We arrived in Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya. on Saturday, July 10th. It was a cool balmy cloudy day when we arrived in the evening. With temperatures in the mild 60s and a light drizzle, coming from hot California I actually loved the cool temps.

Day 1 – Nairobi

We stayed at the beautiful Hemmingways Collection hotel in the Karen neighborhood of Nairobi. Karen is a suburb outside of the main hub of Nairobi. It’s lush and green with beautiful homes and estates. A lot of the attractions in Nairobi such as the Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage, Giraffe Centre and the world famous Giraffe Manor are all in the Karen neighborhood.

Out of Africa

For those of you who are familiar with the movie Out of Africa based on the memoirs of Karen Blixen and her life in Kenya, this neighborhood is actually named after her. Karen Blixen’s home is a museum here and a big part of her memoir was written while living in this area.

My birthday surprise

We arrived on July 10th on my b’day and the hotel had a lovely surprise waiting for me.

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Day 2. Day trip to visit family in Thika

On Sunday we opted to visit family in the town of Thika one hour outside of Nairobi. Our original plan was to check out the elephant orphanage and giraffe centre, but these facilities were closed due to COVID. With Sunday all freed up, we drove to Thika to see Hitesh’s Uncle and cousin Minal, and on the way stopped by local tourist attraction Thika Falls.

Scrumptious lunch and b’day celebration

It’s been many years since we visited Minal and her Dad and with them recently moved into a new home everyone was excited to see each other. What awaited us was a delicious feast prepared by Minal and a surprise bday cake too 😘🎂.

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On the menu

Spiced stuffed okra
Dhum aloo – potatoes in spiced gravy
Khadi – savory yogurt soup
Puris – fried whole wheat tortillas
Basmati rice
Shikhand – sweet yogurt dessert

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We hung out till evening and drove back to Nairobi to get ready for our early morning flight for our safari. The cool part? The entire family was going to join usi! Minal, her Dad, Hitesh’s family of Dad, his brother Amar, my sis-in-law Deepa and her daughter Riya. It was going to be an incredible trip!

Tomorrow’s post. Flight to Mara and the Rift Valley for day one of our safari.