Afternoon!

We’re coming to the end of our placements in Ethiopia, and have booked myself and my fiancée on a flight to Nairobi in search of wildlife…

Any recommendations for Safari’s- want something plush-ish to round out our time in Africa…

Cheers all!

P

Are you going now? The Maasia Mara season is a bit early I would say (best in August when the migration is in full swing). But there is a huge game reserve near Lake Nakuru so you can see all the animals there but it isn’t quite the same as seeing them truly wild I didn’t think.

A cup of tea at Lake Nakuru

There is also Lake Naivasha where you can do walking safaris (it is also where they filmed Out of Africa)

If you do the Mara, make sure you get a Land Rover and NOT a minibus – they can get to more difficult spots and also you get better views and are less likely to be stuck in an inside seat.

The Governer’s Camps in the Mara are good but expensive – avoid the main camp (to big an impersonal) – go for Little Governor’s or (if you can afford it) Il Moran…

Not till June- flight is booked for the 17th.

I’m returning to the UK in August, so cannot make it then.

I’m sure you’re probably African streetwise by now but be careful, it’s not known as Nairobbery for nowt. I had a couple of con-artists try and pull fast ones on me during a short stay.

Agree re Nairobi – given that Kenya is so ‘touristy’, Nairobi is still a very rough place and certainly not a place to go for a walk around by yourself (even in the daytime in many districts).

Cheers chaps…

As you say, I’m probably quite African streetwise by now.

Still didn’t prepare me for being involved in an attempted boat hijacking on Sunday though! I decided I do not like being shot at. :o(

I have a few friends in Nairobi who will look after me!

P

Oops.

When we went we did not go on an organised tour but did our own thing. Hired a 4wd and booked a few nights in the game parks – Tsavo mainly IIRC.

As a result we didn’t see any big cats as we found it hard to find where they were, but we had the freedom to wonder about and do our own thing which personally I really enjoyed. Find a spot you like – stay there a while. Wonder whats over there / down that track – follow it

It need not be particularly expensive to do this.

Cheers Jeremy – I think we are looking for a more pampered option.

And I don’t think I have my driving license with me either…

:o)

We were still staying in the same places in the reserves – just with the freedom to do our own thing in the day.

Sato campsite is cool, although might be a bit busy. Ol Tukai logde is good, watching herd of elephant go by against the back drop of Kili. Camp Porini (amboseli) was amazing, although we were the first to go when it opened and had the campsite to ourselves.

I’ve not been there in the last 10 years or so, and when i did go last i was cycling through so pretty much slept where i dropped kind of thing. Doubt much has changed, except the coastal areas have got alot more tourist focused.

I went to the masai mara a couple of years ago, my thoughts are

you only need 3 days on safari, after that you’ll be bored of seeing zebras

you can get a good deal just by walking round the area of nairobi where all the companies are booked. expect to pay about £90/day, including park fees (which are about £50/day).

the lakes are nice for a day or 2, they have some rhinos there, and you can go on a bicycle safari!

I felt absolutely fine walking round nairobi during the day. didn’t spend more than 6 hours there in 2 seperate ‘goes’ though.

The train to mombassa is nice, and there are some really nice places on the coast, lots of diving and dolphins

You can see my Hut from here by 5lab, on Flickr

Invisible hurdles by 5lab, on Flickr

Don’t often see that on a Ride by 5lab, on Flickr

Aye, 5lab the “lunatic line” is a good trip. The missus and i were sitting on the platform waiting for the train that had been delayed 10 hours, both of us feeling under the weather and miserable as sin. We were just about to give it up, and for some bizzare reason Lionel Ritchie “All night long” played over the tannoy speakers. Lifted our spririts no end.

As a result we didn’t see any big cats as we found it hard to find where they were

A bit late now but look for vultures and you will soon find cats/kills.

you only need 3 days on safari, after that you’ll be bored of seeing zebras

I entirely disagree – we stayed a week and loved every single minute of it. We spent our second week in Mombasa lounging on the beach but all I wanted to do was go back on safari. Each to their own I guess.

I also totally disagree that you “only need 3 days” – having lived in Tanzania for a few years… And if you’re only seeing Zebra’s then you’re missing a hell of a lot of Africa…

I’d recommend these guys: Hoopoe Safaris They are mostly based in Tanzania these days, but Peter who runs it is one of the most knowledgeable people you’ll meet in East Africa when it comes to wildlife – so all his guides are excellent… I went with them around Tanzania on a bespoke trip when my folks came to visit – absolutely excellent and well worth paying extra compared to running round Nairoberry trying to get a “good” deal.

30 years since I went back as an 11 year old but Treetops was an experience, and the wildebeest were migrating through the Mara – the smell of the lion kills was unplesant!

I’ve been told you need to be a bit more careful/sensible when travelling around there nowadays, but probably not as bad as some would make out

Jeremy speaks sense, we hired a landy and made our own way around Lake Nakuru! It was awesome seeing all the rich tourists waiting around for there busses to be shipped around for a limited amount of time on a set route while we did as we pleased! Can’t recommend it enough! Managed to spot a leopard aswell!

Oh and in ’05 we were told not to walk around at night in Nairobi, not even between bars. Dunno what it’s like now? We had no trouble tho and were getting ruined on nights out!

But Nakuru is little more than a safari park – going wild in the Mara is where it would be fun.

Congratulations Paul! Lovely news. 😀

We went to the Intrepids Camp in the Mara (next to the Governors landing strip) in 2009. It was absolutely brilliant. ‘Tents’ had tiled showers and his and her sinks with four poster beds. We saw a crazy amount of wildlife in the four days we were there – 50+ birds and 30+ species of animals. I could haved happily stayed there for weeks.