My last holidays

My first trip to the African continent: a mixture of warring emotions warring

I was nervous about the three-weeks trip with people I didn’t know, getting up very early and travelling in a truck around Kenya and Tanzania’s landscapes, but it was one of my dreams: to visit the African continent. I was very interested in the world’s largest refugee camp and, on the other hand, I dreamed of going to the Masai Mara and Serengueti, among other, game reserves where I could see all the big animals of Africa (“the big fives”) and I could look at some of the most beautiful landscapes and sunsets. I was very happy with the idea of staying in a tented camp surrounded by wildlife, too. My first trip to the African continent was a mixture of warring emotions warring.

When I was preparing for the trip I was worried about the food in Kenya but, actually, it was delicious and it wasn’t no problem. It had hearty gingery soups and refreshing salads, and now, after these weeks in Africa I’m very keen on ginger biscuits!

I was so excited when I was in the game reserves snapping away on my new camera. In a few hours, I could see zebras, buffalos, antelopes, lions, herds of elephants, giraffes and a cheetah. There really aren’t no words to describe the feelings of seeing these animals in their natural habitat.

We visited the Great Rift Valley and Lake Nakuru, where we saw plenty of baboons, buffalo and flamingos. Baboons interacted with us; they are very clever and crafty and I ended up getting fed up with them! Afterwards, we went to the Masai Mara with its vast planes plains and incredible silence. I was very pleased with the fact of staying in a tented camp surrounded by wildlife and looked looking up at the sky even though I was frightened by the howls of the hyenas.

The Mara was amazing, especially when two lions walked right in front of our truck. It was a very special moment that’s hard to describe in words. Another “magical” moment was when our first outing on the Masai Mara brought us to a cheetah sleeping on a mound of dirt. He didn’t seem worry worried about anything. He wasn’t nervous about the safari vans pulled up beside it. I was very surprised by the close proximity of our van to the mound of dirt because the Masai Mara has strict rules and vehicles can’t go off the path. Between my new reflex camera and the proximity of the animal, I managed to capture some pretty photos of this cheetah. He looked back at us in a relaxed manner and then continued to ignore us. Another vehicle came along and refused to turn off his its engine. I was so angry about that because I think that loud engine was disrupting the cheetah. The driver told our guide that he had a battery problem and couldn’t turn off his truck so we all suffered, including the cheetah. Within a few minutes the cheetah had enough and was stood up and walking walked away.

Kenya is more magical and spectacular than I had imagined. It’s a country full of warmth. It surprised me by its landscapes, by its huge plains with acacias and by its people. It was silent, it was magical and special, I fell in love with Africa’s culture and people… It’s Africa.

Great composition Mayte! and great travel too!! Very good use of vocabulary, especially adjectives followed by prepositions we have seen in unit 1.
Have a look at the form and tense of some of the verbs, -ing, past simple, past perfect...
When we use the adverb no the verb goes in affirmative. Have a look at page 9 from the book.