Help with almost final Kenya safari
 

Hi, Thank you for all your help so far.Please give me your comments on my itinerary. Arrive Nairobi 6am Get picked up and driven to Mtn. Lodge 1 nt.; 2 nts. Samburu Serena; 1 nt. Sweetwater's; 1 nt. Lake Nakuru Lion Hill;3 nts. Masai Mara Sarova tented camp; fly to Nairobi, 1 nt. Intercontinental; fly out 8 am. I need to change some of the lodging to something less expensive,so I can add one more night.We are already at the high end of our budget. Can you suggest any changes to the above lodging, perhaps the Panafric for Intercontental? Thank you very much. Joan

Joan, the Kenya Comfort http://www.kenyacomfort.com/index.html would be less expensive than the Panafric, and there’re perfectly adequate options that are less expensive than the Kenya Comfort.
I’m not a price expert, but Lion Hill sounds like the most expensive Lake Nakuru option. I don’t know about the new Flamingo Hill Camp, Mbweha Camp used to be less expensive, but there might have been some unfortunate upgrades, I also think that Lake Nakuru Lodge is less expensive than Lion Hill.

When are you traveling and where do you want to add a night? How much $$$ are you looking to save?

Flamingo Hill and Mbweha Camps and Lion Hill are all about the same price. Lake Nakuru Lodge may be a few dollars less than these.

If you're booking through a tour operator, ask them for less expensive properties at Samburu, Nakuru and the Mara. Doubt you'll save enough in NBO to add a night... I assume in the Mara?

Lake Nakuru Lodge was fine when I was there. Samburu Lodge may also save a bit over Serena and I thought it was good too.

I checked e-gnu.com to see how Serena compared to Sarova, but it was more. Even with your other Serena properties, it would probably still be more.

The Boulevard in Nairobi might offer some savings.

The other place you could save would be to drive to Nairobi at the end and not fly. I have never done that myself, always choosing to fly. But it could save some $$ if you are really searching.

The savings on the flight last day, from the Mara to NBO will save you about $150. You'll have to depart the Mara very early to make this 5-6/hr trip on lousy roads... it's an adventure.

Good morning, Raining in NY so I don't have to feel so guilty spending all my time here. I booked my flight for early Sept., so I do have an extra day. Definitely will downgrade the Nairobi hotel, thanks for those suggestions. Also, downgrade Samburu and Lake Nakuru. Now, I wanted to have less one nighters and break up the driving, so where would you suggest I spend the extra night, Sweetwater's or Lake Nakuru or where? Also, I do want a tented camp in Masai Mara. Is the Sarova well located? Are there other ones that are cheaper but good? I really appreciate all your suggestions. Feel free to change anything or add your personal favorites. I have not decided on an outfitter yet. I'm still waiting for responses from some of them.

So you already have the day. You are not just cutting corners to produce any extra day. So the question is how best to fill the extra day?

You could also do the extra day in Nairobi up front and go to Sheldrick's, the ele sanctuary/orphanage and Giraffe Manor where you can feed the giraffes. See Karen Blixen's home. That would be less expensive and you might be able to get an earlier start to Mtn Lodge.

If you did this Nairobi day at the end, it could serve as a recovery day from your drive back from the Mara, assuming you drove to save $$.

Sopa Lodge (not tented camp)in the Mara is supposed to be a less expensive option. You could check out that.

A long time ago, I got a deal, "Book 2 nights at Mara Serena and get the 3rd night free." Could you see if there are any such deals of booking 3 nights in the Mara and getting a 4th free? That would mean your extra night is committed to the Mara. But that's not bad.

See what your agent says when you present this dilemma.

Hi, You're fast, I mean in replying.. One thing I don't want to do is spend any more time in Nairobi, but all other suggestions are fine. Thanks again.

i spent one night at lake nakuru and thought that was more than enough, you can easily eliminate a day there if you are looking for days.

i would also say that lion hill lodge was nothing special. there was a whole village outside the gates of lake nakuru, do you think there might be some accommodation there?

kerikeri :)

Lake Nakuru Guest House would be an inexpensive option http://www.wildlifeclubsofkenya.org/nakuru_guest.htm

However, I've never stayed there and am unsure of its exact location. As kerikeri mentioned, the town of Nakuru is right outside the park gate and you could also find inexpensive accomodation there.

In addition to the options given above, you can price the Sopa lodge in Samburu. It's the newest lodge in Samburu. The only downside is that it's not located on the river, but I hear it has a nice view as it has an elevated location.

The Sarova is one of the least expensive tented options in the Mara. You could compare pricing with Fig Tree. I haven't stayed at either.

Midland Hotel in Nakuru. Cost you about $30pp B&B and it's 5 minutes drive from the park gates. Your operator may be puzzled by your choice so be insistent if that'll save you the neessary. That's experience-based the rest is to take with a pinch of salt if it doesn't make sense to you.

If you drop a day make it the stopover on the way UP to Samburu. Doing Samburu to Nakuru one day and Nakuru to Mara next day would be pretty brutal. I wouldn't add a day to Nakuru... take your medecine all together and have an extra day in the Mara or Samburu.

Hi, again, I thought I was finished with this but still researching...We will be in the Mara Sept. 11,12 and 13. We wanted a tented experience, but is the Sarova too far away from the main migration? Is there a moderately priced tented camp nearer? Would we be better in Serena Lodge? the more I read here the more confused I get. Thanks again.

Will this be a private safari? If so, you can plan full day game drives from the Sarova.

Yes, it is a private trip, thanks to all of you. I was reading on some other thread that they spent so much time driving over rough roads to river crossings that they were sorry they didn't stay closer.

Predicting where the migration will be is hard. Hopefully the plentiful rains will mean many more wildebeest and they'll be everywhere. I like Patty's idea of packing a lunch and heading out to find what you're looking for.

Serena would be more expensive, but a little more centrally located. Fig Tree might be a tented option. Most other tented options are more expensive.

kerikeri - why do you say one night in Lake Nakuru is more than enough? we are trying to finalize our trip -- should we skip it altogether???

Thanks again. OK Here's the very almost final itinerary. Mtn. Lodge- 1 nt.; Serena Samburu 2nts.; Sweetwater's 2 nts.; Lake Nakuru- Nakuru Lodge 1 nt. ;Mara- Sarova Camp 3 nts.; Nairobi-Boulevard Hotel 1 nt. Comments?

sorry lastminuteplanner- just got back here.

do go. i loved my one night, i just didn't see any compelling reason to stay longer, you can see the flamingoes and the resident wildlife in one day and then spend your time elsewhere. do include it!

kerikeri :)

We had one night at Sweetwaters a few weeks ago. I definitely enjoyed this, but I think that one night was enough.

We drove there from Nairobi with our guide. We saw the chimps that day and went on a game drive in the afternoon. Don't miss visiting Morani, their friendly Black Rhino. This was the highlight of Sweetwaters for us.

The next day we went to Lewa Downs. We stayed at Wilderness Trails, and although expensive, this was the best part of our Kenya trip for me! The combined horse-back and camel game drive was a very special experience.

Mtn. Lodge- 1 nt.; Serena Samburu 2nts.; Sweetwater's 2 nts.; Lake Nakuru- Nakuru Lodge 1 nt. ;Mara- Sarova Camp 3 nts.; Nairobi-Boulevard Hotel 1 nt. Comments?

Is the last night at the Boulevard because you could not leave Sarova and make your flight all in the same day? If you fly back from the Mara and have an evening flight, that can be accomplished in one day.


If your last day in Nairobi is intentional to do activities there, that makes sense.