If you are lucky you will see the beautiful genet cat that comes into the dining room on most days We have seen her every time we have been here. When she has young she brings them too. The waiters feed her, but she is not "tame." She sits on top of the doorway that leads into the kitchens.

Genet cat

The lodge has a good swimming pool which is a good place to spend the afternoon before your afternoon game drive.

At Samburu it is very arid and you will see quite a few different animals here. The Grevy’s zebra, with its narrow stripes and large ears. The Somali ostrich which has a mauve neck and legs.

Somali ostrich

The beautiful gerenuk, with its long neck, quite the most beautiful of the antelopes.

Gerenuk

And the reticulated giraffe that is quite different from the maasai giraffe that you will see further south.

Reticulated Giraffe

>From Samburu you start to make your way back. There are three soda lakes in the Rift Valley, and on one or other of these lakes the huge colonies of flamingos gather. Your safari driver will know where they are and I'm sure he will take you to one of the lakes so you can see this spectacle.

On your way to the Maasai Mara you will stop for the night somewhere on route. We have stayed at Lake Nakuru, Lake Naivasha and the last time we were in Kenya we stayed at Lake Elementatia Lodge.

Lake Elementatia Lodge was build by Lord Galbraith Cole in 1916. It still retains the features and atmosphere of an early colonial home. The original house houses the hotel's dining and sitting rooms, bar and conference room. We were shown Lord Cole's study where he had drawn pictures of zebra's on the walls.

Drawn by Lord Galbraith Cole on his study wall

In the sitting room there are still Lord Cole's books sitting on the bookshelves, which we were able to read if we wished. In 1929, blind in one eye, riddled with pain through arthritis, and spending his days in a wheelchair, Lord Galbrtaith shot himself. Lady Eleanor, his wife, had a monument or obelisk erected by the side of the lake in memory of her husband. Across the lake lived Lord Delamere, greatest of all the pioneering settlers. The thousands of acres across the lake are still in the hands of the Delamere family.

Probably the last park you will visit is the Maasai Mara. The Maasai Mara is quite different from everywhere else. You will see a lot of lion, zebra, hartebeest, buffaloes, ostrich and other plains game here. If you want to go up in a hot air balloon this is the place to do it.

The Maasai Mara is an extension into Kenya of Tanzania's great Serengeti National Park and lies along the border between the two countries. It is 155 miles west of Nairobi and is considered by many people to be the best of Kenya's wildlife sanctuaries. Established in 1961, the Mara covers an area of 695 square miles. In the outer regions of the Reserve the land is shared by the Maasi who graze their cattle alongside the wildlife, and take their chance with the lions. But the area around Keekorok Lodge is treated as a National Park, with no settlements or grazing allowed.

The landscape of the Mara is one of gently rolling savannah grasslands, intersected by the rich acacia woodlands which occupy the banks of the Reserve's two main rivers, the Mara and Talek.

We stay at Keekorok Lodge. I was sitting on our veranda one evening, camera at my side, when the guard who is patrolling all night stopped for a chat. " If you see anything," he said, "do go inside as thereare lion around this evening." Keekorok is open to the African plains. I sat there in the dark and suddenly I saw a movement, there was an animal crossing in front of me, I took a flash picture of it and dived back inside the room. It was only when I got the photographs developed back home that I found I had photographed a hyena.

When the safari vehicles leave to go on a game drive it is a bit like the M25. We tend to ask our driver to go in the opposite direction to everyone else. We may not see quite so much game but it makes for a much nicer game drive. On one of these occasions we were miles from anyway down near the Tanzanian border on a narrow track looking for rhino when we had a puncture. As we got out and stood on the narrow track with the tall grass surrounding us we continued looking very hard for signs of rhino! We did find the rhino but thankfully not until we were back in our vehicle.

After two days spent in the Maasai Mara, the drive back to Nairobi is very long and the roads last time we drove that route were pretty rough. We said that next time we go down to the Mara we will fly back to Nairobi.

Back in Nairobi, you have the choice of leaving for home or going to the coast to relax after your safari. We usually go down to the coast for a few days.

Mombasa, for us, is not somewhere to explore a lot. It is very hot and humid at the coast but at the hotels which are nearly all on the beach there is normally a cooling breeze for most of the day. We spend about five days relaxing at the hotel, swimming, reading and relaxing before going back to Nairobi and flying home to London.

If you have ever wondered if you should go on safari, don't wonder any more. Go. It is the most wonderful holiday you can have. Once you have seen the animals in the place where they should be, you will never again feel the same way about them. You stay in first class lodges that are very comfortable, all with en-suite facilities, and the food is excellent. Have a super safari.

Kwa heri ("Go happy").