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Monthly Favorites – January Favorites

02.02.17

I’ve decided to start doing monthly favorites where I will talk about what I have been loving for the month! These are actually some of my favorite type of YouTube videos to watch, so I’m really excited to share with you all what I have also been loving in terms of food, books, TV shows, podcasts, products and just whatever else I discovered in the month that I think you guys will also like! On to my monthly favorites!

So first up, is the month of January!!! I read a lot of books this month!! I’m already working on my fourth :O I also was sick most of the month as well with the worst cough that kept my up at night, especially in the beginning half of the month. It was also the month I became addicted to podcasts. Normally I used to listen to a couple podcasts a week, but now I listen to around 7 a day!! I usually listen to them at work at 1.5 times the speed and I love em. I’ve discovered so many amazing podcasts and have been listening to a lot of news ones in particular. I have my favorites sorted in categories, so let’s get started:

FOOD

Boom Chicka Pop: When we were in BC during the holidays, we tried the Sweet and Salty Boom Chicka Pop popcorn and it was so addicting!!! And surprisingly, it was low in calories as well (not that I care, but Gursheel sure does) 😛 Anyways, Gursheel made a new years resolution to cut back on chips (we were addicts of Lays) so we bought the Sea Salt popcorn flavored Boom Chicka Pop and it was also amazing and “healthier” according to Gursheel. So, definitely a favorite, and definitely will be trying new flavors in the future. Let me know your favorite flavors down below!
Baked Vegan Falafel: Since we discovered that baked falafel tastes just as amazing as fried, I’ve been loving making this recipe!! It is so good! Check out the recipe on the blog!
Ricola cough drops: So, for most of January I was sick. I got sick near the end of December while I was in BC with this horrible cough that would keep me up at night, and it continued on for 3 weeks! And then I discovered Ricola. I had heard of the brand before, but I had never tried it. But, I bought this randomly one day and it was so good, so soothing. I don’t think it anything but make me feel better, which when you are sick makes all the difference!

BLOG

Vintage Revivals: OMG I LOVE THIS BLOG SO SO MUCH!!! It is amazing and I love everything on it! It is a blog about DIY home projects!! The blogger, Mandi, has the most amazing ideas and I am gonna try so many of her projects, and am currently working on one of her lamp DIYs, which I’ll be sharing in a future blog post. I was introduced to this blog by my sister, who sent me a YouTube video of room that Mandi had done for a YouTuber.

SKIN CARE

Saje Rose Hydrating Euphoric Mist: I’ve been using this rose mist for the past 6 months as a toner every morning and it’s so refreshing and hydrating and smells amazing, like roses! But, it just finished the other day. It lasted 6 months which is a looong time! I have another mist, the Jasmine one from Saje that I’ll be using next, but I really want to try to make my own DIY rose mist. Blog post coming in the future, keep your eyes peeled!!

BOOK

Elantris: I read the Mistborn trilogy a couple of months ago and was obsessed. I was recommended books by the author, Brandon Sanderson, by several people, so I had to read all his books. Elantris is a stand alone book so I finised it a lot faster than the Mistborn trilogy and it was perfect. Amazing plot, amazing characters, and all around a solid book that I think my sister will also love!

PODCAST

Under the Influence from CBC Radio: I’ve been listening to a lot of new podcasts this month, but this one by Terry O’Reilly is one of my favorites. It’s a podcast about the ad industry and how were make decisions and are influence by words and images. His voice and how he tells the stories really gets you hooked. I got Gursheel hooked as well!

TV SHOW

The Fall: I was recommended this show from my supervisor at work and it is seriously so good! We are hooked. I normally don’t like shows where there is a ton of suspense, a murderer or a combination, but something about this show just sucks me in and I really have been looking forward to watching episodes when we get home. We also recently put a TV in our bedroom, so we enjoy watching it before going to sleep.

I can’t believe January is already over! 1/12 of the year already done, 11 more months to go 🙂

Kam Travels

Maasai Mara Safari – Holiday Part 2

01.29.17

Last week I wrote about our amazing adventures at Giraffe Manor and today will be all about the second part of our trip which was our Maasai Mara Safari!

We were driven to the local airport and took a small aircraft through SafariLink to get to the Maasai Mara, from where our guide picked us up. On our way to our tented luxury cabin, we saw our first animal, a cheetah with her two cubs!! It was unreal!! We watched the animals for a while, but it was mid-day and quite hot, so the animals were just relaxing in the shade, and after a while, we decided to do the same.

We stayed at Ol Seki Hemingways Mara in a luxury tent, and man it was luxurious! It was a tent in the middle of the Mara and we could see and hear animals all around us. Now you might think, lions right near you? Is that safe? But the one thing we learned is that lions, cheetah’s, elephants, etc. don’t see humans as a threat! We don’t look like food, don’t smell like food, nor taste like food (not for them that is), that the animals leave us be. The only time they will attack you is if you attack them, or think to attack them. So, it was perfectly safe to be surrounded by animals (although, to be truthful, I was slightly terrified).

We saw so many animals!! We were on safari for 5 whole days and went on game drives in the mornings and evenings, and one day on a hot air balloon safari! We didn’t see all the Big 5, unfortunately, but the animals we did see were amazing! The big 5 include the lion, elephant, leopard, rhinoceros, and the buffalo. We saw a rhino at the David Sheldrick animal orphanage, but didn’t get to see any leopards, although a cheetah looks remarkably similar.

After watching animals for 5 days, my favorites are definitely elephants and giraffes. Giraffes because they are so tall and beautiful and just really fun to watch as they run, sleep (they literally sleep for 5 minutes a day), and hug (yes, we definitely saw giraffes hugging and it was just so adorable), and elephants because how much they care for each other. Just watching animals interact with each other, you learn so much. And elephants are one of the few animals we observed that you can actually see how much they care for one another and their children. A couple of times we tried to drive closer to them, but had to pull back because they seemed to want to come after us (oh oh) :P.

These were our Maasai guides for the Maasai Mara Safari. The one on the left took us on our morning and night game drives, and the one of the right took us on a walking tour. The Maasai are famously known for their red clothing that they wear (which we were told represents blood, because they actually drink animal blood) as well as being tall and brave warriors since they live together with the animals in the Mara. Our guide told us stories of where even lions have backed off from eating the Maasai’s cattle because the lions were intimidated by their bravery.

On our third day on safari, we woke up super early to drive across the Mara, almost near Tanzania to go on our hot air balloon safari. I don’t know why but I thought it would be a bumpy ride, but it was completely the opposite, it was so smooth and so peaceful. I felt like I was the only one around and it was so serene and beautiful and amazing. As we were in the air, we saw the sun rise and watched below as we saw zebras, giraffes and hyenas. It was definitely a once in a lifetime type of experience.

We loved each and every minute in Kenya, especially the Maasai Mara Safari, and we can’t wait to go back. It is definitely one of my favorites places in the world now 🙂

Kam Travels

Giraffe Manor Holiday – Part 1 of our Trip To Kenya and Giraffe Manor

01.22.17

Last week I did a packing guide on what to pack for an African Safari. But before we go to the Safari experience itself, I want to tell you all about our stay at the Giraffe Manor! I first saw a picture of giraffes poking their heads into windows in an Ivy covered building on Pinterest, and couldn’t believe such a place existed. When I searched where it was, Kenya, I never thought I would ever visit this place. However, a year later, when we were planning our honeymoon, we decided to go to Kenya. Because Gursheel was born there and he wanted to go on a safari, it was perfect. I decided to include a trip to Giraffe Manor so we could have the trip of a lifetime!

Before going to Giraffe Manor, I was excited but didn’t know what to expect. I imagined it to be amazing, however, I had greatly underestimated how amazing it actually is! It’s unreal and I still can’t believe we stayed there. Even when we were there, I was constantly saying, “This is unreal, this is amazing, I can’t believe I’m actually here”. It looked amazing and I even got a picture that looked exactly like the one I first saw on Pinterest…

Giraffe Manor is owned by the Safari Collection, who own a bunch of other luxury camps and lodges in Kenya. When looking to book a room at the Giraffe Manor, we were shocked to see how much it costs!! A LOT!! You can look at the pricing on their website to see how much a room will cost you, depending on the season you go, and the room you stay in.

To make it more affordable, we decided to stay just one night at Giraffe Manor and started doing research into other agencies that can plan your trip for you. We negotiated with several agencies to plan our entire Kenya trip, and I recommend the same because we ended up saving over $1000 USD at the end! And if you are going there for you honeymoon, you can get special rates as well! We ended up choosing Mahlatini and had a good experience with them.

One thing I absolutely loved about Giraffe Manor was their decor!!! I love it, it is amazing and you see giraffes literally everywhere. There are giraffe art prints, giraffe-shaped candles, giraffe pillows as well as a chess set carved into animals including giraffes!! The aesthetic at Giraffe Manor is very similar to my style and I loved admiring all of its finishing details…

But the most beautiful room was our room!! The rooms at Giraffe Manor are named after the giraffes and we stayed in Betty’s room, which apparently is the best! And I agree.. I absolutely loved everything about it…

But the best part… Giraffes came to our windows!!…

And our balcony…

But the ABSOLUTE MOST AMAZING part about Giraffe Manor is breakfast! Not only was the food delicious (they accomodated our vegan/vegetarian diet), but the staff were amazing and giraffes literally came to our tables as we ate!

And I had to take a selfie, with a giraffe of course 😛 …

It was magical!

During our stay at Giraffe Manor, we also went to Giraffe Center, which is where the Rothschild giraffes go during the day and is open to the public. So, even if you can’t afford to stay at Giraffe Manor (which I highly recommend btw), I suggest going to Giraffe Center, for which you just have to pay a park fee and will be able to take pictures with the giraffes and get to feed them as well. This is a picture of me feeding one of the giraffes at Giraffe Center…

Another place we went to was the David Sheldrick Animal Orphanage, which is free for the public. We, however, donated an elephant and were able to go in the evening when the orphanage is only open to those who have donated an animal. This is a perfect time to go because the orphanage isn’t as busy and it’s not so hot outside either. Also, it was amazing, because it was where we saw our first and only Rhinoceros in Kenya (we didn’t get so lucky to see them in the wild in the Maasai Mara)…

Next week: Part 2 of our trip to Kenya, the Maasai Mara 🙂