LIFE is better at the beach !!!!

It was Wednesday evening last week when my fiend text and said "We are 6, Diani is a go" and at that point I knew my weekend would be awesome. I have always told my mum I was meant to be born on a hipster island where all I had to do was serve people amazing foods to cure hangovers and cocktails to give them hangovers J. Well I was born and raised miles away from the beach and hence my love for coastal getaways. This past weekend 5 of my friends and I did a 4 day weekend on Galu Beach, Diani. I can for sure say Diani is and always will be the most beautiful beach in Kenya. From my last trip in Lamu I know I was all about its serenity, I still agree it has its charm but for your good old “life’s a beach” getaway, Diani takes the crown J

Kenyaways, Galu Beach, Diani

The awesome weekend started with a quick flight thanks to Air Kenya’s good offer to me and Andrea. This time I opted for a very relaxed, small and intimate B&B right on the beach. Kenyaways Kite Village was 1^st recommended by a colleague a couple months ago and my sister was my guinea pig in mid October during her sky dive adventure. My sister who is rather a picky on her accommodation gave a thumbs up and so I knew I would love it J

Picture perfect :)

Yeap, there's a reason Diani is my fave:)

Well the bar man was not there and we started off our day with Malibu and orange juice. I love being on vacation since ordering a cocktail right after breakfast is just normal J. No wasting time we jump into our bikinis and start soaking in the well deserved sun. The day was not too hot about 25 – 31 degrees with humidity of 60%. The bar man arrived and we set off on Tequila Sunrise and Pina Colada's for the rest of the day.

"Keep Calm and Lets Go to the Beach"

YEAH!!!

The aim for the weekend was to perfect the art of doing nothing and just be on happy beach high J. My main travel partner Andrea was juts super cool.. we literally maintained our goals which included yoga, arm work outs, beach jog, getting smashed and being super happy J.

pool times:)

"Airplane Pose" (Dekasana)

Friday seafood BBQ

"Dancer Pose" (Natarajasana)

Beach Bliss!!

"Tree Pose" (Vrksasana) with Andrea

I won’t even talk about the Haloween party as we ended up being the few lame ones who had no costumes at a Halloween party J. Well one of the nights we opted to go to Forty Thieves bar as no Diani vacay is complete without a visit there. The place is much nicer now and we had a great sundowner and dinner. Being so tired after a long day of doing nothing we retied early and missed the party moments ..hahaha

The weekend gang

Sundowner at Forty Thieves

As you may notice I seem to talk about food at each post ..well am a foodie and I love good food. Madafoo Beach Bistro really outdid themselves when it came to food;  every meal each one of us had was amazing and we tried to change dishes at each meal time. They are definitely really good at salads and the stacked crab salad was not only delicious to the mouth but to the eye as well. The nacho grande, prawn and avocado salad, feta and cinnamon samosas, fajitas were all very divine.

Stacked crab salad

Dining on the beach :)

It was unfortunate of the 4 days one days was spend on the lounge as it poured for a straight 24 hours , we woke up to a storm and remained hopeful but by 2pm we gave up and decided savanna ciders, white wine, cocktails, shisha, social media would be our new beach.. it was actually a pleasant day in its own obscure way J

Relaxing with hookah at the lounge during a storm

So after great walks on the beach, yoga poses, goofy selfies, post work our pool dips, drinks bill shock and chit chats with the hosts and staff it was time to pack and get back home and work. So long farewell beach, till next time :)

Faces of Beauty, Joy and Happiness :)

 Happy Travels

~ Lea ~

In Riding a Horse, We Borrow Freedom

Helen Thompson was right we she came up with the quote “In Riding a Horse, We Borrow Freedom“, from the time when I started horseback riding I knew it was a journey I was going to remain on. This weekend on my staycation series I teamed up with Tess my horseback riding partner and some other friends for a day in the tea fields.

My normal timings is one hour ride for each sessions, however this time we opted for 2 hours of some good ol’ proper riding. We have been practicing our trotting and galloping and this session we added cantering.

 

 It is really hard to express the joy that comes with connecting with your horse at high speed without flying off the horse. My horses name is Tiger Love and I’ve been riding him for about 10 months now. He is 17 years old and has a mind of his own.. I still love him though. 

I choose to ride in the tea fields as it brings a lovely mix of nature and freedom. During the riding sessions we sometime stop and enjoy the view on raised view and for sure that view does it for me each time.

There is a Mexican proverb that says “It is not enough for a rider to know how to ride; she must know how to fall.” I really like as I like to tell myself once you fall then the next step is pro. Well I dint literally fall but I had a minor accident during the riding session.

 

For now I will be on land for a while until my leg heals. To be specific "I sprained it" it hurts to think of no high heels for a week but I think I can handle it. Until next time Happy people. 

Happy Staycations

- Lea - 

The Magic beghind Waterfalls

We all love staycations, it reminds you of the beauty that surrounds you at home. I do need to save up to be able to go on super cool vacays, so for now I am perfecting my love for staycations. I love it when you meet up with friends and do something different and exciting. 

I want to be away every weekend J

 

This past weekend we opted for a day at the waterfalls. I am one of those lucky people who live at the perfect place. The Tigoni Waterfalls are 15 minutes away from my home. These natural waterfalls were discovered in 1969 and have remained pretty hush hush.

We all met at my place and had brunch. Talking of brunch , I love love to entertain my friends with gourmet delicacies and amazing sangria. This time I discovered a strawberry farm next to me home and so this day was Strawberry filled. I am talking of strawberry daiquiris, strawberry tarts and strawberry parfaits etc.

We packed up all our brunch stuff and did the small drive to the waterfalls. The look on my friends faces upon the scenery at the parking lot was divine; rows and rows of tea with Nairobi far in the horizon. We did spend a few minutes just enjoying this view that most people who live in the city never get to see so much green J

 

 After a few minutes we started to descend to the falls. The landscape is beautiful; the leaves have fallen and are still crisp on the ground and the indigenous trees giving a good chill for a hot day and the green peeping in between it all.As we walked we finally had the crashing waters and knew the waterfalls were close. The waterfalls are small but extremely beautiful. J

We set up our chill out site with our colorful Maasai blankets, and pop the wine and the afternoon just became perfect. It was all chatter with the waterfall in the background.

 

All of this reminded me why I love living in Tigoni and having amazeball friends.

There something that just adds to my perfection. Yoga poses and Shisha must be high up in the list. Having my hookah and laced cookies in the nature was magical. J

 

 I look forward to more staycations.. Next will be horse back riding.. More on that soon.

Namaste 

Happy Staycations

- Lea- 

The Rift Valley Festival 2014

I love Festivals!!!
The idea of music lovers, art lovers, outdoor lovers, young at heart, party lovers and all those who know how to live it up coming together for a couple of days to get soaked in sun, music, art and fun is Amazeballs.

The Rift Valley Festival is all about celebrating the rich culture of Kenyan through art, music, color, energy and tradition. It brings together globally sourced bands, musicians and DJs that make Lake Naivasha come alive to the sound of diverse music styles and genres and create the greatest party in East Africa each year.  This year been the 5th year it always get better in its own way 

 

I really look forward to every last weekend of August for this festival. This year I had great company; Cecilia and Andrew who were handling the Acro-yoga workshops and redefined chilling and Kez who will keep you happy and dancing all weekend. We opted for the full 3 day option and had a leisurely drive on Friday afternoons through the Rift Valley escarpment with stops for selfies and some yoga poses at the view point.

Upon getting to the Festival venue at Fisherman's Camp and setting up our "home" for the weekend, it was right on to getting the festival mood on. This was a perfect combination of drinks, hookah, yoga and chilling and anything/ everything else in between. (smile)

Its time to stretch

My fave yogi's

I loved to fly

One of my most exciting bits of festivals is accessorizing and dressing up for it. With the sun finally out, flower crowns and head bands for daytime and glow in the dark glasses and bunny ears for nights were my go to pieces. The festival vibe could be felt all around with people with body paints, DIY flower crowns, head gears, great locks. It was a time for everyone to bring out their party fashion poison. 

Flower crowns and smiles  - good combo

The signature smile :)

When it came down to what brought us all together the music was incredible with different bands, DJ's, international  and local artists and up coming local musicians . The bringing together of traditional, contemporary and modern music brought an extraordinary effect to the ravers. Besides the numerous power cuts and prolonged testings of sound which is very typical it was everything you would imagine and would want plus much more .. TIA we love love it :)

Getting the night started with my boho sister

African acrobats

The moment it just got real :)

The new addition they had this year was the UP Box. It was a cool concept of a 10 minutes mini club where if you were in there you better be dancing like crazy and then leave. I definitely enjoyed  a few stops through the night there with DJ Nzech spinning. 

The UP BOX - 10 min club

The other fabulous thing about the RVF festival is the perfect location of Fisherman's Camp,Naivasha. Being right on the lake side with opportunities of taking a boat cruise, sun bathing or even waterboarding makes your days fun filled with beautiful nature. This time we opted for Acro-yoga workshop, a short stroll around Naivasha, and perfecting my greatest joy of La Dolce Far Niente.

We all love selfies..with my RVF family

The beauty of waking up after a night of partying to such beautiful views make you re energized and ready for a re-run. 

Early morning view of Lake Naivasha

just beautiful 

And so it came and it passed and we went back to life. My newest fave phrase is              " I hydrate like a baus" :)

Slap the bag and drink :)

Happy Times

- Lea -