STALKING THE BIG 5 (AND THE UGLY 5) IN THE BIRTHPLACE OF THE SAFARI

Did you know that, before I shifted to journalism, I was a premed student studying Zoology? While that career path obviously didn't pan out, being a Zoo major left me with a lifelong fascination for animals.

- THERESE JAMORA-GARCEAU

So, when I heard that my sister Jasmin and her derm group were going on safari in Kenya, I hopped on her trip as quickly as a lion pounces on a warthog. After all, Kenya is the birthplace of the safari — an expedition to view (or hunt, back in the day), the wildlife of East Africa.

LANDING IN THE DARK CONTINENT

In the 19th century, Africa was known as “The Dark Continent” because it was largely unexplored and therefore mysterious, but today, very few corners of the earth are unilluminated by the screens of social media. Not wanting to spoil any surprises, I stayed away from Instagram and instead looked to Jane Goodall for my info.

After 14 hours of flight time (nine from Manila to Dubai, five from Dubai to Nairobi), I landed at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, named after Kenya's first president, who turned the British colony into an independent republic.

My first impression of Nairobi was that it looked a lot like Baguio. The weather was a cool 20 degrees Celsius (70 F), and the city is at a higher elevation than our own City of Pines. The level of modernity and development is about the same. My driver told me that it was China that was developing Nairobi's highways, and indeed their work is impressive, especially compared to the bumpy dirt roads we would soon be traversing on our safari.

THE BIG FIVE

The first word you'll learn in Kenya is “jambo,” which means “hello” in Swahili. “Thank you” is “asante.” Through a local travel agent, we got a safari on Silver Africa Tours, which provided our group of five with a Land Cruiser driven by our guide, Max, a Luo tribesman who speaks excellent English.