January 2019, my family traveled to Kenya to visit Aunt Kelly in Lamu, Kenya. I was VERY apprehensive but also super excited to show, my then 22 month old, twin boys a new part of the world. We had taken them to Mexico at 6 months old and learned a lot about traveling with them. We brought some extra help along since the boys were young and full of energy. We had a bag of tricks for the plane including cereal bars, cheerios, other snacks, and lots of quiet toys-cars, magna doodles, soft toys, coloring books, etc. BUT by far the best toy we brought came from Grandma in the form of a Kindle 8. This thing is seriously indestructible. It has a thick, soft pad around it so it can be thrown across the room-and it was-and still land softly. We logged into our Amazon Prime membership on the tablets and bought several movies and series to download prior to the flight from JFK to Nairobi. This was a life saver! We let them walk (and run) up and down the aisle a few times-we had to get some energy out so they would sleep. We were super lucky that our flight was not full so we were able to spread out and create small beds for each child in the empty seats. Bottom line is we made it! Don’t let a long flight deter you from a life-changing experience, you will get through it!
Children are so resilient and the boys absolutely loved everything about Kenya. We visited Sheldrick’s Elephant Orphanage and The Giraffe Center in Nairobi. They could not have loved the animals more. What an awesome experience for them to be up close and personal with the animals in their natural habitat. I was excited to see so many other families with young children at both centers. It made me feel less anxious about bringing them so far and proud that we were able to do it for them. The next few days were filled with new experiences and adventures for them. We stayed in a tented, safari camp and watched as a family of warthogs trotted past us on our way to breakfast! The boys, of course, tried to chase after them, and were babbling about it the rest of the day. A memory I won’t forget! The next week we spent exploring Lamu. We went sailing on traditional dhows, tried lots of new seafood, and met new friends. In the mornings, we put our swimsuits on and walked down the beach to where the tide went out and created hundreds of little baby pools in the sand. The boys LOVED jumping from pool to pool, and we loved burning the toddler energy early. As a parent, I loved to see the boys quickly make friends with other little kids on the island and create a bond with our safari guide, Danson. He would scoop them up and carry them when we were tired, swim with them in the ocean and jump in to help out when needed. He is truly a part of our “Village!”
I know they may not remember every detail of this trip being so young, but I feel very strongly that these experiences will shape who they become as adults and hopefully instill a sense of wanderlust.