A safari to explore Rwanda’s famous Virunga mountains to see the Mountain gorillas will have you enchanted and fascinated by the diversity of life in this tropical paradise.
Imagine waking up in the land of a thousand hills which is home to our nearest cousins – the Mountain gorillas and Chimpanzees. After hiking in the lush tropical rainforests of the Virunga’s, you will be on game drives in search of the big cats and Africa’s amazing wildlife from rhinos to giraffes.
Published Saturday magazine an insert in Nation newspaper 25 May 2024
Above: Petra Allmendinger birding at breakfast on Global Big Day at Sandai House in Mweiga. Courtesy Petra Allmendinger
Worldwide, the birding community is abuzz on Saturday 11 May to log in as many species of birds as they can to participate in Global Big Day, marking its 10th anniversary. A tech-savvy Kenyan birder has tagged all the spots in the country that birders will be at. Nobody’s birding in Mweiga and so we head that way to check in at Sandai, one of the most scenic houses in the world twixt the two big massifs of Mount Kenya and the Aberdares. It’s a dream farm house with cottages dotted around the expensive grass plains with surreal views of the great massifs on the equator.
Sandai House after the rains green with grass.
Driving in late afternoon, the sky is hung heavy with clouds threatening to burst with the ongoing heavy rains. It’s going to make bird watching a challenge but when a big raptor soars above to land on the tall acacia in the neighbouring Solio Ranch, more famous for its rhinos where you can see up to a mind-boggling 40 in a day, things begin to look up.
Moonlion Safaris 