Honeymoon
For our honeymoon the wife and I decided to go on a once in a lifetime safari to Kenya. We've always been interested in nature, and this seemed the ultimate nature experience, so we booked it, packed it, fucked off.

The flight was an overnight to Nairobi. Ten hours or so and I can't sleep on planes. Got to Nairobi and instead of being a brilliant arrival to a new continent I was just tired and grumpy. The transfer to our hotel was scary as hell and the city tour was dull (apart from the driving, which is always scary as hell in Kenya). The evening was spent at a place called 'The Safari Park Hotel' and if you ever have the pleasure of a stay in Nairobi I can't recommend it enough. However, too many wines and whiskeys meant a late night and little sleep before our early start the next day.

Got up early and jumped into the vans for the bumpiest, rattliest most dusty drive I've ever been on. It lasted virtually all day. When we finally reached Samburu reserve we had a short game drive through the reserve and got to the lodge covered in dust and dirt, bruised and battered and knackered.

We had dinner and went to bed.

I slept the sleep of the dead and despite it being an ungodly early start the next day for the first time on the holiday I felt good and reasonably rested. I was excited about the safari drives and was begining to enjoy being in africa on a holiday I never thought I'd ever actually be lucky enough to go on. I had the glow of anticipation.

I got up and dressed quickly and left my wife getting ready and went looking for coffee. The lodge was set on the banks of a river and it was still dark outside. The sky was getting lighter all the time and sunrise was nearly upon us. I walked through the beautifully wooded grounds to where the coffee was served on an onservation deck over the river. No-one else was up yet and the hotel staff had left the coffee machine on so I helped myself and settled down on a comfy seat overlooking the river.

The air was cool and still. The coffe was the best I've ever tasted. The sounds of the african bush waking up surrounded me. The river gently gurgled past and a small family of elephants was grazing on the far banks. Superb starlings chattered and squabbled around me as the sun broke over the horizon, shafts of golden light spearing through the trees.

And that was it. I was all alone in my own wonderful, beautiful, perfect moment. When I stopped and thought about it, about where I was, about the place and how beautiful everything was and how incredibly lucky I was to be there I nearly wept. It's the happiest I've ever been.

If you have an interest in the natural world, and like a holiday with a bit of adventure to it rather than just sitting on a beach getting bored then go to africa. It's utterly awesome.
(robbersdog, Tue 10 Aug 2010, 11:58, 3 replies)

I like it
best part of honeynoon - being on my own.
( buffet_the_appetite_slayer ٩(●̮̃•)۶ jacked in to the ICE on, Tue 10 Aug 2010, 13:19, closed)

Ha!
I thought that when I wrote it. Truth is, the wedding and the aftermath were pretty hectic days. For a while I hadn't had any quiet time to myself. You know, time to reflect on things. This was that time and it was just what I needed.
(robbersdog, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 7:37, closed)

Agreed.
Spent a few nights on safari in two parts of South Africa - both totally different experiences, both utterly unforgettable. Especially the leopard cubs. Maybe I'll even post my own "beautiful moment"...
( The Teviot Moose major 5th., Tue 10 Aug 2010, 16:41, closed)