Easter 2017 has been a very special time at The Good Life Orphanage but the highlight has been an awesome trip to Shimba Hills National Reserve. We started our journey a few minutes past Six and the first great experience they had was at the ferry. Most of them had never boarded a ferry and also it was their first time to see ships. They were all amazed and made very funny comments about how the ferry operates in the mayhem that is Likoni. After the ferry the other experience that they really enjoyed was driving down the hills. The topography of the place made them to be very alert and attentive as were able to monitor how our bus was moving down hill and up hill and they all cheered when driving down the slopes.

Happy faces as we prepare to enter Shimba Hills

Our Tour Guide explains the geography of the area

At around 8.30am we reached the main gate and after brief introductions and making the payments, we started our tour around the park. The tour guide taught us all so much information about the trees and the animals. We first drove around the park heading to the direction where the Shedrick Water Falls is located and as the children had been told earlier that they would swim, they all kept on asking how far we were from the place. After approximately 20 kilometers drive we parked our vehicles and our children changed their clothes to get ready for the swimming. We were joined by a game ranger who led us to the water fall which was located 2.5km in the forest through a very demanding trail.

Trek down to the waterfalls

Happy Days for the children

On our way to the water fall, we didn’t see any dangerous animals apart from snakes which all run away whenever they spotted us. This place marked the peak of our tour with both the children & staff feeling the pressure of the falling water, it was an awesome experience. Our children swam for almost two hours and when the game ranger blew the whistle to indicate that our time there was over most of them begged him to give them extra more minutes- none of them wanted to leave!!

So refreshing we did not want to leave

A lovely pilau for lunch

We reached the assemble point at around 1:30pm and by then all of us were hungry and exhausted. The tour guide led us to a very nice place where we ate our lunch and had time to relax. After our lunch, we were all set to see the other animals whom we had not seen especially elephants as by then we had already seen buffaloes, baboons, antelopes, squirrels and snakes. Although our tour guide had told us that the Elephants and giraffes usually come to drink water during lunch time hours when the temperatures are high, it wasn’t our day as they didn’t show up. To ensure we had seen as many animals as possible we spend the last hour of our stay in Shimba Hills National Reserve driving around the Western part of the park and saw other animals including warthogs and monkeys.

Madam Valentine our own Tour Operator

Water buffalos in abundance

We started our journey back home at around 4:00 pm and by then most of our children were sleep because of the exhaustion of the busy day exploring such a wonderful place. We thanked God as we reached home safely saying a very special prayer for generosity of The Connuaghton Family & the combined fundraising efforts of Merchant Taylors’ Junior Boys, Junior Girls and Waterloo Primary. We certainly had a day that we will never forget and will cherish the memories we made.

Group photo for Shimba Hills Visit

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