flowerpower

I've been working on an itinerary for (2) hopefully 2010. Amt of days are flexible, but hoping not to break the bank although we have been saving for this.
I had planned Nairobi to Ol Malo followed by 2 camps in Mara,one, Serian and the other still be be decided.
Also does anyone have any idea what the charter from Nanukyi
(Sp?) to Ol Malo would be cost- wise vs. the "air taxi" scheduled flight.

My other question is - would it be worth it to add 2 nights in Meru at Elsa's and then drive
to Ol Malo --and is that even possible? Or would I reverse that order?
I am not familiar with the terrain but I assume there aren't airports you can just go to and fly to a lodge. I am talking with several operators out of Kenya but would like a bit of knowlege before I put this on the table before them.

Or..should I skip Ol Malo and just to to Elsa's and not worry about riding a horse?
Overthinking this is giving me many sleepless nights. Any thoughts are appreciated.
Thanks
FP

Patty

I think the drive from Elsa's to Ol Malo would be fairly long. If I recall correctly, Ol Malo is in the northwestern part of Laikipia? I'm not in front of a computer right now but if you haven't already you should be able to see the various locations of Laikipia accommodations on a map on laikipia.org. Borana might be closer and has horse riding. Or El Karama has horse riding as well but is lower on the lux scale. My guess is around 4 hours drive from Elsa's to El Karama or Borana, maybe slightly longer.

Your other option would be to charter from Elsa's to the airstrip of whichever Lakipia lodge you choose. Most of them have airstrips or can use a nearby/neighboring one. I don't know the cost though. Or check with Tropic Air. I believe they have/had scheduled service to Meru and Laikipia but I don't remember the exact routing.

Patty

OK I just checked and it looks like the map may not show the locations anymore but you can see how large of an area Laikipia encompasses. Borana is close to Lewa. You can also check into flights to Lewa and accommodations there.

sandi

Nanyuki - you were close

There is no scheduled flight to Ol Malo. At minimum you could take a scheduled flight to Nanyuki and then charter to OM. Or via Tropic a charter from NBO to OM.

I too was thinking Borana for horseback riding. It's at Lewa and there is a schedule flight. And, if you want riding, no reason to forego, unless you're priced out. And, as Patty mentions there's also Karama, not as lux, but they've got horses! There are also horses at Loisaba in the same class/price as Borana or OM.

flowerpower

Thanks Patti and Sandi - you both seem to know this area well and I believe I've read some old trip reports of your travels there. I did not realize Loisaba had horses OR that each lodge has an airstrip,so I can look into those options.

Would you recommend I drop OlMalo for Elsa's and forgo riding for the surroundings, or try to do both?

TY
FP

sandi

FP -

Only you can decide whether if you want/must go horseback riding. I don't ride, so can't advise. I know Patty does, so she'd be better in that area.

Have you (or was it mentioned in your other thread) considered Ol Donyo Wuas in the Chyulu Hills/West Tsavo at www.oldonyowuas.com/ Check it out. Recently completely redone... a beauty. Besides, game viewing, there are bush walks.

Or do Elsa's/Meru and Borana/Lewa and then to the Mara.

flowerpower

Hi Sandi; I took ODW off the itinerary as my dh did not want to go south, then north, then Mara. He wanted North - to Mara.

I decided I should just head north as I really wanted to see that area and could possibly "ride" a day while there. If I don't it certainly wont affect me.

I got an email from someone on the board who had been to Ol Malo and raved about it and thought 2 areas North would be fun IF getting to them was manageable.

I just didn't know if doing both Ol Malo and Elsa's would be repetitive. I had gone back and read some reports on Elsa's and everyone raved - so of course then I had to re-think what I was doing. Thats what a rainy day of reading will do!

I probably should stick with my original plan. I'd pay for 2 nights at Elsas if it wasnt an arm and a leg to get there.

If I am already up north - Laipeka-- I was hoping I could do Meru - or vice versa. Maybe I will toss it out to tour op's and see what they come up with. I always like to get the forum's advice first!

Patty

You could certainly do both if you had the time/funds. Meru will be more of a contrast to the Mara, being a lower elevation park with riverine areas, Adamsons falls, etc. Laikipia gives you more varied activities that are generally not allowed in national parks/reserves. Both will be uncrowded. Difficult choice. I'd go with both!

flowerpower

Hi Patty,
I think I've read most of your reports!
SO, expert that I think you may be, what are the "varied activites" not allowed in parks.. seems very interesting to me, and I maybe willing to give up something to experience to experience anything out of the ordinary.

.and with that..Meru is "low" elevation;so it is below Mt Kenya??? Laipkea is ??? ( I really do not know!) Maps I see don't explain it - or maybe I don't understand them.

I wanted variety in my stay in Kenya so this may work. I'd love to go with both Meru and Laipeka; I know Meru is one of your favs..but what do you like about Laipeka? Are you familiar with Ol Malo?

I hate to even tell you what my next questions are, so I will wait til next week or so, ha ha

THANK you so much...
FP

sandi

FP -

Thanks for reminding me that we had discussed Ol Donyo Wuas and why you changed that... hard to keep up, and it's not even my safari.

Everything is "lower" than Mt. Kenya's peak
Elevations range from about 1,000' to 5,500' where the lower tend to have warmer temps. The higher up, will find the nights/mornings will be colder than just cool at the lower. To me, it hasn't much mattered.

Another place for horseback riding would be at Lake Naivasha, i.e., Loldia House (a Governor's property), where the many properties in the area offer bike riding, tennis, riding, etc. and rates are likely to be less than Ol Malo or Borana. I know, too many choices... ugh!

Can only imagine what your next questions will be... ha! ha! But, bring them on.

flowerpower

OK...next ?, here goes

After I decide NORTH (Ol Malo, Elsas or BOTH if I can)

I will be in Mara - Serian for sure (though it looks like I change my mind a lot - there are simply too many choices) but so far Serian for the private vehicle. That would be 3 or 4 nights- so added to North (3-4 nights), I still have couple nights to spend in Mara and was wondering what you all thought of going to "Cottars" - after seeing it in a photo shoot lately I thought - wow, really an "Out of Africa" experience. I do remember, Sandi went and saw some game but i am thinking Sept - near Tanzania border - perhaps more game in September?
Not much reporting here on that property.
Even if the game is not as plentiful it would be a unique way to end the trip.

Clearly open for suggestions! Do I add Elsa's (does it take a charter to get to and from Ol Malo?)
and what do you think of ending with Cottars- are they charter only or have scheduled flights?

Thanks all...this is it!
FP

joeyi

Elsa's is a really great place and if you can add 2 nights there I sure would. Ol Malo has always looked wonderful to me but never could work it into our budget.
At some point you just have to realize you can't do it all in 2 weeks and have to decide what is really important to you. It's really hard when you have never been to Kenya before and I remember going through the same as you are going through now. Our first trip was in 2006 and we did a lot of camps in 3 weeks. We did our second trip last month visited fewer camps in 2 weeks. I do think the more time you can spend in one place is better as travel time between camps can be a lot, even with flying between camps.
I am sorry I can not give any comments on Cottars as I do not know anything about it. We stayed at Olonano in the Mara and that is a very nice tented camp. Right on the mara and not many tents.

Joyce

flowerpower

Joyce, Oh How Iknow..I do want to do it all esp.after I read or see something and think "I can't miss that!"

I need a huge bankroll in my future!

Thanks for making me feel a bit better.,
FP

Patty

Meru is located at an elevation of 2000-3000 ft. Much of Laikipia and the Mara are between 5000-6000 ft.

You can take a scheduled flight from Nairobi to Meru on Air Kenya, but to/from Ol Malo you'd need to charter. I'm not familiar with Ol Malo, but some of the activities you can do generally in this area that are more restricted in national parks/reserves would be night game drives, horse riding, walking safaris, etc. When we stayed at Elsa's they talked about trying to get permission to extend their game drives until 8:00pm. I don't know if anything ever came of that. You could inquire if that interests you. You see different nocturnal species after dark though sometimes you may not see much at all either, it's a gamble. Walking and horse safaris give you a different perspective of the game and walks especially may focus on aspects you may miss from a vehicle.

There are 7-8 airstrips regularly used in the Mara and even if you can't fly directly out of Cottars, you should be able to fly from Keekorok airstrip in the southeast part of the reserve. I'm not sure of the exact drive time between Cottars and Keekorok. Sandi might know. It will be a fairly long and possibly expensive transfer from Serian to Cottars though.

Have you thought about splitting your stay between Serian main and mobile camps? I believe their mobile would be set up in the reserve. Those that have done the split can better advise but I just thought it might work well logistics wise.

flowerpower

Patty,the tour ops I have contacted all have me flying into Loisaba and being driven to OLMalo. No One has told me how LONG that drive is!
A guest who stayed at OM told me I should take the charter so I needto look into that.
and I guess I will keep Cottars for another time.

Apparently Kenya is not once in a lifetime,so I'll get back-thats for all the info!

FP

sandi

FP -

<i>even if you can't fly directly out of Cottars, you should be able to fly from Keekorok airstrip in the southeast part of the reserve. I'm not sure of the exact drive time between Cottars and Keekorok. Sandi might know. It will be a fairly long and possibly expensive transfer from Serian to Cottars though.</i>

From Serian it would be a road transfer to Cottars at a cost of about $360 one-way. There are no air transfers from one airstrip to another, unless you wish to arrange a charter flight between the two. Drive time without game viewing along the way can take close to 4/hrs. Leaving from Cottar's you can take a charter flight from their airstrip to Nairobi OR a road transfer (fee about $120/vehicle) to Keekorok airstrip for the scheduled flight to Nairobi. Drive time from Cottar's to Keekorok w/o game viewing is about 1.5/hrs.