African Safari - Dream Trip to Kenya

Jambo!

Day 1 (8th Aug 2009): After months of planning and negotiating, we were finally on our way to Nairobi, which is the gateway to one of the top 3 wildlife safaris in the world..the legendary Masai Mara. We had planned the trip to coincide with the dramatic wildebeest migration that happens annually.

As we got off the Plane at 6:30 am, we were so excited and nervous at the same time to finally be in the country we were waiting to get to. The on-arrival visa process was smooth. The Kenyan visa officer even spoke some Hindi words, thanks to all the Indians migrating to Kenya. As we got outside the airport we met our Travel agent, Meshak, who guided us to our Van. As we looked outside the sky was grey and it was drizzling, the traffic was hectic just like in any Indian city! They first took us to our Travel Agent Manager’s house for a quick Breakfast, which we thought was a warm and welcoming gesture. We were introduced to a Chinese couple who would be joining us in the Van (they had just returned from Tanzania after trekking Kilamanjaro which is the highest peak in Africa). Then we went to the city-mall to change our money into the national currency which is Kenyan shillings (1 USD = 75 SHILLINGS). Then we headed off to Masai Mara, which was a 7 hour drive. On the way we stopped to click pictures of The Great Rift Valley, which is said to be the longest Valley in the world. The sight was beautiful. We finally reached Masai Mara at around 4.00 PM. We quickly checked into our campsite venue, Big Time Camp which is right outside Oloolaimutia Gate (eastern most border of Masai Mara). Masai Mara is the northern part of the Serengeti eco-system and has an amazing concentration of wildlife spread across 1600 square kilometers of Savannah Grasslands. Considered the best of Kenya's parks, it is on the pathway of the yearly wildebeest migration, which comes north from Tanzania about the end of July-Aug and returns to Tanzania around the end of Nov-Dec. The Mara sustains all of the Big Five i.e. Lion, elephant, leopard, rhinoceros and buffalo-and many other animals as well. After a quick tea, we embarked on our very first game drive at around 5 PM. We saw Thomson's Gazelle, Impala, Masai Giraffes (with a star like pattern), Buffalo, Zebra, Wildebeest, a hungry lioness feasting on a Masai Cow. All this on our very first game drive. The abundance of wildlife was just mind boggling and was a refreshing change from some of our previous safaris in India, where sighting a single deer after a whole day's safari was considered an achievement. We returned to our campsite by 6.30 PM. After a whole day of driving, we were tired. Our tent had an attached bathroom with hot shower, so we took a much needed shower & proceeded for a nice dinner where we were introduced to our driver guide, James Bond (yes Bond as in 007) who was going to be with us for the entire trip. Bond told us that we will have a full day safari the next day with a picnic lunch right in the middle of the Mara. We retired to bed early with great anticipation for things to come.



Day 2 (9th Aug 2009) Saw another Lion pride with many cubs. They were dragging a wildebeest kill and were very playful as their tummies were full. This was one of the highlights of the trip as we saw a lot of lionesses and cubs at very close quarter. Clicked a lot of pics and shot some video too. We then went to the Kenya - Tanzania boarder along which flows the Mara River. It was unusually dry this year due to drought and we saw same Zebras and Wildebeest at the edge of the river waiting to cross, which they never did while we were around. We were told that the animals from Tanzania were able to cross the river easily this year as they just had to walk across the sand with out the usual crocs waiting to gulp them down. James found a nice place for the Picnic lunch under an acacia tree, where baboons had just finished their lunch of sausage fruit. After lunch, we went walking with a ranger to see hippos and crocodiles lazing near the river bank (there was a small section of the river that actually had some water). On our way back, we saw a family of Elephants, who were sleeping under the shade of an acacia tree, while they were standing. We were exhausted by the time we came to our campsite. We relaxed for some time and it was time for dinner (which is always beef). We sat around a camp fire and spoke to fellow travelers from across the world. Bond had arranged for an early morning Game Drive at 6.30 AM the next day.




Day 3 (10th Aug 2009): Early Morning Game Drive. It was cold with a chill breeze. This time of the year is winter in Africa and considered the best time to visit. We saw the African Sunrise, a huge orange ball of fire. We saw two orphan Lion cubs whose mother had died recently. We knew that these cubs will inevitably die too. They looked so vulnerable that we realized that it’s not always the Lions that have it their way. We saw a Jackal’s den with its cute cub. We came back to the campsite around 9.30 AM and had our breakfast (we gorged on some yummy omlette). The evening game drive was planned at around 4.00 PM; so we had some time to kill. We decided to visit an authentic Masai village which was close to the camp. The village had around 10-15 huts and primarily consisted of one huge family of around 300 plus masai. The men and women performed a welcome dance and showed us around inside their huts. The best take away from the village was the local souvenir market where bargaining is the order of the day. Sumit and Sonali enjoyed the bargaining there and we bought some Masai Masks. On the evening Game Drive we saw a family of Elephants, Antilopes, & buffalos close up. We were disappointed at not seeing anything exciting on our last game drive at Masai Mara. Just then, the wireless radio crackled with excitement. We all knew some major sighting was being reported but we could not follow the Swahili. James whirled the Van into top gear overtaking a bunch of vans like a hollywood car chase. Then we saw from a distance, with James still speeding to reach the best vantage spot, The elusive Leopard!!! out in the open with its smart & healthy yellow coat. We were the second Van to get there, so got a good sight. It was amazing. This was our last game drive in Masai Mara and we had already seen four of the Big Five. This was easily the moment of the trip so far.



Day 4 (11th Aug 2009): Bid farewell to Masai Mara and left for Nakuru at 6.30 AM in the morning. Arrived at Nakuru for Lunch. We were put up at Hotel Genevieve which is out side Lake Nakuru National Park. After 3 days of relaxing tent stay out in the Jungle, we felt claustrophobic inside the four walled room. We entered Lake Nakuru National Park which is managed by a Private Group unlike Masai Mara. Lake Nakuru is known for flamingos; both lesser i.e. pink and greater i.e. white flamingos, Sacred Abbes, Pelicans, Marabou Stork, African Spoonbills, Egyptian Geese and a whole variety of big birds. We walked very close to flamingos. They were just too many of them and they made the lake look pink. At Baboon Cliff view point, we could see Lake Nakuru far and wide and we clicked some pictures there. On our way back to the Hotel we finally saw a few White Rhinos which completed our BIG FIVE hunt. Incidentally, White Rhinos are not native to Kenya. They are imported from South Africa. We also saw a Lion relaxing, perched on a tree; which was a rare and picturesque sight (pic of the trip).



Day 5 (12th Aug 2009): We were supposed to visit Amboseli National Park for the next 2 days. Our driver James suggested we visit Samburu National Park instead, which is North of Nairobi as we may see more animals than Amboseli; where the only highlight was elephants and the sight of Kilamanjaro peak. On the way to Samburu we saw Thomsons water fall, Mt. Kenya, passed the Equator & had our Lunch at Nanyuki town. Arrived at Samburu National Park at 4 PM & proceeded straight on our Game Drive since the public campsite here was inside the forest with very basic pitch in tents for 2. On our way we saw Gravy Zebras (thinner stripes), Reticulated Giraffes (the usual ones we all know. The giraffes at Masai are unique in their design pattern). We saw a Lion pride feasting on a kill; two young lions indulged in a tug of war over a big piece of the kill untill the meat broke into two pieces. We also saw one of the bigger antelope called Oryx and a strange species of deer called gerenuk, which in african means giraffe like neck. Gerenuk actually look like bonsai giraffes and stand upright on their hind legs to eat leaves from tall bushes. We finally reached our campsite, which was setup on a river bank with few pitch in tents. We immediately fell in love with the place. This was the kind of camping we always wanted to do. No electricity, No attached bath rooms, no distractions. Just us and stars in the night & the occasional animal calls. Samburu unlike Masai Mara was hot; but the nights were pleasant.




Day 6 (13th Aug 2009): Morning Game drive was early as it gets hot here soon. We saw a family of Leopards on a hill. It’s hard to spot them as these animals just blend into the surroundings. Once a while we could see 2 Leopard cubs playing and we could spot the Mother Leopard slowly coming down the hill towards us. But she was hesitating to approach with so many vans around. James suggested we will go around the park and come back to see if she comes out in the open later. We proceeded to see some elephants, a crocodile and a pride of lions feasting on gravy zebra. We came back to the same spot and saw the leopard down hill behind a bush. Suddenly she was out in the open and again as soon as more vans joined us she went back inside another bush. Then again she came out and out of nowhere she started dragging an impala carcass that we had not noticed. All this while she was trying to carry her kill to the cubs on the hill and we were all blocking her way. This was one of the prices the animals have to pay with all the tourists breathing down their neck; but again the whole ecosystem is surviving because of the tourism. We could see her climbing uphill with her heavy kill. It was an amazing and rare sight as we got to see her at a distance of just 10-15 feet. Just like in Masai Mara, a Leopard appeared before us on our Last Day and we were left amazed. Afternoon was hot and we could not sleep inside the tents so all guests(not many) sat outside under the shade and just relaxed while chatting. This is how a holiday should be. Felt extremely relaxed and refreshed. On the evening game drive, we did not see much. Maybe we had seen it all and were not excited enough this time.




Day 7 (14th Aug 2009): We drove back to Nairobi to catch our 5.45 PM flight to Mumbai. On our way posted a picture post card to Basanthi in the US; hope it reaches her. Our flight was delayed by 7hrs as the employees had chosen to go on strike on the same day. We finally took off at 3.00 AM on 15th Aug 2009 and landed at Mumbai at around 10.00 AM, thus ending one of our most memorable trips.

Kenya is a beautiful country with warm and welcoming people. Africa was our dream destination and we are happy to have stepped on this amazing continent.

Click URL to see some of the unforgettable moments we photographed during the trip.

Asante Kenya!

Travel Tips:
1)Masai Mara has many gates to enter the National Park.
2)If possible book for accommodation inside park well in advance during peak season. Say 4-5months in advance.
3)It is very dry and dusty during August, so carry some moisturizing cream.
4)Carry Mosquito repellent cream(Odomos worked for us)along with regular dose of prescribed Doxycycline tab for malaria prevention.
6)Drinking water is very expensive in Kenya and more so near tourist location like safari Parks.
7)yellow Fever Vaccination is done at Mumbai International Airport, below the flyover. Weekend and Monday its hard to get appointment as lot of outstation people book in advance. So try on weekdays like Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. Early morning go and write your name in the sheet that is hanging on the door and come back at around 2PM for the vaccination. They take around 40-50 people a day. One vial is used for 10 people so if you happen to be 32nd in the list and that particular day no other person comes after you, you have to come back next day.
8)In Kenya they don't accept USD Currency printed before a particular year. (find out)
9)Review - Big Time Camp - budget,self contained tents(attached bathroom),very well maintained surroundings,mostly non-veg food. www.bigtimeholidays.com
10)Visit Masai tribes as it help in sustainable tourism. Most impotently the souvenirs they sell are not factory made and are less expensive. Bargaining is a must and it is appreciated.