Today last year...

...I was in Kenya. Imre and I spent September 2012 in Kenya, as a reward for a year of super hard work and my graduation.We went on a few safari's with our good friend and amazingly talented safariguide Rufus, spent a few days on the beach (we kind of had a private beach - due to tourism being very low we were the only guests in the lodge...), but mostly we hung out with friends Imre made there in 2009, when he was there for 5 months working on his graduation project.

I've heard people say that once you've been to Africa, you'll always feel a little bit homesick for it. I always felt like that was some sappy BS, but you know what? It's kind of true. At least for Kenya, I don't know about the rest of the continent.
Kenya is so beautiful. When you drive through the country, you are treated to a completely different view every 10 minutes. From mountains to rain forests to palm trees to Lake Victoria to tea plantations to the huge planes of the Great Rift Valley. But the landscape is not all: I've met some beautiful people while we were there. People that do everything they can to help street children that are addicted to glue. People that have such a passion for the work they do. People that are so warm and welcoming even though they hardly have any food to share with you. But they insist you have some.

Writing about our time there and looking through the pictures makes me long to go back... But instead I'm sharing some of the pictures I took of the amazing landscape and animals.

Tea plantations - all those fields are tea plants. We took a detour especially so I could see these fields - Rufus our safari guide knew I 'm a huge fan of tea.

 Our first safari was to Kakamega national rain forest - on this hill we watched the sun rise. The view was so incredibly beautiful.

 we hiked through the forest for hours, seeing all kinds of amazing birds and monkeys.

On our way to Thomson's falls we drove by a few panorama spots where you have a great view over the Great Rift Valley. 

 Imre and Rufus near Thomson's Falls (we got so wet..)

Standing by the Menengai Crater, a now dead (or at least sleeping) volcano. 

Fields of sisal plants. 

There were so many flamingos at Lake Bogoria.  

a few days later we went on our big safari, to Masai Mara National Park. We were treated to the sight of this beautiful leopard right on our evening drive the first night...

And to these two: the cub was so playful and still a bit scared of the vehicles sometimes. So cute...

We've seen so many vultures. flying, stuffing their faces with some dead wildebeest, in trees, on nests.

 Giraffes were my favourite. And especially this calf - he was a bit clumsy and had the funniest facial expressions.

 On our morning drive on the last day we came across the king of the Savannah. I couldn't get this song out of my head on the way back :)

 Our last getaway was to Tiwi beach, few km south of Mombasa. It was a perfect little paradise, with coconuts falling from trees, little crabs digging holes in the sand, and 'mr mango man', an old man selling fruit salads.

 We met up with one of Imres friends, Olympas, who now runs an orphanage together with his wife. They were on a nearby beach celebrating the birthday of one of the kids, and we joined them. I just love this picture of Imre and Jay, one of the older kids. 

And the rest of our time in Tiwi we spent on the beach, reading, talking, walking, collecting shells, snorkling. I want to go back...