After leaving the Samburu National Reserve, our tour made its way about 191 kilometers southeast to the Aberdare Highlands for our next two stops.
Our first stop, the Aberdare Country Club, was an excellent lunch break and the stopping off point for our overnight stay at The Ark.
Originally built as a private residence for an English couple relocating to Kenya, ‘The Steep” was renamed the Aberdare Country Club about a half-century ago.
The 1300 private reserve retained the charm of the original residence with its stone exterior, tile roofs, and dark wood walls.
Lunch in the private dining room and the adjoining covered patios gave incredible views of the Great Rift Valley, as well as the property’s rolling hills, and immaculate landscaping.
As we were seated outside, we quickly realized two deer were enjoying the shade in the bushes immediately behind our table.
While the property boasts several types of gazelle, zebra, giraffe, and rhinos the reception area and the area around the dining room only yielded one brightly colored lizard and a male peacock.
Lunch reminded me of an old school country club experience, we were a little surprised when we were seated for a light buffet lunch and found this very formal place setting. The table was set for a soup course, fish course, salad course, entrée and well as coffee and dessert. They are also the only place that had proper white wine and red wine glasses.
The buffet itself was delicious, a nice size salad bar and bread selection, several side dished and entrees, including vegetarian choices. And, we finally found ugali, a traditional Kenyan starch.
I tried their curried vegetable (quite spicy), ugali (used to pick up the kale), roasted chicken with honey, and vegetable moussaka.
After lunch and exploring the gardens we were transported by bus into the Aberdare National Park, with an overnight bag, for our stay at The Ark.
