Take your nonchalant face again. The drive up to Treetops is hair-raising at the best of times, terrifying if it's been raining because the road is simply a mud slide that zigzags up the side of the mountain. Worse still, you will probably be in one of at least two mini-buses so you will be able to see the peril that the other mini-bus is in.
If you are booking a safari holiday, the chances are that you are an adventurous sort and not happy to simply lie around on a sunbed all day. Take my advice and be very wary about booking a second destination. Safari companies may include a week somewhere like Mombasa or Zanzibar. If you are going on to Mombasa, consider breaking your week there with a two day mini-safari into Tsavo National Park and try to get a hotel in the city rather than on the beach or you might be stuck in a fairly grotty third rate resort in the middle of nowhere which you can't leave on your own because there are simply no means of transport without the pricey excursions.
You have to have a visa to get into Kenya and along with the visa comes a vaccination certificate which requires a number of potentially unpleasant jobs to earn. You have to take Malaria medication while you are there and usually for some time after you come back. Take mosquito repellent. Oil of Olay produces a skin cream which inadvertently works better than most purpose treatments and is slightly less toxic to humans. Consider taking a chemically-infused mosquito repellent sheet. They can be bought in high street pharmacies and they make a worthwhile addition to your bedclothes because most of the mosquito nets at the lodges are full of holes. Take anti-diarrhea tablets and rehydration salts.
Why now? Virgin Airways
have just started flying to Nairobi from London from less than £500 return. There are a number of companies providing safari holidays. We went with Somak but you can also do fourteen day tented safaris for under £500 per person with Travelmoods, bringing your total costs to less than £1000, rather than the usual several thousand. It's worth noting that the lodges at the game reserves cost up to and more than £200 per night to book independently. Look for a tour operator who can give you the option of a balloon ride and breakfast. It costs around £200 but is absolutely one of the major highlights of our trip. I've never had a better hot chocolate and croissant than the one I had in the middle of the Maasai Mara, surrounded by armed guards and watching a herd of giraffe loping across the plain in front of us.
