When we first arrived at Sweetwaters Serena Camp we were greeted with some people to take our luggage to our rooms and then were handed a cool, damp washcloth that smelled as though it had essential oils in it. I didn’t know what to do with the washcloth at first, but after looking around and seeing how others were using it, I realized that it was to clean our faces off from all the dust. Cool! I proceeded to clean my face, neck and hands. Ahhhhh. I never realized how nice a cool rag could feel after a long drive. After we were done with the rags a person came around with a tray for us to set them on. Then we were served with our choice of juice which was passed around on a tray as well. I chose an orange-colored juice that smelled tropical and ended up being passion fruit juice. Yum! What a welcome to get on our first day here.

Sweetwaters is a resort-style lodge located next to Ol Pajeteta Conservancy and located in Mount Kenya National Park. We sleep in very nice tent! The girls and I are sharing a tent, but they made up a bed for each of us, which the girls were thrilled about. They don’t have to share one! Haha. My dad has his own room. Each tent is “glamping” style, not dry camping. We have electricity, running water, a vanity, a full shower, a toilet, a couple sinks, a sitting chair, a table, and a private covered patio with chairs and a table. Our room is located at the very end of the row and the walk there is beautiful! It’s a winding hand-made stone path with trees overhead and flowers and wildlife all around you. Each cabin overlooks Ol Pejeta Conservancy and is protected by an electric fence so the animals are separate from the cabins. When we first walked out to our room, we noticed that there were some Cape Buffalo about 100 yards from our front door just grazing on the grass.

After getting settled in to our room and unpacking, we walked up to the main lodge to wait for our guide and our driver. On the walk up we noticed that there was a huge watering hole that the animals frequently visited. There were some warthogs rooting around and looking for food. Simon met us before we got to the lodge and showed us the swimming pool for the girls to play in later and then told us that the watering hole will have new animals in it all day long. He then showed us to the lodge. Right out front was a huge stork that apparently likes to hang out next to the dining hall and is kind of like a mascot for the lodge. Inside the lodge there is a sitting room with coffee, tea and hot chocolate as well as some snacks. We went here before the game drive to have something in our stomachs before leaving. Of course the girls chose hot chocolate, while I chose to have some tea. Kenyan tea is delicious!

I will be writing about the game drive separately from the lodge as there is so much to talk about with Ol Pejeta. When we returned from the game drive, we washed up and met near the fireplace in the lodge. We were served drinks and had time to visit with some other guests before dinner was ready. Dinner actually ended up being served buffet style, which was perfect. There were two very large tables with different dinner options as well as a DIY stir fry table with a chef to cook it up for you. The dessert options were fantastic as well! After dinner we shared some more tea (remember our guide is British) and then retired to our rooms.

The pathway to our rooms was even more gorgeous at night. The entire pathway was lit with diffused light and there were birds singing, even though it was late. Upon entering our rooms, the girls and I noticed that they had turned down our beds for us. We took nice hot showers, put pajamas on and brushed our teeth and hair. I finished first and went to hop in bed. As I put my feet into bed I realized that there was something under there and it startled me. I jumped out of bed and timidly pulled the covers back expecting to see something large and hairy. My heart was racing. It ended up being a hot water bottle! Haha. Whew! What a nice surprise. Because there is no heating or cooling at the tent camp (it’s near the equator so the temperature doesn’t change much), they put some hot water bottles in our beds to help us be more comfortable at night. I was going to warn the girls, but wanted to see their reactions instead so I held my tongue and waited for one of them jump into bed.. Gillian came and laid down first and was slightly startled, but realized that it was something nice. Jade got into bed and didn’t even realize it was in there. After telling both the girls why they put the water bottles in there they drifted off to sleep. Aahhhh….. nice and warm.

Over the next couple days we enjoyed all Sweetwaters had to offer in our free time. We had a pretty good schedule going for game drives and meals and not much time for anything else, which was okay with us because this is the reason we came so far. To see the animals! Our schedule looked like this:

5:30am – wake up and get ready
6:00am – walk to lodge
6:15am – meet at the sitting room and have hot drinks and snacks
6:30am – leave for early morning game drive
9:30am – return to lodge and eat breakfast
10:30am – finish breakfast and head back to room
11:00am – go on afternoon game drive
1:00pm – return to lodge and eat lunch
2:00pm – go back to room or explore lodge and grounds
4:00pm – go out on evening game drive
6:30pm – return to lodge and have evening drinks and visit by the fire
7:00pm – eat dinner
8:00pm – go back to room and get ready for bed

Jade was able to go swimming one of the afternoons for a little while and we were able to walk down and watch the animals at the watering hole pretty regularly. We saw a huge herd of elephants, rhino, Grant’s gazelle, Thompson’s gazelle, Impala, zebra, warthog, and tons of birds. Simon was right. Every time we went to the watering hole there were new animals there!