Although the whole of Africa is full of travel destinations, but when I think about my future trips to Africa, Nigeria, and Egypt are the two places that have been at the top of my wishlist for a long time.

A couple of years ago I was sitting for a long time, about 19 hours, at the Doha airport while I flying from Sydney to Delhi by Katar Airlines. I met an airport official, Mudiwa, who was from Kenya, and she helped me a lot.

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During our conversation, she asked me if I was interested in traveling to Kenya to enjoy a safari. I said yes, and she told me about different places in Kenya.

At that time, COVID was going on, so I came back, but I traveled to Kenya last year, and after my trip to Kenya, many of my views changed. First of all, I must say that I have never had any direct business connection with Africa except Zambia, where our company's public call machines were sold until 2005, and I wanted to go there once but couldn't.

My sister spent a few years in Egypt and she invited me to visit Egypt. However, I never had a chance to visit her, so even though she invited me to visit a place that some consider one of the best African countries.

All my life, I have heard things from my colleagues and friends that made me feel that Africans think they are better than us Indians. And as a business executive, I wanted to feel that experience. I wanted to tell them that I am an Indian and I am just like you and ask them their reasons.

Last year, I traveled to Kenya and stayed in Nairobi. I had planned to visit a lot of places, and Mikato Safari was on top of my list.

Let me tell you that before leaving I contacted the airport officer Mudiwa, whose house is in Nairobi, and she had invited me to stay with her parents, which I accepted on the condition that I would stay with them as a paying guest, which she agreed to after a little hesitation.

Soon I became a part of that family in Nairobi. In the beginning, I felt a little hesitant, but when I met Mudiwa's sister Hilda in the evening, who works for a multinational company, and she made my favorite vegetarian Jollof, I felt like she was a nice girl just like her sister.

Then I felt there was no difference between two different cultures—Indian and African—as we both were similar in many ways. This personal experience of mine in Kenya gradually changed my opinion about Africa, and I felt even better.

Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, is a very busy metropolis, but luckily Mikato has a large staff of professional, local workers who are available 24-7. The lack of a safari doubled up, and I thoroughly enjoyed the trip.

Mudiwa talked about Micato Safari during our conversation, and that was on my mind as it offered a wonderful all-covered experience of Kenyan Safaris. I visited three different parks and reserves during this trip to see the Big Five.

My goal was to see as much African wildlife as I could and the better. I also stopped at a Maasai village. I wanted to see more of the famous traditional jumping dance, the Adumu, which is part of the Maasai warrior rites.

My seven-day trip passed without me realizing I spent a week, but it felt as if I had arrived yesterday. I was enjoying seeing new animals every day and connecting with the locals of Kenya. The only problem was that I have been a vegetarian for the last 20 years and 5 months. But I was living an exciting experience to the fullest. I felt that I had traveled so much in my life, and this was completely different from all that. It was truly an unforgettable experience.

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That African trip became an unforgettable journey of my life. I also loved this trip because it was a mix of luxury, wilderness, adventure, outdoors, and rural culture—very different from any other trip I've taken before, and with all the attractions I loved in this trip, along with the closeness to an African family that has remained the same, I wish Mudiwa and her family would come to India and stay at my place.

I invite @yancar @inspiracion @wakeupkitty