Finally: we booked!!!
 

Now we just have to wait for August to come. It is DONE!!!! We did it. I can't believe it is true...

Fly to NBO, stay for one night.
Fly to Samburu (5n), stay at Elephant Bedroom and at SaSaab.
Drive to Nakuru (2n), stay at Flamingo Hill.
Drive to Masai Mara (7n), stay at Mara Bush and Mara Explorer.
Fly back to NBO.

I am so happy.

Sandi and Patty and all the others, thanks a lot for help while planning!!!

Congratulations! Looks like there are quite a few of us who have booked in the last week! August will come fast, have a great time!

CONGRATS! now you can really look forward to boarding your plane...

appreciate that you dedicate lots of nts to a reserve!

regarding "mara bush" i guess you refer to the mara bush camp/sunworld safaris.
if that's the case and you don't have your driver still with you in the mara as you are flying back to wilson i would highly recommend that you make sure that there is no limitation on game drive hours.

if you are on a game package without SUV than you most likely end up doing game drives as follows:

morning drive 06.30 until 09.30 max.
afternoon: 16.00 till 18.30.

as the crossings take place during heat of day means when you are spending siesta in camp!

if that's the case i would definately contact mr. nowak in nairobi or austria and make sure (via email!/written) he lets you drive to the crossing points on day tours!

Congrats! Looking forward to hearing your impressions of these places when you get back.

Congratulations, Steffid. I like the look of your itinerary.

Pippa, it sounds like you know that Mara Bush Camp only do short game drives. I’ve been thinking about contacting them for my trip in June, but now I’ve almost changed my mind. They wouldn’t have given me a reasonable price anyway.

nyamera
i had a look at it last year when it still was an intimate camp with only 6 tents; not it's supposed to have at least 10!
the tents are compareable to these of ilkeliani which is close to talek gate but half the price.
a friend of ours stayed there but had their own driver. therefore they could observe the crossings every day.
would they have been on "game package" they would have had only the game drives as mentioned above.
because i was thinking of staying with mara bush camp but had to make sure they don't limit their drives to the hours given i spoke to the owner.
he explained at lenght that without SUV we definately would be limited because their vehicles are also doing "infrastucture" in between game drives: get water supplies etc. and that's the reason they encourage guests who are keen on seeing the crossing to book their sole use of vehicle in advance to make sure they get what they are after.
but SUV comes at 250€/day ;-)

steff -

Glad to hear you're all set and was able to help. Now, like the rest of us... wait, wait and wait some more. But, it'll be here sooner than you think.

Thanks, Pippa. There won’t be any crossings in June, but I really don’t want to go back to camp for breakfast!

nyamera,
not only for the crossings (but we go every year for a week or 10 days between late aug and mid oct for that particular reason - but what the hell are you doing between 0930 and 1600? i would not go a camp where i spend more than 6 hours just hanging around in a tent/mess tent as they don't offer bush walks in the reserve!

check out www.ilkeliani.com.
decent tents, acceptable food, nice mess tent. they charge either "game package" incl. (again limited) games drives or "full board" when you book SUV. with SUV it should be only slightly more expensive then mara bush.
we do it always and we ask for edward - a guide - who loves being out in the bush whole day and he doesn't bother driving for a long day either.
there are 2 other guides who are not so fond of driving. so if that might be an option ask for edward.

Pippa, if Ilkeliani has the same limits I’m not interested. Paying for a sole use of vehicle is out of the question. These things are very good to know, thanks.

Steffid, have a wonderful trip.

Hi everybody,

I hope we will have a wonderful trip...

Pippa, hours of game drives at Mara bush camp wont be a problem for us. We will have our own vehicle for the whole trip. I would go mad booking a camp for a lot of money to go on safari and then I would have to stay at the camp the whole day. my husband and I normally go out early, taking breakfast and lunch with us and staying out for the whole day, coming back at nightfall. But thanks for advice.

How come they have 10 tents now? I was informed that it is a very intimate camp... We will look and see and I will report afterwards. Honestly, while being in the bush the whole day, I don't care too much for the rest (and we have such hopefully wonderful camps with elephant bedroom, sasaab and mara explorer...).

steffid,
glad to hear you have your owen driver/guide! excellent! you do exact what we use to do! it's really worthwhile to spend that extra money! we also leave with packed meals and come back after sun downer ;-)
would advise you also to buy your own gin (bombay sapphire is our favourite ;-)) and get just the tonic water from camp in a cool box based on the assumption G+T is your favourite as well ;-)
even some really good bottles of wine would be wise to take as the camps have very limited selection sometimes.

regarding number of tents:
http://www.marabushcamp.com/en/das-camp.html
that's exactly what mr. nowak announced last year.
www.sunworldsafaris.com

of course, based on the fact that you have your own vehicle anything else should not really matter!

i am sure you are going to have a great time based on your itinerary!

some advice in case you need it:

take a kikoi or some fabric to cover your photo equipment during game drives for protection against the dust
take also a big litter bag to put your electronic staff in in case of sudden downpour despite the car is pretty closed as some great photo opportunities might arise during downpour and the rest has to be covered.
don't lough - it's not for you because you don't travel during particular rainy season: i sometimes take my underwater housing with me depending where and when i travel...
as you might most probably have a popup roof a beanbag would be wise to take

have a wonderful safari, safe trip and enjoy every minute of it!

happy landings!

steffid
i was curios and checked their website for prices:
they charge you 40€ for "private sundowner". that's the equivalent of 65 US$!
judge for yourself whether you would like to enhance mr. nowak's wealth by paying such an amount for let's say 2 G+F even double shot plus some bites.....
loughable!

Hi Pippa,

indeed, this is much too much.
How come you know my favorite sundowner;-)

We will take a bottle of gin at the airport - unfortunately we have to take care of weights because of our flight from NBO to Samburu (as I am informed, it's only 15 kg per person).

How is the food at Mara Bush Camp?

Sorry, but what is a beanbag??

And: do you have an idea what I could plan for one special day, our fifth wedding anniversary, while staying at Mara Bush Camp??

hi steffid

G+T is THAT drink for safari - as far as i am concerned. at home in germany on the terrasse: it simply doesn't match. belongs to africa ;-) was just a guess ;-)

put as much in your pockets (vest, shirt, cargo pants) and it will go!
by the way: on safari you don't need much! they do the laundry for the guests in camp anyway!
1 shirt wearing, 2 in the suit case, 1 pants wearing, 1 in the bag, 1 t-shirt and pants for siesta, flipflops, walking shoes or/and sandals, hat, sweatshirt and windbreaker for august-mornings - can be chilly! - and the regular stuff like underwear, socks etc.
i did a 3-week safari with 12kg!!!
i did not miss a thing!

let your TA know and he will certainly arrange something special for your anniversary! a privat dinner in camp would be an idea.
what about a BALLOONING on that particular day?! i would definately go for it. there are not many places in the world where a ballooning is so rewarding from a landscape point of view. you see the mara river meandering below the basket and little governors ballooning company goes pretty deap flying (or driving as we germans say) in a couple of meters above the ground. and that company is SAFE! sometimes in africa the have trouble with mixing the gases and ending up in trouble. your driver takes you there and fetches you after champaign breakfast which you have in the middle of the savannah. you can spend your holiday money like dust but that's worthwhile the 400 US$pp.

i cannot say anything about the food as i just had a look at the camp last year. but it's supposed to be average.
if you are vegetarian or other diatry needs: let your TA know so that he can inform the camp. it's essential as the chef has to be aware in case he needs extra supply e.g. for vegetarians more cheese, more salad etc.

beanbag:
a peace of facrib or canvas filled with rice or sand or beans. you out in on the reiling of the roof and that keeps your cam steady. it's a good tool.
also your TA should know whether the camps provide these bags. most of them do!

enjoy further planning and have a great WE!

Hi Pippa,

so funny, you live in Germany?

Thank you for all the tips. Already thought of the ballooning, but it is soooooooo expensive... Is it really worth going? How many people will be with us?
I will check if we really could go from Mara Bush Campt to Governos Balloons, thought they are on the other side of the river.

Another question: do you know if we could cross the Mara in august? Friends are staying at Serena and we would really love to have a few days together. They have as well their own car so we could arrange this.

Where have you been on Safari yet?

Oh, and have a nice weekend too!! Should be getting warmer on sunday, hopefully we will see the sun more often now ;-)

hi steffid

regarding our experiences pls have a look at a thread - left hand column:
Fodor's Editor Wants to Know...
but ther are still some lodges missing (singita/sabi sand, mateya, impodimo, makanyane - all madikwe/SA.we just visted in madikwe GR in south africa).

regarding the ballooning:
it's really worthwhile to do. we also had to kick ourselves to join but never regretted it!
there are 16 in a basket (but you are not crammed!) if it's fully booked and maybe 2 balloons in the air at the same time! by the way: we met with michael poliza up in the air again - we were all the time running into each other all over kenya in 2006. extremly pleasant guy! www.poliza.de
and governors boat picks you up!

regarding meeting with friends: it should not be a problem at all - you just have to do a loop.

fantastic when you meet with friends on safari! we did the same with these friends staying at the bush camp while we were staying at ilkeliani last august.

oops - to quick:
yes the weather should be fine till/incl. sunday...but then it's getting worse again.
but i don't bother at all: i am leaving on mo morning for marbella for a week :-))))