Kenya
 

I have just returned from Kenya and wanted to share some ideas and comments about the trip. Having been to Kenya on my first trip to Africa in 1998, I was anxious to get back and see how it had changed and visit different areas/accommodations that I could recommend to clients. This time my intinerary included Lake Nakuru, Sweetwaters, Masa Mara and Lake Naivasha.

Nairobi Properties:

Karen Blixen Garden Cottages and House of Waine. What a nice alternative than using the standard Norfolk, and Serena properties in the heart of Nairobi. Both properties are located in Karen, a nice little upscale area not far from the hustle and bustle of Nairobi. Karen has entertainment in the restaurant/bar which brings out many locals in the area. Property is nice and well manicured. Rooms are quite nice and well maintained, and very good size. House of Waine is an immaculate, well manicured, impeccable service and food. Both are good alternatives and well worth staying a couple of extra nights and doing a safari at Nairobi National Park.

Lake Nakuru - world renowned for the millions of pink flamingoes that abound here on this soda lake. Stayed at Mbweha, which is great for camping, but otherwise not much to do. Game drive to Lake Nakuru National Park, however, gave us a spectacular leopard viewing....the only one on this trip. Lake Nakuru is a long long ride from Nairobi, on a road that is constantly being repaired and is in disrepair. Rainy season - expect lengthy delays. Still a great visit though

Sweetwaters - Great Tented Camp, and one of the few offering night drives. Be sure and visit Morani the tame rhino for an up close and personal experience.

Lake Naivasha - stayed at Kiangazi House, another accommodation on the order of House of Waine. Wonderful service, grounds, food and accommodations. Has it's only Wildlife Sanctuary (Oserian). Also the largest rose grower in the world - shipping to Holland and other parts of Europe. Well worth a tour. The alternative to this property is Chui Lodge, located also in the Sanctuary.

Masa Mara, of course everyone who goes to Kenya knows of the Mara ecosystem. Here, we stayed at Serian, a new tented camp, located just outside the park itself. Serian offered the best food of the entire trip. It is a small camp run by Alex Walker, a former hunter, and Kenyan. He is very flexible and takes you on out of the way game drives. If you like to camp, or want something different, you must go. Bathrooms are just outside the tent, not ensuite. Just a stone's throw away, so not inconvenient.

This is the area where we saw tree climbing lions, that many of the guides had never seen. Not only were four on one tree, four on another of the thorny acacia trees, they were alseep on the branches. What a sight. I'd post a picture if I could, but I think you can go to my sight www.kayscreativecards.com and see one of them.

I'll be making a sight just for pictures to use as a link, but don't have them yet.

By the way, the tour company which I'd highly recommend is Luxury Trips based in Florida (Sunit is the owner), and the ground operator in Kenya is Travel Wild (Anjalai is the Director). I can't say enough about them - as a travel agent I would highly recommend them for reasonable rates, personalized service and for that ' comfortable and at home' feeling.

Sorry, that's Masai Mara in Kenya, not Mara Mara.

Thanks for the report. How was the weather in the Mara? How hot did it get during the day and at night? We are going in August.

Thanks,

Kevin

The weather should be nice in August. May was the rainy season, the long rains, yet unbelievably beautiful with everything in bloom. I enjoyed that time. It was not really hot, actually just right, a little cool in the evening that necessitated long sleeved shirt, yet not excessively hot either, even on game drives. August should be about the same, very comfortable, but dry. And that is the season of the migration routing through Kenya if you are in the right area. June is the coolest month.

Good Luck and have fun!

One more thing - just in case you are watching the migration, you could be up earlier than usual and going in later than usual - a light jacket will definitely be in order, as it is definitely cooler than it is mid-day.
Always better to layer than not enough.

Kay... those lions appear to be on top of the tree - not in the tree - the picture on your Web site is tiny, but that's what it looks like... I have never seen anything like that before. Has anyone? Waht did the people at Serian say about it.

Could you post a slightly bigger version on Kodak or somewhere?

Hi Kimburu,

Yes, those lions are atop of the tree. Extremely unusual. When you go to kayscreativecards.com, once you select the pictures, click on the top right hand corner of the card frame and the picture will enlarge. The picture of all of them IN THE TREE will be evident. The closer-up one is not good resolution because I decreased the size until I add the copyright info, since I am publishing it. It is an amazing sight.

Oh, Kimburu,

No one at Serian had ever seen that either. The owner came out and took pictures himself. Some had seen a lion on a branch closer to the ground, but none on top of the tree like that. You cannot see the other one, but there is a fourth one, the lioness, IN THE TREE CANOPY.

Thanks, I can see it now .... still can't see what's holding them up, though. Pretty amazing.

Kay and Kimburu,
Where is that picture of lions atop of a tree??? I can’t find it.

Nyamera,
I thought it was just me ;)

I couldn't find it!

You have to go to "buy items" and then click on one of the "boxes" as if you are going to select the pictures for the cards you are going to buy. Then click on the picture in the middle of the fourth row. Finally you have to click to the top right of the picture when it displays in the box on the right hand side and it will enlarge again to a reasonable size in a separate window.

Easy, eh?

This is not what I had in mind when people talk about tree climbing lions! Please look at it everybody and tell me it's not real!

If it is, it could necessitate another change of plans for December.

looks pasted on to me, but hard to tell with the copyright going across it.

Ok, is someone pulling our collective legs/paws? he,he - you in on this Kimburu?

Those 1/4" (screen magnified) little bitty lions do look like they're suspended solely by magic foliage. How does this occur in nature? Inquiring minds want to know.
Sherry

There's no point my saying "I'm not in on this" Sherry, since if I was, I wouldn't admit it just yet. ;-)

However, for what it's worth I promise that I am neither a)working on commission for Kay's card company nor b) having a mid-life crisis and desperately in need of attention... :o)

It occurred to me that some manipulation was involved before I posted .. but what I thought is why not do a slightly better job? The lion on the right has its hind leg in a very odd-looking position and it would clearly be better to erase part of it if one were superimposing the image on a tree. In any case, since I am currently trying to be a less cynical person... ((a)) ... I decided to believe that someone would not crudely stick a picture of some lions on top of a picture of a tree and come along here among all these rather expert people in terms of wildlife and photography and say "Ooooh... look tree climbing lions"!

But it's up for debate!

Looks doctored to me. Believe those puddy-cats are too heavy to be sitting in that desert date tree... for sure they'd hit the ground "hard."

Kimburu,
I just find it rather interesting that it was you out of all us alleged experts, who figured out how to even open those pics. You sure there's no mid-life stuff going on? :) I am kidding, of course, as I know by now that you can take it - I think.

This does however, make me suspicious about Rocco's tree lions. I (now that I'm paranoid and bored) started thinking that perhaps our favorite tree lion photographer super-imposed that famous lion in the tree. I then realized that Rocco would never pull such a pedestrian trick. He would hire a lion tamer and make him coax the beast up in the tree. :D :D :D

You out there Rocco?

Sherry

I can take it Sherry. If I couldn't I would definitely long ago have skulked off to adopt a lower profile around this forum, since I do periodically seem to suffer from "foot-in-mouth" syndrome. :">

Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

We need a tree expert. Maybe the canopy is strong and dense enough to hold a couple of lions, but what about the thorns? I would have called it a “thorn tree”, but I think desert dates have thorns as well. It doesn’t look like a place where the lions would have found themselves voluntarily. Maybe Kay chased them. If so, it must have been Kimburu’s idea.

Kay,
Thanks for the report. Though I have to add that there are things to do at Mbweha Camp like night drives, walks, bike rides – and as it’s outside the NP you can invent your own activities.

Okay cynics and ((a)) ... I wrote to Alex Walker at Serian and he responded:

"It is not a fake at all there is a group of young lions that have split from the river pride near us who have a habit of climbing trees. For the moment with little weight and the advantage of youth they will be able to climb trees. As they grow the loss of balance and also extra weight on the tree canopy will not suppoort them. I have a couple of pics
probably taken at the same time as the ones you mention. We had a fam visit
of three agents in camp at the time."

I will post the pics he sent with these on Kodak soon - I'm afraid I have to work now.

Of course Sherry, I could have made up the above or Alex Walker could be in on it with Kay/us.

But the new pictures will help. ;-)

((a))

You conspiracy theorists ;)

Would love to here more details about Serian....sounds/looks like a great camp but we have not heard many first hand reports about it.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=...&y=-wkz470

There's three pics from Serian and one of kimburu in new angel costume.

They are apparently intended as thumbnails for an update to the Serian Web site and so are pretty lo-res.

Of course the Kodak program blew them up and the lions look like muppets in the first picture now! The second one should dot he trick though - you can clearly see they are (rather big) cubs.

Are you a cat, Kimburu? You sure are pretty. All this time and now we know - who would have thunk :) I showed that angel kitty to Waldo and all he could do was shake his head - the things we do to our pets - gotto love them.

Oh yes, the lion pictures, got side tracked -
We bad.
Sherry

Of course Alex Walker is in on it! At Serian they harass lions so that they have to take refuge in thorny trees! I wonder what KWS will say ... A free stay at Serian, and I won’t go further with this … >:-)
Kimburu, you’re very pretty, but where are your ears?

It was a complete makeover - ears and all. Things you have to do to be an angel in a cynical world!

Now I'm going to fly over to that post where Nyamera tried to mug the guy with $1000 spare in his pocket. ;-)

Priceless...... I'm off sick at the minute and have been lurking on this thread - just wanted to say thanks for making me laugh! :)))