After a day traveling and seeing Lake Nakuru with its white rhinos, baby giraffe and flamingos, we finally arrived at the Great Rift Valley Lodge and Golf Resort.
After a long dusty day of travel, it was nice to be greeted with cold towels and fresh tropical juices.
The lobby was an open-air space that connected to a sitting room where our room keys were distributed. By resort number four, we had grown accustomed to turning over our Passports for processing.
Unfortunately, this was a one night stay before heading to the Maasai Mara, and it was nearly dusk when we arrived, so we had little time to enjoy the amenities of the resort.
We were initially instructed that dinner would be served outside around the swimming pool. As Chuck and I made our way to our bungalow, we could see the pool set with tables and a buffet.
The bungalows were actually incredible two-story buildings with side by side units on the lower level and two side by side units on the upper level, accessed across a suspended walkway.
Our next door neighbors were two awesome women from Philly, Jasmine, and Angelica, who are fantastic. Sorry about the snoring….lol
The rooms were spacious and comfortable, we had a King sized bed draped in mosquito netting, something we were getting used to and needed at times.
There was a step down to a sitting area, desk, corner fireplace, and sliding glass door that looked out over the Aberdares. While it never got cold enough to need a fire, we realized that the heavy thermal lined drapes, hot water bottles, and fireplace probably came in handy other times of the year.
With very little time before the naturalist lecture on local birds and dinner, we headed to the lobby in a light drizzle. The light drizzle had quickly turned to driving rain.
The resort’s staff was fully prepared and redirected our group to an indoor event space set with a screen for the presentation and our dinner buffet, included a grilling station. The rain subsided by the end of dinner and the staff was prepared with large umbrellas and able to escort us back to the lobby and our rooms.
I don’t know that any of us really saw much of the resort as we left after breakfast for the long drive to the Maasai Mara.
I do know that they had a large convention group hosting a welcome reception and a wedding reception at the same time as our dinner. It was awesome to see they were so well organized and had plenty of staff.
I’d love to go back to the Great Rift Valley Lodge to relax and enjoy the resort and the incredible local sights.
