It always fills me with joy, to spend some sweet outdoor moments with my family. So, when my husband took a two-week annual leave last week, there was a higher chance that we would take advantage of it and spend some time together as a family; to bond and for recreation. The incredible twins are into their first week at home, following the last week’s first term holiday break. Now we are a full house and this is a good period for all of us.
Last weekend, my hubby was in very spirits. He was feeling overwhelmingly “philanthropic”. With being philanthropic, I mean that he was all out to treat us in a special manner. I think he had made a “killing” from his flourishing onion business, or he had landed on a huge bonus at the work place. His pockets were incredibly loaded. So, he came out with a splendid plan. He wanted us to take a three-day vacation. He asked me for suggestions of a location where we could enjoy some serenity, away from the hustles and bustles of the city.
We eventually settled on Naro Moru . Sometime before, we’ve had heard about a lodge that was just over a kilometre from the tiny town, which lies just a few miles before reaching Nanyuki. One of its major attractions, according to its official website, was that it offered a fantastic view of the second highest point in Africa – the Mt. Kenya. The site also highlighted about a massive river that flows straight from the mountain and cutting right across the lodge. This seemed like a good place for a family vacation. The site also provided a phone number and we called in for some inquiries. A sales representative took us through the various packages and we settled for one that suited us better. Then we started planning for the vacation.
We set off at mid-morning on Friday. The journey would take us just over three hours from Nairobi. In fact, something coincidental had happened that made our journey even more interesting. Earlier that week, a representative from the facility called us to inform that there was another group that was travelling from the city to the lodge, the same day we were to travel. The interesting part was that the hotel was facilitating transport for the group. We were asked if we would like to join in the ride at no extra fee. Who could have resisted such an offer? We jumped in with both feet.
The group that traveled along with us was such a friendly lot. We met at a prior agreed point in the CBD. From the moment we all met, we looked like one big family. There was an instant connection between us. The group was a family, which included the two parents, two teenage boys, a nine-year-old girl and a relatively old woman. She was the three sibling’s grandmother. From our side, we were the four of us. Our househelp had requested to stay back, since she has already started her evening classes at a nearby college. So, a fantastic group of ten set off for Naru Moru.
The stay offered a fabulous experience. The serenity in that place was just too sweet. The lodge is set on the foot slopes of the mountain, and there was actually a big clean river that flowed across the expansive hotel. We all enjoyed the bush adventures that included among others, taking on a certain challenge course, barbeques, site-seeing and bike-riding. All these happened in the natural forest of the 74-acre facility. The formidable duo loved the swimming pool, ‘gun games’ and bouncing castles. Apart from the sumptuous cuisines, the sounds of the birds chirping every morning, and all day, were by far one of the sweetest experiences that we really savoured. In the night, tree hyraxes filled the place with some more incredible noises. It was amazing how the tiny ‘tree cats’ would make such loud but amazing sounds.
On Sunday afternoon, it was unbelievable that we were actually making our return journey, back to the concrete jungle. It was a fabulous outing for the family and we vowed that, at some point in future, we would go back to that exact lodge for some more quality time.
