Unforgettable Moments Across Kenya and Tanzania
Valerie and I want to thank you for organizing a phenomenal trip. Even though we had to miss the northern Kenya and Lamu legs, the nearly three weeks we spent there were wonderful.
Glad we had a few days in Nairobi to adjust to the time zone. Had a great guide, Solomon, who went above and beyond to show us around and help procure some specialty items for a Kenyan friend here. Staff at House of Waine were so friendly.
Loved Eric, our guide for Amboseli. His genuine excitement was contagious. Tawi Lodge was amazing! Non stop parade of animals at the watering hole. Great way to start the trip. And a monkey who stole my roll at our first lunch. Amboseli was beautiful - we encountered Craig the big tusker the first day, and while all the animals were amazing, probably the elephants, especially the mothers with babies, will most stand out in my memory. A small scare with a forest fire that flared up in the far distance toward Kilimanjaro right around sunset and the lodge staff got out their water pump to be ready. It was fast spreading but died down by morning and we never found out anything more about it.
Godfrey was our guide in Tanzania and he was awesome.
Lots of monkeys and baboons in Arusha. Seeing giraffes in the forest was such a surprise.
Ngorongoro Crater was breathtaking. (Running out of adjectives.) Our first lions. Zebras fending off a hyena. So many birds. Surprised by how cool it got at night. Crater’s Edge lodge was incredible. Couldn’t get enough of the Acacias.
Lake Natron was a great stop. Reminded us of Iceland. Didn’t expect Africa to remind us of Iceland. (And it wasn’t the last place that did.) We had a lovely Maasai guide named Sammy. Loved the waterfall hike. And the hike up the rift wall, especially being immersed with the goats and donkeys of the herders.
Surprised by how quickly the environment changed from place to place. Especially surprised to go from the desert-like environment of Natron to the green of Serengeti. Found ourselves in the middle of a pride of lions devouring a wildebeest the first day in Serengeti. Wildebeest everywhere, dead and alive. We didn’t quite see a river crossing. We learned how indecisive the wildebeest are. We watched a herd for 4 hours come down to the water, then go back up, then come back down, then go back up…Esirai Camp was very peaceful, and they had the best food of all the places we stayed. We got a short thunderstorm one night, which was nice to keep the dust down on the roads the next day.
Kicheche Valley was a great place to close out our trip. The host Minnie was so welcoming and our guide, Mikke, so knowledgeable. It was incredible to be able to go off road on the conservancy to get up close to the animals. So amazed that most of the animals are unbothered by the vehicle. So many lions. Saw a dozen lions devouring a giraffe (and its unborn baby) — got there probably 30 minutes after the kill. Not pleasant to watch but unforgettable for sure. Had an amazing scene of a cheetah walking across the plain with a herd of wildebeest tracking behind it and a jackal trotting around waiting for some action. Hippos, hyena babies, so many more birds. And the rocks!
Before we went, we couldn’t picture how a 100 mile drive could take 4 hours. The barely passable dirt roads and the village scenes along the way were quite an experience. My overriding impression is of all the people, everywhere, doing their thing.
What made the trip was how welcoming and kind all the staff at every lodge and camp were, not to mention the guides. It’s a special place.
We were also impressed by how seamless all the logistics and transfers were. Jeremey, as you said, they just make it work.
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