I'm really excited to share with you my experience at a place dubbed Kenya's second most popular national park after Masai Mara.

I intentionally put Lake Nakuru National Park at the bottom of my travel bucket-list while living in Nakuru Town.

Talk about saving the best for last! :-)

The memory of riding through the safari game park in a bus is still fresh in my mind.

Within minutes of  the drive, I spotted a vast lake from afar, acacia woodland, intercepted with grassland everywhere.

Driving deeper into the park, I couldn't help but giggle with myself when I saw a troop of baboons, which reminded me, all too well, of a hilarious story narrated to me as a little girl, of how the baboon ended up with a sore bald a#*! Haha!

We drove on, my camera at hand. I was greatly fascinated by the amazing terrain and rolling landscapes that offered prime vantage points for spotting wildlife, every now and then, I found myself snapping away, wanting to capture the beauty of it all, thank goodness our driver was nice enough to bring the bus to a halt whenever someone requested him to stop so we could take better shots of the many wild animals we met on the way; zebras, rhinos, waterbucks, buffaloes, antelopes, warthogs, impalas.

The best part of my tour was definitely when we were heading towards THE LAKE!!! 

One quick fact before I proceed, what Lake Nakuru National Park has that other major parks in Kenya don't have is flamingos.

Watching and taking photographs of the pink flamingos and pelicans fishing the shallows was the ultimate highlight for me.

Baboons are always so funny to look at! Lol!

Apparently, since 2014, the water levels in lake Nakuru have been on the rise, as you can see, a good number of trees have been submerged and are all dried up due to the fact that the water is saline. The rise in water levels also affected the population of flamingos, it forced some to flee, but water levels are prone to fluctuation and depending on the time of year or your visit, the flamingos may be back in residence.

Lone tree.

Marabou Storks... These particular birds are scavengers, they often feed on dead/ left overs of dead animals in the park.

Flocks of both lesser and greater flamingos!

So freaking beautiful!!!

Yassss to THE VIEW!!!

Enjoying the view of the lake from a cliff.

My "obligatory tourist photo" hahaha! Yvonne was here!

Buffaloes!

Impalas!

During the rainy season, Makalia falls, as I was informed by my tour guide is truly magnificent. 

Makalia falls was our last stop before heading back, at this point I was exhausted! 

Waterbucks!

I thoroughly enjoyed my safari game drive at Lake Nakuru National Park. I will forever remember it as a place that offers great adventure and learning experience.

If ever you're in Nakuru, I advice that you visit the place too, you will without a doubt have the time of your life. 

Xx

Hi everyone! Hope your week is going great!

If there was an award for procrastination, I'd most definitely bag it. I'm aware that a good number of you have been waiting on this post, please pardon me for not putting it up way sooner.

Let's get right into it, shall we?

So, I'll basically be sharing with you my wash-day routine for the past two months and products that I use on a regular basis to make my hair healthy and manageable. 

Below are all the products I use on my hair.

When it comes to washing my hair, like many naturals... Where you at naturalistas?! Where you at? By a show of hands? Haha!... I follow some basic steps. Personally, I have seven, which I consider very important, they are:-

 ~ Detangling
~ Pre-pooing
~ Cleansing
~ Nourishing
~ Drying
~ Moisturizing
~ Styling 

Detangling

Rosewater - Nakumatt Supermarket - Kshs. 65

Spritz Bottle - Bestly Cosmetics - Kshs. 170

I use my fingers, a wide-tooth comb and a mixture of rosewater and water in a spritz bottle to detangle my hair. By following this step I have noticed that the amount of hair I shed after washing my hair or simply combing my hair has significantly reduced.

In order to retain your hairs length, it's essential to get rid of those knots and tangles. I advice that, when detangling, start from the tips working your way down to the roots.

The reason I include rosewater in my spritz bottle, instead of using plain tap water is because it moisturizes my hair within a very short time, seconds actually, thereby making detangling so much easier and faster.

I use a mixture of coconut oil, olive oil and castor oil to pre-poo my hair.

Cleansing

Venus Anti-dandruff Shampoo - Tuskys - Kshs. 108

Organics Conditioner - Nakumatt - Kshs. 289

I used to use super cheap shampoos and conditioners, evidence here, for the lame reason that, "hey! I'm gonna wash it off anyway! So why spend a "fortune"?" What I didn't realize back then is that they were striping my hair of all its goodness while cleansing it.

The shampoo and conditioner I'm currently using are amazing!!! Until someone recommends other products, I'm sticking to them like glue.

Nourishing

If you follow me on Instagram you may have seen a picture I posted a few days back on my wash-day, of an egg and avocado.

I really like using homemade hair masks, they're fun to make, really awesome for hair and cost very little.

I'll create a separate post on how I make avocado hair mask.

I've used commercial hair masks before, but stopped because of the fact that they contain lots of minerals and chemicals that do good to hair for only a short time.

After cleansing my hair with shampoo, I apply a D.I.Y hair mask to my wet hair and cover it with a shower-cap for 30 minutes. When it's done working its magic, I wash it off then condition my hair as usual, before giving it a last rinse.

 Drying

I mostly air dry my hair after rinsing and wrapping it up with an old t-shirt to get rid of excess water, but sometimes, though I dislike it, I do visit salons to blow-dry my hair.

 Moisturizing

  
Parachute Coconut Oil - Yogi Enterprises (Eldoret) - Kshs. 350

Vatika Coconut Hair Oil - Naivas- Kshs. 240

I'm in love with the coco!... Coconut oil makes my hair so happy you guys!!! I'm currently using Parachute coconut oil, I got it recently due to all the hype it gets from the "natural hair community" and all I can say is that it totally lives up to its hype, for real, it's the bomb.com! I use it once a week.

I also use Vatika Coconut Hair Oil, this particular one I use daily on my hair, unlike other coconut products, I can stand its smell, it has a pretty nice scent which I like. It also contains herbs which make hair very healthy.

Dark & Lovely Olive Oil Moisturizer - Tuskys - Kshs. 80

Alison's Chic Curl Activating Gel - Nakumatt - Kshs. 70

Venus Soothing Scalp Hair Dress - Nakumatt - Kshs. 127

In case I go to the salon, I often hand my stylist Venus pomade to use on my hair, then, on the daily, I'll use Dark and Lovely Olive Oil Moisturizer to moisturize my straightened hair or Alison's Chic Curl Activating Gel when making bantu knots.

Styling

Regarding styling, I often do bantu knots, flat twist outs and braiding to protect and stretch out my hair. this step, just like the nourishing step, requires a separate post so I can expound on it and fast hand, show you my results.

The three pictures in this post show how my hair looks after an hour of washing, moisturizing and finger combing, basically what I would call "my wash & go."

I try my best to do a protective hair style at night on my hair, before I sleep, this makes my hair a lot more manageable in the morning and if I do say so myself... On fleek!... Sorry, I just had to.

---------

There you have it! I'll make it a point to share more often on my natural hair care.

Now, your turn, regardless of whether you are natural or not, what are your current hair care routines? I would really love to know, also which products do you consider the best? Do share! :-)

Xx

Feels great to be done with my internship! If you're done with yours as well, you must know the feeling. I'm really glad I got a chance to do it before completing my undergrad, it was all so eyeopening, I've learnt a ton of stuff, both basic and major that will impact my career positively in future. I totally appreciate and value my internship experience. 

I'm currently in my hometown, I'll be here for a couple of days before heading back to Nairobi. I honestly forgot about Eldoret's weather pattern, one minute it's warm and sunny, the next minute its raining or plain cloudy and freezing cold, anyway, I'm slowly getting the hang of it.

Did you guys know that wearing dirty converse shoes is a thing? People do it deliberately so they can appear cooler. Note that "people" here, has "me" included haha! 

Converse shoes are one of my absolute favorites! They are fashion forward, bold and so comfortable. Let me just put it out there, anytime stylish and comfortable are in the same sentence. I'm on board. Converse shoes are without a doubt a closet staple for me. They are simply awesome and can be worn anywhere and to anything.

By the way, I want to get your opinion, do you think/believe wearing dirty converse shoes adds an extra oomph to an outfit? Share your thoughts.

 

Plaid Shirt - Old |  Vest - Print Star |  Shorts - Thrifted at Ngara |  Shoes - Converse

I recently joined Snapchat and I swear, the excitement I have over it borders the one I had when I first downloaded Instagram, Candy Crash  and Temple Run to my phone, in that exact order.

I enjoy making Snapchat videos, it's fun, I hate my voice on tape though, It sounds weird to me, in a not-so-good way ha! Find me @juanamaua_snaps and add my account if you like, I'll add yours right back.

Before the end of the week I hope to share something on my natural hair care and put up a travel post. I bet I'll manage, considering I don't have a lot on my plate lately.

I wish you a lovely and productive week.

Xx