First Retreat

Monday the 17^th we all went on our first YAV retreat of the year. Nicole and Gina flew in from Tanzania a few days before the retreat. On Monday morning our guide, George picked us up from our respective houses and brought us to Phyllis’s (site coordinators) house. After a nice lunch and refreshments, we took off with Phyllis and her family leading the way in their car. Phyllis surprised us by taking us on a Safari at an animal reserve where we stayed for two nights. It was a first time for many of us to go on a Safari and to stay at a luxurious camping/hotel located within the reserve itself.

Located close to Mt Kenya, Sweetwaters Tented Camp and the Ol Pejeta Conservency reserve are a great place to go if you want to get out of Nairobi and see the wildlife. Rob and I shared a spacious and plush tent that came equipped with two beds with comforters and hot water bottles, toilet, sink, and shower (with hot water). A lounge area where me and the other YAVs drank cups of hot tea is right beside a floodlit waterhole. Our own tents opened to the same waterhole where many waterbucks, zebras, and birds would gather.

The whole experience was great. It was a little hard to get up at 6:30am to start he Safaris but completely worth it. Most of the animals are out and about in the mornings and retreat into shaded areas once 12pm comes around. I was really shocked about how close that our guide could get us to the animals. This was nice because my camera does not have a good zoom on it. At night I was most thankful for the hot water bottles because it got really really cold.

  

The first time we went out we got rained on a little. We went out in the van and our driver opened the roof so that we could stand up and see all around us. This was nice but it also means that water was able to get into the van. The second morning we went was better. The sun came out early and the light provided lots of good opportunity for good pictures. In only two days we got to see elephants, buffalo, impala, zebras, cheetahs, lions, rhinos, and others.