Tag: Africa

Kenya – 2026!

Africa and Kenya have always been a fascinating region for me, It has been on the Bucket list for a while! And the reason we have always avoided it is that we were afraid of the “Yellow Fever injection” But since we already got our shots during the Brazil Visa! It was a matter of time, till we would be planning for Kenya!
But… A wedding in Kenya! Excited us! And one of the reasons we changed our tickets and plan for Egypt was because of the destination first and second this would be a fun family wedding to attend.
In the next 24 hours, we have reworked are plans and are all set for the Indian wedding in Kenya.
Kenya is popular for the Masai Mara for its lion & leopard spotting.
But, Amboseli National Park, was making news recently for its celebrity Elephant “Craig Super Tusker” who had passed away!

And Amboseli was also our wedding destination.
Arriving in Nairobi after a 3 hr flight delay from the airlines, We Were tired but fresh to explore the city, with just about one day in hand here!
The city’s roads were beautifully wide and smooth, the Traffic too was one of the worst we had experienced during the peak hours of locals heading home!!
The Food we ate was satisfying and yum! Greek food at a Greek restaurant for lunch and Kenyan food ( Beans, Vegetables and Rice) we tasted during dinner.
Kenyan! Has like a lot of other countries in the world, an Indian population who has settled there in the early 1900s and an Indian community that meets often!


A couple of things I learnt on my trip besides the fact already known that Kenyan Coffee is one of the best! Kenyan Exports a huge amount of Roses, to Europe & Tea to the United States.
This is a little insight into the Kenyan economy.
Let’s get back to the Kenyan experience- The Safari I am talking about!
The safari set for 5 am, with a hazy sunrise that had shades of purple was an experience of quietness and An Army of elephants walking together, zebras on either side and hyenas chasing, deer flocking together. We enjoyed the safari so much, we headed again for an afternoon one, trying to spot Giraffes and lions/leopards.
The afternoon safari… we were lucky to have spotted a couple of giraffes but none of the lions or leopard.
The different sounds, the calmness of animals and the early morning of Kilimanjaro mountain before it would play its hide & seek game was one of the highlights of the Kenyan wedding experience.
The wedding decor with backdrops of the mountains and simplicity of colours and florals made the whole decoration look beautiful without any OTT emphasis on filling up the space.
The grazing table during the cocktail dinner had space utilised well!
The Dholki’s during the afternoon mehendi was a vibe that stepped up the whole wedding mood for the coming functions.
While we were still soaking in Kenya, we had to leave for another destination…

A few facts on the coffee from Kenya:

Kenyan coffee undergoes a unique doublefermentation process, which sets it apart. After the beans are fermented and washed, they are soaked in fresh water for up to 24 hours and then fermented again to enhance the development of intricate flavours. This process amplifies the coffee’s acidity and brings out bright, fruity notes characteristic of Kenyan coffee

The eight coffee grades are:

AA: Large beans (20 mm) with the highest quality.
AB: A mix of A and B grades (6.80 mm).
PB (Peaberry): Rare round beans, highly prized.
E (Elephant): The largest beans.
C: Smaller beans.
T: Smallest, thinnest, often faulty.
TT: Light beans, typically from “elephants.”
MH/ML: Unwashed beans (Mbuni) with lower prices and a sour taste.
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2018 Dairies !!

2018 has been a Journey filled with lots of travel Stories. Right From Jaipur to Jodhpur in India to Monoco and Morocco for Work. And not to forget the highlight –  Japan for Family Holiday. 
Culture
Experiencing the Rajasthan culture in India to experiencing the Japanese culture and living the  Moroccan life. 
All these places either had Food, lifestyle or architecture. And these  Culture  became another Journey in itself.
Books worth the Read In 2018. 
Journeys through the books. 
Starting from Exiting West to Landing at the port of Mokha and Many reads in between from open by Andre Agassi to “Killing Commendatore by Murakami  below are the top 5 reads of 2018.
1.Exit West – by Mohsin Hamid  stories of immigrants. 
2.Homo Deus – by Yuval Harari  How the Technology  is collecting data and using it. 
3.Born a Crime – by Trevor Noah A true story of a comedian born in South Africa with a mother being a black and father a white. 
4.Monk of Mokha –  by Dave  Eggers – Story of how The port of Mocha coffee travelled across the international waters.
5.Killing Commendatore – by Murakami
Noteworthy Movies of 2018 
1.Puzzle -How a simple gift of a puzzle changes the perspective of one individual 
2.Crazy Rich Asians – The Big fat Indian wedding going global 
3.Searching – How technology helps track down a father daughter and her murderer. 
4.Ben is Back – A  young drug addict and his mother’s story to come in terms with reality. 
And the Hindi film industry had many movies to choose to watch this year! 
But there a few out there you couldn’t miss at all . 
1.Pad Man by R.Balki was one of the great stories the year began with and continued till Raid, The income tax issue can sometime come as a surprise-Ajay Devgn needs to experiment.
2.Hichki -Though a inspiration from the west.Brought Rani Mukherji Back as a actor and the production house for their content. 
3.Missing the only missing from this psychology thriller was the audience who missed one of the best thrillers of the year.
4.October – Simple stories are the most difficult to tell.And October by Shoojit Sircar was one such story.
5.Beyond the cloud by Majid Majidi -Had the world  take notice of Ishan Khattar as an actor & performer 
Raazi,Soorma,Parmanu,Andhadhun,Badhaai Ho ! And Manmarziyaan were a few movies to watch out. 

La Mamounia the destination !!

La Mamounia –La Mamounia hotel is an experience in itself. I can’t think of hotel that I have been to that has so much character and culture. From the moment you enter the hotel,Step into the porch and enter the hotel lobby.You have so much to take in. Every corner,The Guard wearing traditional outfits is worth photographing. 
The lobby is got one of the most “Modern hotel feel” but the rest is very cultured and design oriented. 
The Bars-Churchill & Piano Bar. I just did not want to move from here. Even though I don’t drink.I kept visiting these venues for coffee & orange juice.The worlds best orange juice is found in Morocco,No wonder the hotel had so many orange trees planted in the garden with lemon trees. Everyday having the freshest orange for breakfast or anytime of the day.
If that’s all you thought was the pampering the guest received while staying here. 
Well Pierre Hermé From Paris is right in the hotel lobby,Where you can enjoy some of the best Macrons & Chocolates. 
The restaurants in the hotel have a Moroccan touch in so many ways -From thr stencils glasses to the the velvet upolestry for the chairs and the lamp lighting to set in the mood during the dinner in the evenings. 
The swimming pool too has a worthy view for the ones who just want to laze around for a sun bath.
The most soothing places out of all is the spa.It’s a heaven and paradise in itself.
The Suite in the hotel known as the Riad’s is enough to call it home for many.The hotel has only 3 of these. But,The way it’s done up it’s nothing over the top like many luxury hotels.But is very spacious and tastefully done.Morning you can enjoy the view of the orange trees or rather Enjoy the sunrise between the coconut trees. 
The Moroccan restaurant in the property is one of the best places to enjoy the sun set

Trivia: 
1.Winston Churchill– Has a Bar & Suite named after him here as this was his favourite place in the world-He described the place as the most lovely spot in the world. Winston Churchill would visit often and paint during his stay- His painting are in the Moroccan museum.
2.La Mamounia is named after the prince Al Mamoun.Who was gifted the  gardens, that was attached to the hotel  as a wedding gift in the 18th century.
3.The Most Instagramable Place in #Marrakech 

Morocco Travel Journey!!


Witnessing the sunrises almost everyday and everyday it looked different.Yet the day seemed nearly the same.In the past ten days  haven’t really known what day we were living in.Even today when finally home it’s Saturday! A weekend already. 
The free time,Experienced the sunset at souk Mediana & shopped for souvenir, visited the shopping mall and ate dinner at one of my favourite cafe “Paul”until we called it a day! 
The last day that we had,Witnessed the sunrise once again, Visited  Royal Mansour hotel for their   Christmas Decorations. Afternoon went shopping for last moment shopping.And soon executed the impromptu plan for the Atlas mountain journey. It was like going to the Himalayan’s and driving around Kashmir valley snow capped mountain as our view towards the mountains and trees around the side ways leading us towards the mountain one of the craziest evening. Around   sunset when we were all creeping out with the darkness around,After some Moroccan tea & coffee left for Marrakech once again.The whole journey we were all stressed out,Just a couple of days ago tourist were murdered in the region. Visited  the Souk once again for more shopping followed by a dinner meal  at a nice quite place in the heart of Marrakech.The dinner wasn’t  complete without desserts and  coffee  that we enjoyed  post our satisfactorily meal. This was the week in Marrakech,Morocco besides the work.