#mandazi

Everyone at some point in their lives has to go on an African safari. This was by far one of the most breathtaking nature experiences I’ve ever had. I’ve been fortunate in my life to be able to travel a lot, seeing many amazing natural features and wonders of the world – but this – it’s definitely bucket list check mark.

I saw every animal you could think of – zebras, giraffe, hyenas, lions, leopards, elephants, monkey, several varieties of deer, rhinoceros, ostrich, hundreds of wildebeest and several varieties of birds – all close up and in their native habitat. The Ngorongoro Crater was spectacular. The views and vistas of the crater from the Serena Hotel I managed to snab a room at was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen. We live so close to the Rocky Mountains, so I feel like these breathtaking natural wonders are all around us in Alberta – but it’s nothing like the vastness of this landscape. I was overcome by a sense of tranquility and peacefulness observing the animals in their native habitat.

At one point, with the green plains of the Serengeti and the blue sky, I felt like I was looking at the windows screensaver!

The lodges we stayed in were great. Most were run entirely on solar and wind power. I had to charge my phone and camera overnight in the main lodge. The security guards walked you through the camp at night to find your tent with flashlights. Haha, the security guards were supposed to keep you safe from any wildlife that entered the camp – they were so skinny I’m not sure how they might ward of angry lions, but you never know.

Talk about “glamping”. Your tent was literally a giant canvas tent, at least 800 square feet or more in most cases. Most were mounted on wooden platforms that then formed the floor of your room. There was full on plumbing inside and you simply zip and unzip yourself in and out of the space. One of the lodges I stayed at had open air showers, with privacy screens – really neat to shower with the blue open sky above. I’ve tried to capture the full experience with photos, but they don’t do justice. Most of the spaces were artistically styled with fluffy white sheets and pillows, small local artifacts and paintings, jute rugs, and brightly coloured accents like pillows or in one place I stayed, the countertops were all orange. I’ve never camped like this before, was a great experience! Wake up Parks Canada!

Adding to the glamping, the main lodges were also very artistically styled, with local artifacts and cushions in traditional East African fabrics and patterns. It was all very impressive, to be in the middle of nowhere with the luxuries and comforts of home. Every day, you get up really early to be fed a breakfast of chai, mandazi (an absolutely delicious sort of East African donut) and eggs the way you want them. The lodge sends you out on your way with a little lunch box complete with sandwiches, fruit, cookies and water. For dinner, I learned to eat koo koo paka which is a traditional coconut based curry with chicken as well as mishkaki, which is essentially skewered meat with spices. Once the locals learned that I knew what mishkaki was, they were excited to hear me say it! They would laugh and say...”You know mishkaki?”

The safari vehicles (sadly I missed getting a photo of one with our driver, Sayed) have an open air roof so that you can stand up and peek out with a clear view over the top. The drivers are so knowledgeable, they know how to track animals and find their hiding spots. If it weren’t for them, I would not have seen so many things. Such sharp eyes. Our guide was fantastic, he knew so much and was such pleasure to be around for the long journeys. Most days it was just myself and one or two other families and travelers. So was great to be in such a small group. I met a lovely family from southern France and managed to practice my broken French with their son!

The drivers are all in communication with one another via radio – so when one of them spots a lion or a herd of elephants, they can connect and help the others track it down also. The language of Swahili, spoken by the locals is so melodic to hear. Sounds like a little song playing all day long. Actually, this song (thankfully I managed to track it down as I remembered the chorus) was sang by the locals everywhere, especially after dinner in a hotel if there was a band or something playing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fK0wPpLryc4

One day, we also visited a Masai Village. So interesting to see how they live, learn a bit more about their traditions, and see all the arts and crafts they make. I got some fantastic photos of them. 

I think the rest of my photos say more than I can at this point. So breathtaking. Haha, Walter is finally speechless in his blog.

Well… booooooooooo me from 2007th! This year it came true! Is there a better way of starting a year than making your dream come true? And what an experience it was! It’s been over a week ago and I still can’t stop thinking of it.

I’ll start with that we didn’t really plan it. We went to Kenya to visit friends and Sarika, who’s most probably the best holiday planner ever, said that we have to go to Galana Crocodile Camp and spend there a couple of days with breaks for safari. Safari part sound great, but I went there super tired after intensive 2016th and I didn’t really pay attention. Before our ride came, I heard “don’t go there with expectations, you’ll see what you’ll see, just enjoy it”. This is when my “no expectations” went to “-10 no expectations”.

We were driving off road for about 3 hours. I was listening to an awesome audiobook (too shaky to read) and looking at an orange sandy area. Locals live in huts built from sticks and an orange soil, which were passing behind the window.

When we got to the camp, I was shocked. I expected small huts on a desert area and I entered a beautiful green village. The first thing we did was to jump into a swimming pool to get rid of layers of a red dust. The thing about this camp is, that it’s located just next to a river full of crocodiles. You eat lunch and observe them waiting for something in a sand. Just tiny scary.

After few hours we went for an evening safari. Mia fell asleep within the first 10 minutes or driving. It was so relaxing and quiet and then I saw two elephants! And then zebras and giraffes, hippos, hyenas and my eyes could not cope with my brain anymore. I was literally crying out of happiness. The only thing we didn’t see were lions, but I said to myself that it does not matter, because I saw so much already that I could go home.

The next morning we got up at 5 am and at 6 we were already on safari. I saw warthogs which looked like Pumbaa from The lion king and it was so funny. And then we stopped next to big yellow rocks. And I opened my eyes wide and the same I did with my mouth because I’ve been looking on 14 lions!!! They just lay there on a sun. I wanted to scream out of excitement, but then I was afraid that I’ll end up as their lunch, so I didn’t. We were just standing there and looking and I could do it for a whole day. Then a group of elephants crossed a road just in front of us, there was a 1 month old baby. And then we saw a big group of them taking a bath in a river. OMG!!! I could not ask for more. Even when I write about it, I feel a wave of happiness.

Mia took safari very well. She loved crocodiles and she called them dinosaurs and then made the “roar” sound. It was so cute. She loved lions as well and she called them “Rysiu” - our cat’s name. She also liked elephants, especially the tiny one. She wanted to run with them. She slept through most of safari, 6 am is too early for her and the evening one was just in time for a nap. She did not complain, did not cry, she just kept asking for bananas. Yep, my kid is a tiny monkey.

During our stay we tried many African dishes, but as this is a breakfast blog, I am definitely sharing few breakfast ideas. One of my most favourites was mandazi, you just need to try them. It’s something in between a pancake and donut. It reminds me of polish “racuchy” a lot. It’s super easy to prepare and tastes great. Tomasz said that we should make them more often. Which obviously means that I should make them more often. I will, because I have 100 + 1 ideas what to serve them with. This is the simple version, with yogurt and mango puree. It’s definitely worth trying.

You will need for 2 people:

2 & 1/2 cups white flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 egg in room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup milk in a room temperature

2 tbsp butter, melted

1/4 tsp cinnamon

oil for frying

What you need to do is place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix them well. I told you that it’s easy! The dough should slightly sticky, but not too much. If needed, add more flour. Place the dough on a surface covered with a flour, sprinkle some more on top and roll in a square shape, so it’s about 5 mm thick. Cut in 4 cm stripes and then start to cut each stripe into small triangles.

Heat oil on a frying pan (you want to have about 5mm of oil) and start frying on both sides, so it’s golden. It fries pretty fast, so try not to burn them :).

Serve with a natural yogurt mixed with a mango puree and fresh fruits. Or with a powdered sugar!