We drove out Monday morning to our final destination of the trip: Lake Naivasha and the Enashipai resort. This is a VERY exclusive, full-service resort where it was so nice, that I almost feel like I didn’t belong. Paul is on the board and is good friends with the owner so he is able to get a really good price for what will be a little higher end than the typical place we stay on school trips. The staff was overly friendly and I swear there were more of them than guests, it is truly full service. They have a wide range of activities for the students and I think this is going to be the perfect way to end the trip with a little pampering after spending several days out in the bush. The grounds were enormous and impeccably landscaped and groomed. I think I am losing steam at the end of the trip as I didn’t take any pictures! I was too busy sitting on the balcony overlooking a large fountain and enjoying the food! Here’s a little clip of the fountain outside my balcony.

The resort is on Lake Naivasha, one of the few fresh water lakes in Kenya. The lake has also undergone some significant geological upheaval in the last four years. The surrounding area is a hotbed of geothermal activity with several some amazing extinct volcanos and active thermal areas that remind me of Yellowstone. There was some seismic activity a few years ago that caused the ground around the lake to contract and the water level rose significantly. The result is that a nearby peninsula where they have filmed several movies (Out of Africa being most notable), became an island. The island is shaped like a moon, hence the name, Crescent Island. The bird life on the lake is amazing but the island is now a conservancy where there are a wide variety of the same animals that we have seen in all the other parks except for the large predators. All the animals roam as they would elsewhere in the wild, except the ostriches, which still could be dangerous and therefore are kept in an enclosure. The result is that, with a guide, you can walk right in the midst and within a few meters of some amazing animals as they go about their routines. We saw Ostriches, Berber Monkees, Dik Dik(the smallest of the antelope), Water Buck, Zebra, Giraffe, Wildebeest, and of course, tons of birds. It seemed like everyone had babies as well! I took a giraffe selfie.

Our guide was fantastic and really went down the list with all of the animals, interesting features, Life-cycles, Swahili names, he knew it all. After a couple of hours looking around and learning even more than we already had the rest of the time, the boat was ready to meet us and take us back to the resort. It seems like I keep saying this, but I know the students will love this!