia, because you feel fine there, because you feel like a useful and privileged tourist discovering the " real Kenya ", and also because there are still so many things to do (other parks to visit, other activities to run). And then especially you want to see Astrid, Erick, all the team, the horses, the other animals again, once you are back home!So see you soon, I hope. In the meantime : “ long life to Wild Routes of Kenya! "cecile.querleu@orange.fr
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire