nanciej

Hi all
We have decided to try to arrange a 50th birthday trip to Kenya next June (first 2 weeks) We have been to Tanzania, SA, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe, but never Kenya. I have not even had much chance to research and time is important as we are trying to book flights with points, which seem to, miraculously, be available. We may have around 14-16 days...and will likely book with &beyond given how well they have taken care of us in the past.

Am thinking 3 nights Nairobi-both the Sheldrick foundation and giraffe centre are of interest so thought 2 days would be good.

Then the parks I know i want to see are:
4 days masai mara-likely Kitchwa Tembo as they have a good deal on.
3 days Amboseli. Not sure where

Is it easy to fly between parks as it is in the Bota, SA and Tanzania?

wild cards are:
Aberdare - bongo antelope and black leopard?
Lewa - Grevy's zebra
Laikapia



But am looking for suggestions. Photography is the principal motive and I like getting close to things! Also, different experiences and animals as we have been blessed with spending 10 weeks last year and 3 in 2007 so have seen quite a lot at previous destinations.

Lastly, I can't quite keep up with the drought/flood concerns and safety in Kenya. I hear a mix of "stay away/go".

thanks for your thoughts.

Patty

You can find flight schedules at www.airkenya.com and www.safarilink.com. To fly between Amboseli and the Mara, you'll connect in Nairobi and you need to fly Amboseli-Nairobi-Mara as the schedule doesn't work the other way around.

I personally love Aberdare NP and its forest landscape but you'd have to be extremely lucky to see a bongo or melanistic leopard. I believe the nearest airstrip is Mweiga but there are no scheduled flights (you can charter). Drive time from Nairobi is about 3 hours.

Lewa is a private conservancy in the Laikipia region. There are many private ranches and reserves in this area www.laikipia.org. I haven't been to Lewa but have stayed in other parts of Laikipia. Good game viewing with "northern" species such as Grevy's zebra, reticulated giraffe, etc. Lewa does have the advantage of having scheduled flights whereas some of the other Laikipia areas require charters.

Good luck with your planning!

twaffle

Nanciej, sounds like a great plan. I spent my 50th at Lewa last year and it was fantastic. It would work extremely well with the Mara as the species you will see there are quite different. I have also been there in June (in a previous visit) and it was an excellent time. You will see lots of rhinos (black & white), they have interesting community programmes which you can visit if interested, or visit the offices to chat to the people running them. Plenty of reticulated giraffe and masses of Grevy's zebra (one of the largest remaining populations) as well as predators and other plains game. Highly recommend it.
I have also stayed at KT in June and we had a great time. It was fairly quiet and we had our own driver/guide so don't know what their guides are like but we had lots of fantastic game viewing. Haven't been to Amboseli for many years so can't comment.
I think the rains have arrived, at least in the Mara and Laikipia regions but don't know about other areas. I wouldn't think security would be an issue at either location.

Kazuri beads in Karen would also be a good place to visit during your 2 day Nairobi visit.

As Patty has said, chances of seeing Bongo in the wild are extremely unlikely, sadly, however, Aberdares NP has plenty to interest a visitor even without a bongo sighting.

nanciej

Thanks. Just to clarify, Lewa is part of Laikapia? So if I went to Lewa I've been to Laikapika, sort of speak? ;-) I don't want to spend long hours driving so thanks for the info about where I can fly and where I can't. If we have to drive to Aberdare, then we also drive "from" to the next spot. It looks like it would be a good drive to the Laikapia plateau from there? anything else I should be considering?

thanks again.
nj

Patty

Yes, Lewa is in Laikipia which encompasses a very large region.

My guess is the drive from Aberdare NP to Lewa would take about 3-4 hours. Including the Aberdares would also give you good diversity with species such as forest hog, colobus and Skyes monkeys, etc. even if you don't see bongo or leopard.

atravelynn

One more Lewa vote. Happy Birthday!

joeyi

and another bot to include Abedare NP. It's one of my favorite, besides the different animals the terrain and vegetation is interesting and there are some nice waterfalls.

nanciej

Ok, good feedback! So, it's a question of order and how many nights. Tentative dates are may 31 to June 16.
Nairobi 2 (or 3)
Amboseli 3
kitchwa tembo 4 ( pay for 3 plus free flight from Nairobi)
aberdare 3
Lewa 3

can we fly from lewa to Nairobi on the last day?

How does this sound? Next I need to figure out lodges!! Prefer small but notice alotod Kenya are large. We've been spoiled staying at many 8-12 unit camps.

Thanks-this has all been very helpful!!

joeyi

2 nights would be more than enough in Nairobi. The time you are allowed at Sheldrick's is very limited. The Giraffe Center is very close by so you can easily do both of those in the same day. The other stays sound good. Kenya has many small camps too. You might want to say what your budget is and then I'm sure people would make lodging suggestion. The pricing can get rather high for some of the really deluxe small camps.

I'm not an expert on the internal flights but i'm sure someone will come back to you on that info.

Patty

Yes, you can fly back to Nairobi from Lewa (assuming you have a late flight out of Nairobi).

For smaller accommodation in Amboseli, try Tortilis (a Cheli Peacock camp) or north of Amboseli on the private Selenkay conservancy is Porini camp operated by Gamewatchers Safaris which gets good reviews here (they also operate other small camps in the Mara and on Ol Pejeta conservancy). There's also Satao Elerai outside of the park to the east operated by Southern Cross Safaris, another operator that's been recommended here.

Patty

Posted too soon.

There are lots of camps in the Mara smaller than KT. &Beyond's own Bateleur camp, as mentioned earlier the Porini camps (Porini Lion and Mara), Kicheche camps (Bush and Mara), Serian, Olonana. These like KT are all outside the reserve. Many small camps inside the reserve as well.

Lewa has Lewa Safari Camp, Sirikoi and Lewa Wilderness.

Aberdare NP doesn't have a lot of choices. The Ark is a night viewing lodge and KWS operates some self catering accommodations (your tour operator can provide a cook and provisions) but they're rustic. Outside of the park, Petra Allmendinger runs a farmstay type place called Sandai which is closeby and you could also visit Solio reserve (a private reserve for rhino breeding but there is also other game) from here.

sandi

As others, 2/nts NBO is sufficient. The nt of arrival; next day you can visit Sheldrick, Giraffe Center, Blixen Museum, Kazuri Beads and Utamaduni,, then head out.

You can check Cheli & Peacock who has some very good "specials" for extended stays at some of their properties (4/nts, pay for 3) or a combo of their properties for 6+/nts discounts of 15% or more. Even coastal properties if looking for R&R after bumping around on safari.

C&P's portfolio includes: camp at Amboseli (Tortilis), at Lewa (Lewa Safari Camp), in the Mara (Saruni, Elephant Pepper, Cottar's)
Instead of Amboseli, consider Samburu... many choices here, but the C&P prop would be Saruni/Kalama.
In the Laikipia area there is Ol Pejeta Bush Camp, Sabuk, Loisaba.

You can go direct to C&P, but would do better using an agent who receives even better prices.

May is still low-season, while June at most properties is mid-season rates. So you can get a good deal.

nanciej

Again, thanks all. Ambroseli for me is mostly about the elephants and the views. Have not read much about Samburu but will take a look. Any highlights to k ow about?

Budget? I always do these things backwards and then panic! ;-)

was looking at Tortillos last night. Trying to find rates .

Tks!

Patty

Normally I'd recommend Samburu over Amboseli but since you're also going to Lewa, I think it's a toss up. I think you'll see many of the same species at Lewa that you'd see in Samburu plus Lewa has rhino. Both Samburu and Amboseli can have high elephant concentrations.

If you're really interested in elephants and the work by the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, they maintain a self catering camp at Ithumba which is in the northern part of Tsavo East and one of their 2 release sites (the other is Voi in the southern part of Tsavo East). You could see and interact with the older dependent orphans and would likely encounter the independent orphans as well as wild elephants here. It would be a completely private experience as the camp is booed exclusively by one party at a time. The only issue is getting here which requires either a charter flight or a 7 hour drive from Nairobi.

C&P used to have an availability calendar on their site with rack rates which was really helpful but it looks like they don't have it on the new website. Does anyone know if it's still accessible?

sandi

On the Cheli & Peacock Availability Calendar, there are "rack" rates shown*. Column next to name of property (for before calendar dates). These are per room/tent, not per person. I'm not sure whether room/tent rates change per season when you update the calendar. Just tried and it bombed on my

*not sure whether these include daily park/conservation fees

For Tortilis, my records show rack @ $400/person/nt in June; $485/person/nt Jul-Oct. Laundry, soda, beer and house wines included. Plus daily park/conservation fees $80/person.

nanciej

Sandi-I will try it and see if my computer survives. ;-) That ballpark is about right for me so hopefully nothing changes to much.

thanks
nj

nanciej

I survived the calendar. Tortillo is showing at $960USD nxt June! Lewa is fully booked 6-15 june-must be a special group as every other day in june is wide open. They are $1000 USD
Those are high for June 1-15 based on other places showing low season rates. I would hate to see their high season rates.

Patty

The rates do change when you change the calendar dates and I believe park/conservation fees are not included.

http://chelipeacock.us.resrequest.com/index.php

Patty

If Tortilis is showing $960, then maybe they do include fees now. I had thought it was just the room/tent rate at one point.

nanciej

Ahhh...I thought they were pp rates and now see they are per room. normal breathing has resumed... ;-)