My family always go somewhere in the summer. This is a family tradition that has been with us for my whole life and because of that I have traveled to so many places. This year we went to Kenya and Dubai. It was so much fun since it was the first time for us to go to Africa or the Middle East. We had a lot of new experiences and we got to know a lot of new cultures.
Kenya
We had a safari trip in Kenya and it was more than we expected. Just to run through our schedule, we landed at 11:00 in Massai Mara from Nairobi and had the evening safari. The next day we had 8 hours of safari and then we had the afternoon to just relax at the hotel. The next day we had the morning safari and left Masai Mara at 11:00 and went to Lake Nakuru and had the evening safari. The next day we had the morning safari and went back to Nairobi to go to Dubai.
First off it was Massai Mara National Reserve. It was so much fun and our guide was one of the best guides we could have asked for. Our guide could spot animals from the distance and he would tell us that he spotted it but none of us would be able to see it. He would drive closer to the animal and we would finally see it when the car came to a stop. It was really cool to see all the animals you will just see in the zoo or on nature shows up close and in the environment where they belong at, just doing their own thing and minding their own business. We actually got really lucky and saw everything we wanted in the days we were there. (Lions, cheetahs, leopards, rhinos, giraffes, jackals, hyenas, a lot of elephants, gazelles, buffalos, zebras, birds, and more)
Next was Lake Nakuru. Lake Nakuru used to be really famous for its flamingos. However, a lot of them have migrated to other lakes in the same district over the year because of climate change and many other issues combined. So, there was not that many things to see here. In all honesty, I don’t think it’s worth going here if you are not after something very special. However, there was a lot of monkeys and it was completely different to Massai Mara because it was beside a lake and there was more tall trees as compared to Masai Mara being a savanna.
To sum up the Kenya part of the vacation it was well worth it because of the amount of species of animals we got to see. I think it comes really down to just this part when it comes to safari and dealing with nature. To the people deciding on whether to go to Massai Mara or the Serengeti, I would highly recommend to go to Massai Mara because you can get more up close to the animals. This has to do with the regulations upon each national park but apparently in Massai Mara you can go more close to go to the animals then you can go to in Serengeti. Also, I would recommend you to go to Massai Mara by airplane because the roads are really bad and apparently there is nothing to watch during the road trip. However, going to Lake Nakuru by drive was good because you get to see the small villages in Kenya and how they kind of operate, so it was nice to see the culture of the native people. Something I also recommend is renting a high spec camera and a good telephoto lens with it if you want to take good pictures on your trip. (By the way, I rented the camera for this trip.)
Dubai
We just had a tourist trip in Dubai and actually went to Abu Dhabi too. So, I will run you through the schedule for this one too. We arrived in Dubai at 22:40 and just went straight to the hotel. The next day we went to Abu Dhabi for a tour the whole day, the next day we had a tour of Dubai by my father’s co-worker. The next day we went to the mall for the former half of the day, went desert safari for the latter half of the day and came back to take the 2:40AM plane back to Tokyo.
So, the first day was Abu Dhabi. This was an awesome choice that we made to go to Abu Dhabi because although it wasn’t that different from Dubai it was nice to also see Abu Dhabi since we probably won’t be going back to the middle east for a while. There are some awesome places you would love to go to and I know it would have been nice to enjoy a few days there. The Sheikh Zayed Mosque was beyond the word beautiful and all the architecture were so amazing.
The next day was a full day of exploring Dubai, because we had our dad’s co-worker was the tour guide we got a lot more in one day than a normal tour can. It was amazing to see all the high and modern architecture that is being built really every year and getting higher and more gorgeous each building that is constructed. Also, there was some places in Dubai that you couldn’t believe it was in Dubai that everyone images. We got to see the diversity of Dubai and how it isn’t just about the image of Dubai everyone has and they also have the history of the people living there for many generations.
The last day was half a day of mall and half a day of desert safari. We went to the famous Dubai Mall and we had a wonderful day of shopping. In honesty if you were really going to go shopping half a day won’t be enough but we were just there to browse around and see the famous mall. I bought something for my friend’s birthday but didn’t buy anything other than that. But it was still a very fun time because just being there makes you feel luxurious. Then we went to the desert safari and it was great. The desert safari is quite different and the car will just go into the sand dunes and drive. It makes you feel like you are on a jet coaster because of the driving techniques of the drivers. However, be careful because it can make you car sick pretty easily. (I did…) Just tell the driver and he/she will choose a route that will be not that bad because they know those paths. It was really fun to go to these places in the same day because you can really experience the two parts of Dubai. The untouched part of Dubai with nothing just sand dunes and the very industrial part of Dubai with so many high technology, new architecture, rich people and tourists.
To sum this part of our trip up, I think you need to go to the middle east once in your lifetime and sooner is better. I know that Dubai might not be higher in the list of your travel places but it is worth going. It is really something you probably can only experience here and now because of how much money the country has and how they use it in the current situation that they are in. It is something that you can not experience and see and it is worth the look. Every part of this trip was very good and exciting because I got to see new cultures everywhere and understand where I stand in this world and how the world kind of works.
Just to sum the whole trip up, I think it was very good. It was one of the more adventurous trips we have done and some of the trips that I would not regret my whole entire life. The experiences and knowledges I gained from this trip will benefit me in the years to come and that is why I love to travel to anywhere in this whole wide world. How we paired up the two countries was just because Dubai happened to be where we were connecting flights from Tokyo to Kenya because we don’t have direct flights between these two cities. We decided to take the last few days in Dubai and explore the city. I think how we paired up these two countries were actually good because you have one country which is more focused on nature and still developing in multiple ways. When the other country is more focused on the architecture and they are having the biggest industrialization in their whole entire history. The difference actually made the whole experience way better since we got to compare the two totally opposite countries. Because of the size of my photos, I couldn’t upload it on this post. I would post it on my instagram so please go follow me over there too.
I don’t know where we will be going this next summer but I hope it can give me some experience and knowledge. I hope I can continue travelling at least once a year to keep updating myself about the Earth and other countries and cultures that exist. I will keep updating you guys on my life journey and where I go on vacation. Should I do a blog post about where I have been in my whole entire life? Come along my life journey!!