Isiolo

Day Six: ///caravans.raptor.excludes. Up bright and early for breakfast and check out of the hotel. Arrive at Safarilink terminal for our flight to Samburu and the Sassab Lodge. A small but rugged plane awaits us and it's a great one hour flight North. Dirt Airstrip, dry African Savanna, people dressed for adventure or colorful traditional robes make the scene fit for any Hollywood African Safari Movie! A slow drive to the lodge affords several first animal sightings including a beautiful cluster of Reticulated Giraffe! Welcome drinks and a talk before we are escorted to our hillside "tent" overlooking the dry riverbed. The annual rains are one month late and everyone, especially the animals, need the river to flow. Crazy cool room with lots of open views that leaves no doubt that we are in Africa! A wonderful lunch is served at the main lodge before we head back to our place for an afternoon rest. You smell the rain and hear the thunder well before it starts to come down. But it did! A soaking rain that lasted about 30 minutes. The start of more to come we hope. A late afternoon snack and we load up the Land Cruiser for our first game drive. The rain has cooled it down some but it's still very warm. We see many animals and birds over the next two hours followed by a sundowner cocktail enjoyed down on the riverbed. It is my new favorite drink, the Dawa!

'The dawa (medicine) cocktail, invented at the Carnivore restaurant in the Langata suburb of Nairobi, was inspired by the Brazilian caipirinha, a cocktail made with the cane-sugar spirit cachaça. Bartenders complained of morning-after headaches from the cachaça and started subbing in vodka. (Some Brazilians also prefer vodka with their muddled limes and sugar; the resulting drink is a caipivodka.) Carnivore’s bartenders began testing their new drink on guests; and one of them, who happened to be their landlord, was a fan. He asked for another, referring to it as his dawa (medicine). The name stuck and so did the cocktail, which is now found across Kenya.'

Back on the drive using a spotlight to try and see animal eye shine. Right as we're thinking about coming in, the radio cracks with a report of a Leopard sighting. A 25 minute wild ride in the dark with interjecting radio busts telling us "to hurry up, or miss it" complete the realization that we're on Safari! The Leopard eventually appears right in front of us and poses for photos to everyone's delight! Back to the lodge for a candlelight dinner under the stars. We are escorted to our tent in the blackness by a guard loaded for bear! We are exhausted and though it is hot and sticky, sleep comes easily.Read more