The search for a nice mini holiday destination can be a task sometimes, as I recently discovered while we were hunting for good places for a friend’s birthday. We ended up with Nakuru, but we had to narrow down to somewhere with a different experience; a place that was seemingly untouched and was not “Nairobinised” as the town centre of Nakuru is.
We arrived in Nakuru town quite late on a Friday night, and grabbed an Uber to Kivu Resort, which was a 10-minute ride. The reception area was African themed, with portraits and carvings on the walls.
The good thing is that one can do a walk-in, and they also take cash, so we secured a room shortly after arriving. The cottages are hut-like in shape, and also African-themed, with the beds dressed in red and black Maasai shukas.
Dinner was served after an hour. We had fries and curry chicken, which was scrumptious, especially as we had been looking forward to munching something after the long drive from Nairobi.
On Saturday, we did not feel like an activity-packed day, so we just relaxed, mostly by the resort’s pool. It is quite big, and we mingled with a few locals who had come for a swim.
For lunch, we had Kenyan cuisine, comprising of beef curry and rice, which was as delicious as the chicken meal we’d had the night before. The same evening, we chose to sample the popular Nakuru nightlife that earns the town the moniker ‘Naxvegas’.
Our driver suggested we try out the Platinum 7D Lounge, located just as you get to the town from Nairobi. Let’s just say it felt like the Capital all over again. The partying there was real, with the place packed to the brim.
Kivu Resort is 100 metres from Lake Nakuru National Park, which is where we opted to visit the next morning. We arranged with the resort’s management for a tour of the park.
We set out immediately after breakfast, for the place that’s a must-visit if you are in Nakuru. The lake, dotted with pink tones of flamingoes as well as other birds such as herons and storks, is a sight to behold.
We stopped for bird viewing, before continuing with the drive. Most of what we spotted were giraffes and a few rhinos, a number of which the tour guide explained had been rescued from poachers.
There were also monkeys, which we spotted in the woodlands, and also gazelles and hippos in the lake. We wanted to see a lion or cheetah, but at midday, these elusive predators are hard to locate, and, we had to cut short the game drive, as we needed to head back to the city.
It costs Sh1,200 per person, but we were lucky to have our price cut by half, because we didn’t do the whole drive. I promised myself to be back soon. I have to complete that game drive, it was a great experience.
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