Kenya - Questions about Serena Hotels
May 25th, 2009, 06:09 PM
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Kenya - Questions about Serena Hotels
Our tour operator booked our family of 5 into the Samburu Serena and the Mara Serena, plus Mara Intrepids. At first I thought the Serenas sounded okay because our teens might like a bigger hotel (not always alone with mom and dad!), but now we are being joined by another family and I think we'd be fine at smaller places.
Are the Serena Hotels just like "hotels anywhere" with lots of noise, etc? When we've been to Kenya before we stayed at Little Governor's. I am getting nervous that these Serena Hotels will not make us feel like we are really in the bush. We still have time to change.
Many thanks for any thoughts on this.
Are the Serena Hotels just like "hotels anywhere" with lots of noise, etc? When we've been to Kenya before we stayed at Little Governor's. I am getting nervous that these Serena Hotels will not make us feel like we are really in the bush. We still have time to change.
Many thanks for any thoughts on this.
May 26th, 2009, 06:24 AM
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We stayed at Intrepids and stopped by Mara Serena for a couple hours to get gas (we were in Kenya a few days after the riots and gas was in short supply, so we had to scrounge off them). Mara Serena has a wonderful location, high on the ridge. I would have no problems staying there. We have stayed at the Serena in Nairobi and at three Serenas in Tanzania (Lake Manyara, Serengeti and Mt. Village). No problems.
As for noise, Mara Intrepids had plenty of noise because the tents are too close together. Some noises were soothing, like the water rushing by or the hippos snorting, some noises woke us up at night like when the bushbabies used the tent for a trampoline and began screaming at each other at 3 AM. But most annoying were the Silver-thatched German babblers in the next tent over who drank too much and argued loudly late into the night. The tents are just too close to each other.
Mara Serena will almost surely be quieter than Mara Intrepids.
As for noise, Mara Intrepids had plenty of noise because the tents are too close together. Some noises were soothing, like the water rushing by or the hippos snorting, some noises woke us up at night like when the bushbabies used the tent for a trampoline and began screaming at each other at 3 AM. But most annoying were the Silver-thatched German babblers in the next tent over who drank too much and argued loudly late into the night. The tents are just too close to each other.
Mara Serena will almost surely be quieter than Mara Intrepids.
May 26th, 2009, 12:12 PM
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We stayed at the Mara Serena lodge during my tenth safari to Africa. Although it's rather a big lodge, you never have the idea that it's overcrowded. The rooms are more than ok, the food is very good and the view is lovely. Mara Serena has a wonderful swimming pool as well. We had breakfast at the Mara river twice, which was included in the package. The only disadvantage is the duration of the game drives, you are only 2 hours away in the morning and the evening. I found this very short, and after complaining a while to the camp manager, they extended our drives and we bought an extra drive during the early afternoon. The lodge is located in the Mara triangle, and the game concentration was incredible, even during March when the migration was in the Serengeti. It's is one of the only lodges in this area. Our guide was Dedan, by far one of the best guides that I ever had on safari. We saw on three days lots of lions (also a male coalition of five), 3 leopards, many cheetahs, black rhinos, serval killing a rat, lots of buffalos, etc...
May 26th, 2009, 06:07 PM
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"Anywhere special?" What price range?
I've never been to Mara Intrepids and will probably choose Serena (where I have stayed and thought it was fine) over Intrepids next time, but I believe Mara Intrepids does 3 game drives a day.
As for noise, depending on where your tent was located at Little Gov's you could experience some early morning noise as the ballooners assemble. I recall some of that at Little Govs. Serena has no balloon gatherings. Don't know about Intrepids.
You can book direct. It seems that an agent can get at least as good of a deal.
I've never been to Mara Intrepids and will probably choose Serena (where I have stayed and thought it was fine) over Intrepids next time, but I believe Mara Intrepids does 3 game drives a day.
As for noise, depending on where your tent was located at Little Gov's you could experience some early morning noise as the ballooners assemble. I recall some of that at Little Govs. Serena has no balloon gatherings. Don't know about Intrepids.
You can book direct. It seems that an agent can get at least as good of a deal.
May 26th, 2009, 06:45 PM
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<b>Is Mara Intrepids really not good?</b>
When we booked we asked for 'the best possible locations' for photography and Intrepids was without doubt perfect for that. Just a few minutes from camp we could find leopards or lions or cheetahs, depending on which direction we went. Very good food, nice staff ... it was the best place we stayed at in Kenya and there is only one lodge in Tanzania that we liked better. One big-name photo tour books all 30+ rooms at Mara Intrepids for their clients for a week every fall, for example, because of the location and quality game viewing.
But your initial post indicated you were concerned with noise and it was the noisiest place we stayed at, because the tents were too close. Of course the other two tented camps we stayed in didn't have any guests but us because of the riots, so perhaps they would be noisy too under other circumstances since those tents were pretty close too.
For sure it was more noisy than any Serena or other lodge we've stayed in though. But if I were returning to Kenya I'd definitely want to stay there again for the game viewing.
When we booked we asked for 'the best possible locations' for photography and Intrepids was without doubt perfect for that. Just a few minutes from camp we could find leopards or lions or cheetahs, depending on which direction we went. Very good food, nice staff ... it was the best place we stayed at in Kenya and there is only one lodge in Tanzania that we liked better. One big-name photo tour books all 30+ rooms at Mara Intrepids for their clients for a week every fall, for example, because of the location and quality game viewing.
But your initial post indicated you were concerned with noise and it was the noisiest place we stayed at, because the tents were too close. Of course the other two tented camps we stayed in didn't have any guests but us because of the riots, so perhaps they would be noisy too under other circumstances since those tents were pretty close too.
For sure it was more noisy than any Serena or other lodge we've stayed in though. But if I were returning to Kenya I'd definitely want to stay there again for the game viewing.
May 27th, 2009, 02:15 PM
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Thanks everybody. I guess we will leave it at 2 days Mara Serena and 2 days Mara Intrepids. Our safari company said most places are NOT full so I was wondering if we should change...
We have only ever stayed at Little Governor's before in the Mara.
We have only ever stayed at Little Governor's before in the Mara.
May 27th, 2009, 03:12 PM
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Cathy, at Intrepids the tents were arranged in four-tent clusters, with a gazebo-like structure in the center (at least the side of camp we stayed in). With five of you plus another family traveling with you it's likely you'll have a pod of four tents to yourselves, so the noise issue from adjacent guests shouldn't be a factor.
May 27th, 2009, 03:34 PM
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GoKathy, Your combo of days seems good. Is it the cost of Little Govs that is deterring you?
I've done a Serena & Little Gov combo that worked fine with a nice drive between the two. But I'd like to try Intrepids some day too.
Aug in the Mara will be great at any of these places, especially if you bring extra ear plugs in case there is noise you'd prefer to avoid.
I would think Serena would have the least amount of natural night noises that many of us enjoy.
I've done a Serena & Little Gov combo that worked fine with a nice drive between the two. But I'd like to try Intrepids some day too.
Aug in the Mara will be great at any of these places, especially if you bring extra ear plugs in case there is noise you'd prefer to avoid.
I would think Serena would have the least amount of natural night noises that many of us enjoy.
May 27th, 2009, 04:54 PM
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I was very surprised by this, but we heard more animal noises at night from the Mara Serena than we did from an expensive tented camp in Tarangire (Oliver's, which I loved despite the lack of night animal noises when we were there). Perhaps it was because our room was all the way at the end of the row, farthest from the dining room and closest to the view... but we heard lions, hyenas and hippos every night. We also had a resident bat on a tree right outside our balcony, and hyraxes right outside the front door.
We had a really nice stay at the Mara Serena, and the only time we felt like we were in a big hotel was during meals. The rest of the time we were out on game drives with our own vehicle and driver (who was very good at keeping us away from any crowds -- we never saw more than 2 or 3 other vehicles at a sighting), and in the evenings we were either asleep early (balloon ride the next day), on a night game drive (run by the Mara Serena, in their vehicle), or enjoying the view (there's a great, relatively secluded viewpoint up some stairs near our room, which was the last one on the left as you're facing the marvelous view of the river). I also really enjoyed the bush breakfast by the river (I think they call it "breakfast with the hippos").
Of course, any place you stay you could always have the misfortune of noisy neighbors, which is why I never travel without earplugs.
We had a really nice stay at the Mara Serena, and the only time we felt like we were in a big hotel was during meals. The rest of the time we were out on game drives with our own vehicle and driver (who was very good at keeping us away from any crowds -- we never saw more than 2 or 3 other vehicles at a sighting), and in the evenings we were either asleep early (balloon ride the next day), on a night game drive (run by the Mara Serena, in their vehicle), or enjoying the view (there's a great, relatively secluded viewpoint up some stairs near our room, which was the last one on the left as you're facing the marvelous view of the river). I also really enjoyed the bush breakfast by the river (I think they call it "breakfast with the hippos").
Of course, any place you stay you could always have the misfortune of noisy neighbors, which is why I never travel without earplugs.
May 28th, 2009, 03:10 PM
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We were there in early October 2007, and at that time the Serena was the only lodge allowed to do night drives inside the park. This may have changed since then, so check with your tour operator. We signed up for this in advance, but it was possible to sign up the day of the drive, too (assuming there were spaces available). In our case, they had about 12 guests sign up, and they divided us into 2 vehicles that went off in different directions once we got down the hill from the lodge. We were rained out the first night, so the vehicles came back to the lodge and they didn't charge us for it. The next night, we were able to do the drive.
Here's the description of the drive from my trip report:
It was about $75 per person, I think, and the drive lasted just over an hour. In addition to the two of us, there were two other couples -- so six passengers, the driver, the spotter, and the guide. The guide was standing up in the middle of the vehicle and looking out the roof hatch, so all the passengers had window seats.
We didn't drive outside the park gates -- from what we could tell, we were driving around in the area right below the lodge (the view you get looking down from the room balconies and pool area). We went close to the river several times and saw lots of hippos walking around grazing. And tons of other critters, too. I don't get the sense that we drove very far, really, but we did see a lot of animal activity (and some really intense lightning in the distance!).
We were in a shared Serena Land Rover, as before, with a really skilled, interesting guide. But, as with Sweetwaters, there were still a few grumblers who complained about not seeing any big cats. That’s crazy, because we saw so much! And just driving around this amazing place, the plains and riverbank below the lodge that we’d seen from our balcony, was such a different experience in the dark. Night sounds around us like a symphony of animals, large and small, a deep bowl of stars overhead, and jagged streaks of lightning far across the plains. Here’s what we did see, including a lot of special little critters we would never have seen in the daytime: a juvenile black mamba right beside our car (what a great way to see a snake, and completely unexpected!); dozens of Cape hares jumping every which way; impalas and topis and tommies and waterbucks and dik-diks in their watchful nighttime mode; a fish eagle on the hunt, screeching his war cry; Lappert’s vultures and marabou storks high in the bare branches of a tree; hippos hippos hippos everywhere, out of the water and grazing; silverback jackals; bat-eared foxes; white-tailed mongoose; genets; and one very stressed-out wildebeest who had somehow managed to get separated from her herd and was in a terrible panic in the darkness. It was a fascinating game drive, and I only wish we could have stayed out more than an hour. I love seeing the night creatures, especially, and there is something really wonderful about getting a peek into their world—a reminder that even after you’ve gone back to the lodge or back across the ocean to your own home, these animals’ lives continue to unfold in all their drama and complexity.
Here's the description of the drive from my trip report:
It was about $75 per person, I think, and the drive lasted just over an hour. In addition to the two of us, there were two other couples -- so six passengers, the driver, the spotter, and the guide. The guide was standing up in the middle of the vehicle and looking out the roof hatch, so all the passengers had window seats.
We didn't drive outside the park gates -- from what we could tell, we were driving around in the area right below the lodge (the view you get looking down from the room balconies and pool area). We went close to the river several times and saw lots of hippos walking around grazing. And tons of other critters, too. I don't get the sense that we drove very far, really, but we did see a lot of animal activity (and some really intense lightning in the distance!).
We were in a shared Serena Land Rover, as before, with a really skilled, interesting guide. But, as with Sweetwaters, there were still a few grumblers who complained about not seeing any big cats. That’s crazy, because we saw so much! And just driving around this amazing place, the plains and riverbank below the lodge that we’d seen from our balcony, was such a different experience in the dark. Night sounds around us like a symphony of animals, large and small, a deep bowl of stars overhead, and jagged streaks of lightning far across the plains. Here’s what we did see, including a lot of special little critters we would never have seen in the daytime: a juvenile black mamba right beside our car (what a great way to see a snake, and completely unexpected!); dozens of Cape hares jumping every which way; impalas and topis and tommies and waterbucks and dik-diks in their watchful nighttime mode; a fish eagle on the hunt, screeching his war cry; Lappert’s vultures and marabou storks high in the bare branches of a tree; hippos hippos hippos everywhere, out of the water and grazing; silverback jackals; bat-eared foxes; white-tailed mongoose; genets; and one very stressed-out wildebeest who had somehow managed to get separated from her herd and was in a terrible panic in the darkness. It was a fascinating game drive, and I only wish we could have stayed out more than an hour. I love seeing the night creatures, especially, and there is something really wonderful about getting a peek into their world—a reminder that even after you’ve gone back to the lodge or back across the ocean to your own home, these animals’ lives continue to unfold in all their drama and complexity.
May 28th, 2009, 07:13 PM
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Thanks, MDK! I never thought about lots of hares in Kenya. I think I've seen only a couple. On some night drives in Southern Africa they were everywhere. Seems to be the same thing in Kenya if you are out at night. Somehow I thought the night drives would be longer than an hour. Even 90 minutes would be better. I'll check on the duration before I sign up.
"I love seeing the night creatures, especially, and there is something really wonderful about getting a peek into their world—a reminder that even after you’ve gone back to the lodge or back across the ocean to your own home, these animals’ lives continue to unfold in all their drama and complexity."
Yes, the beat goes on. A good description you gave.
"I love seeing the night creatures, especially, and there is something really wonderful about getting a peek into their world—a reminder that even after you’ve gone back to the lodge or back across the ocean to your own home, these animals’ lives continue to unfold in all their drama and complexity."
Yes, the beat goes on. A good description you gave.
May 29th, 2009, 03:24 PM
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MyDogKyle,
Meant to mention the uniqueness of a baby black mamba on the night drive. How close?
I would think that sighting is the opposite of a polar bear in a snow storm eating vanilla ice cream.
You must have written notes by the light of a flashlight or immediately transcribed your thoughts when you got back to remember all those specifics from the night drive.
I did not think Sarova Shaba was known for all the animals around. I even plan to visit Shaba and stay at Sarova when I am able to get to Kenya again, but didn't think it would come up in the top couple of locations for animals.
Meant to mention the uniqueness of a baby black mamba on the night drive. How close?
I would think that sighting is the opposite of a polar bear in a snow storm eating vanilla ice cream.
You must have written notes by the light of a flashlight or immediately transcribed your thoughts when you got back to remember all those specifics from the night drive.
I did not think Sarova Shaba was known for all the animals around. I even plan to visit Shaba and stay at Sarova when I am able to get to Kenya again, but didn't think it would come up in the top couple of locations for animals.
May 29th, 2009, 04:03 PM
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The snake was about 2 feet from our vehicle, and we just got lucky that the spotter picked it up when he was swinging the light around looking for eye shine. It was on the move, but it froze for a moment when the light hit it. I like snakes, but in this case I was glad we were watching it through a window! The guide said it was a juvenile, based on its size. (But it would be much cooler to see a polar bear eating ice cream..!)
Yes, I always have a little notebook with me to jot down things that will help me remember later, and my husband also writes notes at the end of each day. We've been doing this throughout all our travels together -- we both take notes, I write the journal, and he illustrates it. I'm usually at least a few days behind on writing my actual journal, so the notes are invaluable! I also like to keep track of which animals we saw on which days, for help with labeling our photos later (I especially need that help with birds).
My two cents about the Mara Sarova was that it was a nice place to stop for lunch on the way into the park, but the Mara Serena had a much better location for wildlife viewing. (In late Sept./early Oct., at least)
Yes, I always have a little notebook with me to jot down things that will help me remember later, and my husband also writes notes at the end of each day. We've been doing this throughout all our travels together -- we both take notes, I write the journal, and he illustrates it. I'm usually at least a few days behind on writing my actual journal, so the notes are invaluable! I also like to keep track of which animals we saw on which days, for help with labeling our photos later (I especially need that help with birds).
My two cents about the Mara Sarova was that it was a nice place to stop for lunch on the way into the park, but the Mara Serena had a much better location for wildlife viewing. (In late Sept./early Oct., at least)
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