When we went in September, eles were still present, certainly we saw many of them in the conservancy, we stayed at Serian. And actually, what am I thinking, we saw a lot in the Mara too, a large herd came right to the mobile camp...

Wonderful to hear you guys are heading back to Africa! As for no eles in the Mara in Aug/Sep/Oct, I seem to remember a few outside our tent one night! You just never know... Outside the Mara, I'd say Amboseli would be your best bet. It's possible to do a road transfer there from Nairobi, which might cut down on costs.

Have seen elephants in the Mara in June/July, also Amboseli, which really isn't all that far by road from Nbo. I agree with you, how can you come to Africa and not see eles? Good luck!

Hi Sundowner,

We've been to Kenya a couple of times in June and have always had good elephant sightings in the Mara triangle and in the central section of the Mara (Governor's area). I agree with Geetika - we saw tons of elephants in Amboseli (pun intended). Have a great trip and don't forget to post some pictures and a report when you get back!

I replied to this at lunch time - I wonder where the post went??

Sharon, yes we had eles and buffalo and hippos at our tent (almost in it!)! What month were we there? I can't remember. I know there weren't many eles in the Mara in Sep11 or when we were there in 09. Jim & Gus are going with a bunch of friends on a guys trip so Katie and I are doing a trip, too.

Kavey, I have seen elephants in the Mara in those months but only a small number compared to what I saw in February but I've never been in June.

The mgr at Gov said - they could still be around in June, but maybe not because they tend to disappear when the crowds of Wildebeest come in from the Serengeti. My guide, Samuel, also told me the elephants don't like the wildebeest so they leave.

I guess it all depends on the wildebeest. Flip a coin - heads they will be there and tails they won't. Do I gamble or make a plan to be sure to see them elsewhere. Decisions, decisions....

Sundowner, we were at Governors September 25 - 28, 2009. Perhaps we were just lucky, since the Migration herds were all around the camp. Amboseli is known for being the best place in Africa to see elephants, so I think it would be your best choice in Kenya. Cynthia Moss' elephant research is conducted there. www.elephanttrust.org. From Amboseli, you "should" have some nice views of Mt. Kili, too, although clouds sometimes obscure the view.

I've been often in May and June and always saw lots of ellees. Whether I've been in the Reserve or Triangle areas and also on the private conservancies.

Even if the wildebeest arrive early, they're rarely that far north in the Reserve, so shouldn't sway the ellees from being around.

The Main Governor's Camp 'rack rate' in June is $385/ppnt + $80/ppnt in park fees. An agent should be able to knock maybe $40/ppnt off the rack rate.

Of course, for ellees there is always Amboseli in the south or Samburu in the north, with the latter also having species not found elsewhere. However, the travel time to Samburu by road is almost 6/hrs and difficult to split with the Mara without a flight between the two. As to splitting the Mara with Amboseli, the transfer between the two is also rather long if you do not fly. By road, it's not even recommended to drive from Amboseli to the Mara in one day... also way too long.

Still, as everyone who has been more than once... there is no guarantee of particular game sightings from day-to-day, hour-to-hour and exactly where. They're always on the move.

I can assure everyone, there are elephants in the Mara at *all* times of the year! They don't migrate. I think you'd be very extremely unlucky (<5%) not to see any at all.

I was in the Naboisho conservancy last month - there were hundreds of elephants right across the area and we came across large herds several times over the space of three days.

Richard

@sundowner - Noticed your comment "I know there weren't many eles in the Mara in Sep11" - what area were you in? I was in the Mara Triangle area 9-25 Sept 11 and it was the most concentration of ellies all over that I have ever seen since visiting this area for the past nine years. I was in absolute heaven seeing all those beautiful creatures. Hope you get to see tons--lol on your safari.

I didn't mean for people to think there weren't ANY elephants.

I was at Governor's Sept 18-23, 2011 and September 25-28, 2009 and at LG for 5 nights in mid Feb, 2007. February was the only time I saw what I thought was a large number of elephants.

In both September trips I saw what I consider a small number of elephants. Maybe they were avoiding me? In February they were everywhere. In September there would be a few here and there. Definitely not enough.

There are lots of elephants in Tsavo. And I've only flown over, but seemed like there were buckets of 'em in Amboseli.

I'll be in Kenya in early June, so we'll miss each other. Have great trip!

Elephants have rarely been scarce anywhere, sometimes more/less, but hey... they go where they wish/when.

No two days or visits are ever the same, but ellees have never been an issue. Rather the leopards or cheetah, and even some visits, lion. You take Afree-kah, day-to-day, visit-to-visit.

Hey Leely, June... we might be able meet up again. Get in touch!

Sandi, I will. Haven't narrowed down dates/places yet, but it's definitely beginning of June! Hope to bend elbows in Nairobi again.

Leely, where all are you going?

Here is the itinerary I'm looking at. Sandy, Sharon, Leely, anyone - comments? Is it too long at Amboseli? I just don't know. I hate trip planning.

Day 1 - Nairobi
On arrival transfer from JKIA to your hotel.
Overnight at southern sun Mayfair on Bed and breakfast.

Day 2 - Amboseli
Depart Nairobi and drive south to Selenkay Conservation Area (a 4 hour journey of 102 miles), arriving at Porini Camp before lunch. Following afternoon tea, you will be escorted on a walk by Maasai warriors to a village to get an insight into their fascinating culture and way of life. Return to camp for a shower, dinner and overnight. Do I want to ask about game drive instead of village visit?

Day 3 - Amboseli
Awake to the noisy calls of the birds. After an early breakfast, we drive through the bush on our private track into Amboseli National Park, for a full morning of game viewing. Following a picnic lunch in the park, we return to Porini Camp later in the afternoon. In the evening you will go on a game drive in Selenkay Conservancy, stopping for a sundowner at a scenic viewpoint, followed by a night game drive to look for nocturnal animals such as aardvarks, serval cats, caracals, bat-eared foxes, African wild cats, and other species. Return to camp for dinner and overnight.

Day 4- - Amboseli
Awake to the natural sounds and calls of the local birdlife
Game drive within the Selenkay conservancy.

Day 5 – Masai Mara – Ol kinyei conservancy
Awake to the natural sounds and calls of the local birdlife. After breakfast transfer by road to Nairobi for lunch at the famous Carnivore Restaurent. Then transfer to Wilson Airport for the afternoon flight to the Mara, arriving around 15,45.
Transfer to Mara Porini Camp. Afternoon game drive, followed by a sundowner and night game drive on the way back to Camp. Dinner and overnight Mara Porini Camp.

Day 6 - Masai Mara – Ol kinyei conservancy
Game drives in 4x4 vehicles within the game rich Mara ecosystem followed by a sundowner. Overnight and full board accommodation at Porini Camp.

Day 7 - Masai Mara – Ol kinyei conservancy
Game drives in 4x4 vehicles within the game rich Mara ecosystem followed by a sundowner. Overnight and full board accommodation at Porini Camp.

Day 8 - Masai Mara - Olare Orok Conservancy
After breakfast leave camp and spend the day game-viewing in the famous Masai Mara Reserve with a picnic lunch in the park and then moving on to Porini Lion Camp arriving in the late afternoon.

Day 9 - Masai Mara - Olare Orok Conservancy
After early morning tea in your tent take a dawn game drive in the Olare Orok Conservancy. Return to camp for breakfast then enjoy a morning nature walk escorted by Masai warriors. Return to camp for lunch. Join an afternoon game drive in the Conservancy - stopping at a viewpoint for a sundowner - then a night game drive as you head back to camp for dinner and overnight. I will ask about game drive until lunch and skip the walk. I'm all about photography, you know.

Day 10 - Masai Mara - Olare Orok Conservancy
After early morning tea in your tent take a dawn game drive in the Olare Orok Conservancy. Return to camp for breakfast then enjoy a morning nature walk escorted by Masai warriors. Return to camp for lunch. Join an afternoon game drive in the Conservancy - stopping at a viewpoint for a sundowner - then a night game drive as you head back to camp for dinner and overnight.

Day 11 - Depart
Early morning walk in the Conservancy with Maasai warriors, followed by breakfast. Take a game drive within the conservancy,
before lunch. After lunch you will b etransferred to the airstrip for your flight to Nairobi departing t 1600hrs.
1730hrs – On arrival at Wilson airport transfer to JKIA. (Dinner on own arrangements)

Leely, I see where you don't know where you are going yet. I wrote my post before you said that and I forgot to "submit" it. (Just so you don't think I can't read.)

I think the Village visit on Day 2 should be okay. The camp is outside the park, so going on a game drive that afternoon would require payment of fees. Your daughter hasn't experienced the Maasai culture and it will be interesting for her. The Selenkay Conservancy seems to be some distance from Amboseli itself, so it looks like you only have one day in the park, Day 3. If it doesn't look like you've got much game in the Conservancy, you might ask to go back to the park on Day 4 if you liked it. I guess you'd have to pay extra for the park fees.

It also looks like most of your "Mara" game viewing is outside the Reserve in the two Conservancies where Porini has their camps. Other than the one mention on Day 8 when you change camps, it doesn't look like you go into the Masai Mara at all. Perhaps some of the other posters could chime in as to the quality of the game viewing in the Porini conservancies in June.

I was at Kicheche Bush Camp on Olare Orok June 2010--the conservancy is game rich and tourist poor (meaning not many people, very nice). I had sundowners one evening and my guide asked, "Lions or elephants?" I chose elephants and we sat having a drink as a large herd milled all around us.

Sundowner, see if you can dig up abranz's report. She went in June of last year and stayed at the Porini camps at Amboseli and the Mara.

Thanks, Sharon and Leely.

Sharon, Bill xxx (brain poof and can't remember his last name) has been to these Porini camps 3x and recommends them so I'm going on that. I don't think June is the best time to go anywhere so I'll just have to hope for the best.

Wow, Leely, Kicheche sounds pretty good if you get to choose between lions and elephants for sundowners. I think that's where Hari just returned from and his photos tell that it was a great trip. And I looked for a report from abranz and I found where she said that's where she was going but didn't find a trip report but thanks for the suggestion.

Sorry, sundowner, I thought abranz had written a report but perhaps she just answered individual questions after her trip. She very kindly had me over for dinner to look at photos, so we spoke about her experiences, and if my memory serves me correctly (um, I hope it's still okay...?), she really liked Porini.

If you haven't read crosscheck's classic and hilarious report, give it a go. I think they traveled a few weeks later in the year than you will be traveling.

http://www.fodors.com/community/africa-the-middle-east/mr-carry-on-and-family-go-on-safari-a-porini-migration-adventure.cfm

Crosscheck's trip report is great! It sure makes me even more excited about going.

I don't know how you and Travelynn, Sandi, Sharon etc, can remember all of these trip details and reports.

Here is the Amboseli part of my Trip Report late June 2010 while definitely not in the same league as Crosscheck, could still be interesting for you:
Our Mombasa Air flight was scheduled to leave at 1.30 pm. We only left camp after it landed as we were the only passengers and the airstrip is 5 minutes from camp. Seeing that plane sitting on the desolate airstrip waiting for us with animals grazing nearby was another scene to remember. We loaded up and took off with one stop in the Mara to pick up passengers and an hour later landed in Amboseli. Two vehicles from Tortelis camp were waiting for us- these were completely open with canvas roofs. We loaded up and the Tortelis staff got our park fee receipts from the ranger and were soon on our way to camp seeing elephants and flamingos on the way- it takes about 35 minutes to camp. Kilimanjaro was clouded up which was a bummer but Tortelis was fine. We were greeted by a relief manager Barbara who had a nice Italian accent and it appeared Italian was the default language in camp. Several staff members were from Italy- Neo once again pulled off 4 tents for us- the manager said she had prepared two tents with three beds but Neo called that morning and “requested” a fourth which she gave us as the camp was only half full during our stay. The look and feel of the place was very different from Ngerende. The camp was much larger with 30 tents compared to just 7 at Negrende and the atmosphere while very professional was more business-like. The bar area is beautiful directly overlooking Kilimanjaro and an illuminated waterhole about 150m away at the edge of the property. The clouds parted as if to greet us and there was Kilimanjaro. The mountain is truly awe inspiring and one look made me happy we had decided to come here. The dining area is right next to the bar also with direct views of Killi. A number of famous people have stayed at Tortelis and the library has dozens of books and periodicals featuring Tortelis camp. I read Michael Palin’s chapter in his on the trail of Hemmingway book where he stayed at Tortelis and drank his first Tusker beer in Africa the same brand Hemmingway had drunk when he pitched a tent in Amboseli not far from Tortelis. I opened a Tusker and sat there contemplating the mountain. The tents are great with zip up fronts and a nice bathroom- the inside is well thought out with plenty of storage and flat surfaces to place stuff on. We had a view of Killi from the tent but there was a large bush obscuring it- I did’nt understand why they did not trim the bush. It’s a long walk up from the tent but given the amount of food we were eating, good exercise. The food at Tortelis is Italian and they have an excellent reputation- Stephano Chelli the founder came from a family of chefs. However, in my opinion the food was fresh and good, nothing more, far outclassed by Ngerende’s 3 star chef Edward (the stars are given by me not Michelin).

Game drives: Amboseli suffered terribly from last years historic drought but has recovered considerably due to the abundant rains this year. Gnus and zebra were decimated last year- we saw their bones all over the park. The elephants tend to be the Amboselis strong point and we saw large herds that appear to be thriving. Amboselis main attraction for us was seeing the animals juxtaposed by Kilimanjaro and for the 2 days we were there, Killi was visible clearly for roughly one day- one full afternoon and the next morning till noon. We got several beautiful shots of elephants, a lion, giraffe, buffalo, ostrich, zebra, gnus etc with Killi in the background. Off roading is not allowed and several animals were too far away to photograph properly but were clearly visible with binoculars. In particular we saw thousands of flamingos doing very well but the distance between the pond and where we were was about 150m too far for our 640mm lenses. We had a surprise bush breakfast overlooking Killi that was great and was our best meal at camp. Also, on the last evening sundowners were provided by a second vehicle and staff on top of a very steep hill – the views were incredible but unfortunately Killi was obscured by clouds. Our driver/guide Simon was very good. The second vehicle had two different drivers on our two days. We also saw the photographer Nick Brandt who was staying at Tortelis for a few weeks – he had a special vehicle with few seats and was sitting on the floor to I assume get eye level shots of animals and also had a few dedicated spotters in different vehicles. Unfortunately I was not able to meet him.
Pictures:
https://picasaweb.google.com/103228274757906908168/KenyaMaraAmboseli?feat=directlink

Thank you for sharing that, AKR1. It does sound like a good area and you have some great pictures!

Sundowner, We stayed at the Porini camps Sept 2010 and are going back this Sept. We spent one day at Amboseli park and 2 days in the Selenkay conservancy where the camp is located. There was really no difference in the game seen between the 2 areas except for elephants. We saw elephant tracks in the conservancy but no elephants! Tons of elephants in the park. We didn't see any cheetah though either. The difference in the tourist traffic was nice. Very few other vehicles seen in the conservancy. We also visited the village and really enjoyed it.
We also spent 4 days at Lion camp in the Olare Orok conservancy only one day in the the Masai Mara park. There really wasn't any difference in the game viewing but once again not a lot of vehicle traffic! One day in the park was plenty, we really wanted toand got to see a migration crossing. That was when ran into a lot of traffic and also to my surprise, rude tourists!