Kenya Feb 2006 - Cottars
Mar 5th, 2006, 02:55 PM
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Kenya Feb 2006 - Cottars
Just got back from, a short trip to Kenya. After a family safari (with the kids) in August 2005 with perhaps the best sightings we’ve ever had, my wife and I opted for luxury and wilderness with 5 nights at Cottars 1920’s camp (near the Mara) and a night at Giraffe Manor. Having had so many wonderful cat sightings last year we wanted to focus on walks and nights drives.
I’ve put some photos onto the Kodak share site reference http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=...&y=-lm5iz9
Whilst we missed leopard and cheetah, I have never seen so many lion. It was also unusual to see so many wildebeest still in the Mara at this time of year with many having of the females already having given birth. However, the biggest surprise was that, after many safaris, we saw a number of very rare animals – some of which were, for us, for the first time. In particular, the unusual animals included leopard shell tortoise, lesser bushbaby, bohors reedbuck, oribi, steenbok, genet cat (not in a camp or lodge !), zorilla, porcupine, naked mole rats, black tipped and white tailed mongooses, black rhino and rarest of all a pangolin in broad daylight – see photos !
The biggest highlight however was one of the game walks we had inside the reserve near the Sand River - strictly forbidden but the remoteness was such that there was as much likelihood of stumbling across a ranger as finding a tiger … We were watching a herd of around 500 buffalo when Nick, our guide, suddenly told us we were going for a walk…He tested the wind direction, made sure we were downwind (or is it upwind – anyway, the direction form which they couldn’t smell us !) and proceed to walk round them and up to within 20 yards of them. In all my years of safari, perhaps the most exhilarating experience yet ! By comparison the walks near the camp were tame as most of the game had moved away because of the drought (see below)
Whilst Cottars was nice, given the amount we paid (approx $1,000 per tent per night) I have to say that it did not meet expectations. Part of this may not down to them as the drought (which ended a day after we arrived – the weather gods must have heard that the Brits were coming and knew we love rain !) had resulted in A LOT of cattle invading the concession. This had the effect of driving the wildlife away from the camp and deeper into the reserve. As a result, we had to drive the best part of an hour to get into good game areas. Given the detrimental impact on the game around camp, I’m not sure whether or not they should have made a bigger effort to minimize the cattle impact…
The good things about Cottars were :
- superb tents - see from the photos; I can’t believe any other camp anywhere has bigger tents
- great views
- absolute privacy – at all our sighting we were the sole vehicle
- friendly staff
- good guides – Nick Cowell in particular was a superb guide and host
- Interesting night drives
The less good things…
- food average at best – we had much better food at Intrepids a couple of years ago at less than half the price
- tent butler non existent except first thing in morning and last thing at night
- small things missing, e.g. no hot towels after game drives and had to request snacks with drinks (except pre dinner canapés)
- poor vehicle maintenance – we had four punctures in two days which were down to poor tyre repair (same wheel each time).
- poor game density (and cattle – dead and alive) around camp
- false rumours about a swimming pool
- Calvin Cottar only makes rare appearances – didn’t bother us as Nick was an excellent host but may annoy others. I’m pretty sure he’s only in camp when someone pays the $450 per day for his services...
Overall I would say that Cottars was nice but did not have the “Wow factor” that I was expecting – maybe my expectation were too high ? I spoke to some other guests there who enjoyed the camp but also said that Mara Explorer was better and around 20% cheaper. For me, Cottars should have been priced at $300pppn as opposed to $500pppn.
When we returned from the Mara we spent a night at Giraffe Manor in Nairobi. As with Cottars, it was nice but did not really justify the cost. I think a number of top Kenyan establishments are relying a bit too much on the ‘Out of Africa’ experience. Whilst the food was better than Cottars (and it was great feeding the giraffes), they could have done a lot better. The rains had truly arrived by the time we got to Nairobi and it was fun going into the cheetah enclosure at the Animal Orphanage.
In summary, a fun trip but not our best safari. We booked through a Nairobi travel agent called Gamewatchers (who own the Porini camps) who had good rates and were excellent – I would thoroughly recommend them. Cottars and Giraffe Manor a bit disappointing – next time we will save some money and go to Intrepids / Explorers. Unless of course, you want to walk through a herd of buffalo …
Phil
I’ve put some photos onto the Kodak share site reference http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=...&y=-lm5iz9
Whilst we missed leopard and cheetah, I have never seen so many lion. It was also unusual to see so many wildebeest still in the Mara at this time of year with many having of the females already having given birth. However, the biggest surprise was that, after many safaris, we saw a number of very rare animals – some of which were, for us, for the first time. In particular, the unusual animals included leopard shell tortoise, lesser bushbaby, bohors reedbuck, oribi, steenbok, genet cat (not in a camp or lodge !), zorilla, porcupine, naked mole rats, black tipped and white tailed mongooses, black rhino and rarest of all a pangolin in broad daylight – see photos !
The biggest highlight however was one of the game walks we had inside the reserve near the Sand River - strictly forbidden but the remoteness was such that there was as much likelihood of stumbling across a ranger as finding a tiger … We were watching a herd of around 500 buffalo when Nick, our guide, suddenly told us we were going for a walk…He tested the wind direction, made sure we were downwind (or is it upwind – anyway, the direction form which they couldn’t smell us !) and proceed to walk round them and up to within 20 yards of them. In all my years of safari, perhaps the most exhilarating experience yet ! By comparison the walks near the camp were tame as most of the game had moved away because of the drought (see below)
Whilst Cottars was nice, given the amount we paid (approx $1,000 per tent per night) I have to say that it did not meet expectations. Part of this may not down to them as the drought (which ended a day after we arrived – the weather gods must have heard that the Brits were coming and knew we love rain !) had resulted in A LOT of cattle invading the concession. This had the effect of driving the wildlife away from the camp and deeper into the reserve. As a result, we had to drive the best part of an hour to get into good game areas. Given the detrimental impact on the game around camp, I’m not sure whether or not they should have made a bigger effort to minimize the cattle impact…
The good things about Cottars were :
- superb tents - see from the photos; I can’t believe any other camp anywhere has bigger tents
- great views
- absolute privacy – at all our sighting we were the sole vehicle
- friendly staff
- good guides – Nick Cowell in particular was a superb guide and host
- Interesting night drives
The less good things…
- food average at best – we had much better food at Intrepids a couple of years ago at less than half the price
- tent butler non existent except first thing in morning and last thing at night
- small things missing, e.g. no hot towels after game drives and had to request snacks with drinks (except pre dinner canapés)
- poor vehicle maintenance – we had four punctures in two days which were down to poor tyre repair (same wheel each time).
- poor game density (and cattle – dead and alive) around camp
- false rumours about a swimming pool
- Calvin Cottar only makes rare appearances – didn’t bother us as Nick was an excellent host but may annoy others. I’m pretty sure he’s only in camp when someone pays the $450 per day for his services...
Overall I would say that Cottars was nice but did not have the “Wow factor” that I was expecting – maybe my expectation were too high ? I spoke to some other guests there who enjoyed the camp but also said that Mara Explorer was better and around 20% cheaper. For me, Cottars should have been priced at $300pppn as opposed to $500pppn.
When we returned from the Mara we spent a night at Giraffe Manor in Nairobi. As with Cottars, it was nice but did not really justify the cost. I think a number of top Kenyan establishments are relying a bit too much on the ‘Out of Africa’ experience. Whilst the food was better than Cottars (and it was great feeding the giraffes), they could have done a lot better. The rains had truly arrived by the time we got to Nairobi and it was fun going into the cheetah enclosure at the Animal Orphanage.
In summary, a fun trip but not our best safari. We booked through a Nairobi travel agent called Gamewatchers (who own the Porini camps) who had good rates and were excellent – I would thoroughly recommend them. Cottars and Giraffe Manor a bit disappointing – next time we will save some money and go to Intrepids / Explorers. Unless of course, you want to walk through a herd of buffalo …
Phil
Mar 6th, 2006, 05:34 AM
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Thanks for the photos, especially the pangolin, which remains on the very top of my "wish list." Did you get any photos of the porcupine, zorilla, mole rats, etc.?
Its nice to see rhino in the Masai Mara. Do you have any idea on numbers in the Mara/Serengeti area?
Michael
Its nice to see rhino in the Masai Mara. Do you have any idea on numbers in the Mara/Serengeti area?
Michael
Mar 6th, 2006, 05:58 AM
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Great photos again Phil - the last one of the pangolin is fantastic and that lion really is very handsome. Thanks for the detailed report... lots of good information in there to store for a not-so-rainy-day - speaking of which it was nice to see the evidence of rain, although the cheetahs didn't look overly impressed by it.
Mar 6th, 2006, 08:20 AM
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Phil,
Thanks for sharing your photos - especially the pangolin in broad daylight! I really liked the lions and elephants, and the lion/elephant interaction. I thought cheetahs were “unavoidable” in the Mara and that rhinos were not. Nice to see a rhino! The buffalo walk sounds just like what I would like to do. It’s so good there is some rain.
Karibu nyumbani.
Thanks for sharing your photos - especially the pangolin in broad daylight! I really liked the lions and elephants, and the lion/elephant interaction. I thought cheetahs were “unavoidable” in the Mara and that rhinos were not. Nice to see a rhino! The buffalo walk sounds just like what I would like to do. It’s so good there is some rain.
Karibu nyumbani.
Mar 6th, 2006, 11:07 AM
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Thanks for the kind comments.
Michael : no pictures of the mole rats (too fast for my photography skills !) or the porcupine and zorilla (too dark !). I think the rhino population is very slowly improving in the Mara. We were told they now have 30 rhino as opposed to 15 a couple of years ago. I'm not sure about the numbers in Serengeti but think they are even rarer there ...
I think we were a bit unlucky with Cheetah - another couple of guests saw a mother cheetah dragging a kill to her two waiting cubs only 10 minutes from the airstrip on their first EVER safari drive ! Saying that, I think the massive lion population in the Mara may be having a detrimental impact on cheetah as when we were at the Serena last August we only had one (admittedly exceptional) sighting in five days.
Michael : no pictures of the mole rats (too fast for my photography skills !) or the porcupine and zorilla (too dark !). I think the rhino population is very slowly improving in the Mara. We were told they now have 30 rhino as opposed to 15 a couple of years ago. I'm not sure about the numbers in Serengeti but think they are even rarer there ...
I think we were a bit unlucky with Cheetah - another couple of guests saw a mother cheetah dragging a kill to her two waiting cubs only 10 minutes from the airstrip on their first EVER safari drive ! Saying that, I think the massive lion population in the Mara may be having a detrimental impact on cheetah as when we were at the Serena last August we only had one (admittedly exceptional) sighting in five days.
Mar 20th, 2006, 12:33 AM
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Fabulous photos Phil and a GREAT trip report. I now have one more thing to add to my 'want to do's' in Nairobi!!!! I just HAVE TO see those Cheetahs! Is it normal that you can interact with them like that?? ie pose for photos?? Any other animals there that you can do that with??
Mar 20th, 2006, 01:15 AM
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philw,
A great report with many lovely shots. You certainly saw a variety of interesting animals and the pangolin is one that I've never heard of or seen before. Thanks for sharing your trip and photos.
A great report with many lovely shots. You certainly saw a variety of interesting animals and the pangolin is one that I've never heard of or seen before. Thanks for sharing your trip and photos.
Mar 21st, 2006, 06:51 AM
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Hi philw
In January we visited the animal orphanage and had the chance to interact with the cheetahs. Did the cheetah purr when you touched him? While I was petting one, he started to purr - very loudly I might add - it was really special!
Thanks again for your report and photos.
In January we visited the animal orphanage and had the chance to interact with the cheetahs. Did the cheetah purr when you touched him? While I was petting one, he started to purr - very loudly I might add - it was really special!
Thanks again for your report and photos.
Mar 21st, 2006, 02:41 PM
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Yes the cheetahs at the orphanage did they did purr !
So far as I ama aware , you can only do this with the cheetah (as oppsoed to the lions) as they have been at the orphanage since they were a few days old. We were allowed in because our driver (from Giarffe Manor) knew one of the keepers well... I suspect he is not the only driver to be in this position and am sure they have a good tip sharing arrangement ! Certainly, if you go at a quiet time there is a better chnace they will let you in with them.
Phil
So far as I ama aware , you can only do this with the cheetah (as oppsoed to the lions) as they have been at the orphanage since they were a few days old. We were allowed in because our driver (from Giarffe Manor) knew one of the keepers well... I suspect he is not the only driver to be in this position and am sure they have a good tip sharing arrangement ! Certainly, if you go at a quiet time there is a better chnace they will let you in with them.
Phil
Mar 22nd, 2006, 02:04 AM
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I don't know how I missed this but I'm with Michael - WOW on the pangolin - great photos of it too - you can even see his tiny eye!!!
It's one of the very top things on my wish list too!
Thanks for the report too!
It's one of the very top things on my wish list too!
Thanks for the report too!
