May 9 2026 - Sanctuary Farm at Lake Naivasha Kenya

Location: KenyaSummary:I woke up on May 9th, 2026 at the Kozhi Airport Hotel, which was a really well set up guest house with great coffee. It was a little tricky to get to, but since I was driving, the pothole-filled roads weren't a problem. I rented a car because I only have 3 days in Kenya and wanted to make a special stop at Lake Naivasha, which is about a 2-hour drive from Nairobi. With extra suitcases, having a car was essential. I didn't have a GPS device in the car, so I relied on my phone for navigation since my Garmin was packed away in my suitcase. I initially tried to avoid toll roads, but Steven, the person who helped me with the car, let me know it was ETC equipped, so I could pass through toll roads without issue. The drive to Naivasha was absolutely beautiful. Once I arrived in the town, I tried to get some Kenyan money at the bank using my Wise card, but it didn't work at any of the banks I tried. The Wise card was simply not serviceable in Kenya, possibly because the exchange rate yields so many shillings per dollar that the machines can't handle the volume of paper. Fortunately, I could still pay with a regular credit card. The main reason for my visit was to get to Sanctuary Farm on Lake Naivasha. Back in April when I was in Mozambique, I met people who had done a 3-week canoe trip on the Save River for the Wilderness Project. One of them was Quilly, whose dad runs Sanctuary Farm where she grew up. After looking it up online, I knew I had to visit — it was absolutely inviting. I made it to the farm before darkness. It's about 450 acres with much more than meets the eye. I had booked a little house for the second night, but since there were no openings for the first night, the solution was renting a tent with a bed already set up. It was really neat driving past all the hotel-like establishments on Lake Naivasha and then arriving at this spacious 450-acre property where you can freely roam around. It was a truly welcoming place, and I look forward to exploring more tomorrow.