Castle Forest Lodge

This was our first trip out of Nairobi -- dog and all! At the suggestion of our friends, Leigh and Matt, we joined them for a post-Christmas getaway to Mt. Kenya National Park. Castle Forest Lodge has a lease from the Kenya Wildlife Service to maintain a small farm and group of lodgings and campground within the park boundary. It's surrounded by forest that is populated (loudly, at night) by hyena, bushbuck, lots of birds, and (not during our visit) elephants.

On our way (in a borrowed Subaru)

View across the fields toward the Main House,
which contains the restaurant/bar

The whole group (three in their family, four in ours, plus two dogs - our Nimona and their Mali) stayed the first night in the self-catering "Chalet Montane", which featured a view from the porch of the craggy peaks of Mt. Kenya. The mountaintop was only visible for a few hours on the first night (December 26) of three days that we stayed at the lodge, so we were lucky to see it at all.

Mt. Kenya, a 3.5 million year-old extinct volcano
that is Africa's second-highest peak at 5,199 meters

Nate building our dinner fire, Matt and Mali relaxing at Chalet Montane

Hornbills in the forest

Baby Micah at the Lodge restaurant for a late lunch upon arrival

Tomfoolery at the restaurant

The first evening we explored the grounds and cooked a late dinner of filet, sausage, pasta, and salad at our Chalet. Our dog, Nimona, took a fright as the sun went down and disappeared down a trail. None of us were willing to go after her in the dark, given the multitude of signs warning "Beware of Wild Animals" all over the site.

The kids went to bed exhausted after listening on the safe porch to the hyena and bushbuck calls in the forest around us, and the adults enjoyed the fire and kept watch for Nimona until she showed up in the yard at about 11pm. Thank goodness! Lesson learned - Nimona is scared of the dark, she must be on-leash by sundown. 


The next morning we booked a guide to take a walk in the forest. We made it about 1km to a small mountain river, where the kids stripped down and waded in the glacial water.

Our guide, Joseph, with Nate, Cora, Silas, Micah, Matt and adorably pregnant Leigh

Nimona and Mali keeping watch from the bridge above

Hiking home, photo by Cora (perched atop Nate's shoulders)

Last moments at the Chalet, photo by Cora

We only booked the shared Chalet for one night, so after the hike we packed up and moved into a two-bedroom bungalow, and Leigh and Matt and Micah moved into a single-room "cottage". There were no cooking facilities, so we started taking our meals at the restaurant. 

Our bungalow, the Sun House

Inside the Sun House: one bedroom to the left, living room at center,
additional bedroom and bathroom behind me

The Lodge's soups were a big hit with the kids

My sweetie and her pumpkin soup in the sunset

Matt and Nate talking about data collection and technology

On the third day (December 28), we did some horseback riding in the morning and revisited the forest hike and swimming stream in the afternoon. The kids had made a friend with Imelda, daughter to one of the Lodge staff who was visiting for the school holiday, so you'll see her in many of the photos from that day.

 

Cora on a horse; Mt. Kenya under her clouds

Silas riding with farmer Peter, Imelda, and Daddy along for support

Silas riding past Matt and Leigh's little cottage

Cora and Imelda with a baby goat

Even with the hikes and exploration, it was an amazingly restful visit. The high altitude and intense sun really encourage napping and reading on porches in the middle of the afternoon. We gladly obliged.

We knew enough to bring swimsuits this time

 Turaco birds right outside our bungalow:

In flight you see the turaco's gorgeous red feathers (lucky shot!)

This was a great getaway from the city. The farm animals were a big hit with the kids, and the views, good food, and friendliness of the staff and other visitors made it a very easy and peaceful place to stay. We also loved bringing Nimona and letting her run off leash for nearly three days straight.

Speaking of Nimona -- neither Nate nor I have ever had a dog, so we are learning a lot about dog ownership, but we also feel like we got really lucky with Nimona as our first dog. She was very well behaved with the other dogs and people at the Lodge, and she was happy to go wherever we went (minus the first night incident). Even though we've only had her for a month, she clearly sees us as "her" family, and we love her right back.