iggy5858

Mohammed,
I can't tell you how much I enjoyed your detailed report-felt like I was there.
Too bad you didn't enjoy the ARK.I was there years ago and had such fun all night watching the animals interact [especially a sly hyena family] Your Sri Lankan leopard story was cool-THANKS-great job. -Thomas

whizforty

Mohammed

Thanks for sharing your trip with us. Great pictures esp.the birds. Incidentally, we will be staying at the Ark and the Sarova lodges at Shaba, Lake Nakuru and the Mara.We will be staying at Mt. Kenya Safari Club instead of your Lake Naivasha. Our boys are almost of the same ages (9 and 14) as your girls.Thanks so much for your report since we will be doing almost a similar circuit.

We leave for Kenya on the 11th. The boys and I are just eating, sleeping and talking of Kenya. Major excitement as this is our first safari.I am almost certain that we will be going back to other parts of Africa soon.

Mohammed

Hi Whiz,

I hope you and your family have a wonderful trip in Kenya. I sure did. I have travelled 5 continents but Kenya was special - it is fantastic.

BTW, I have not been to Mt Kenya Safari Club, but just in case you are not aware, I heard that they have a jacket and tie dress code for dinner. Other that this formality, I also heard it is a great place to relax.

Regards
Mohammed

stakerk

Great report! It was nice to see your photos before. However, they are even more enjoyable with your great comments!

We are going to Samburu, the Mara, and then Lamu Island next week. Your report has been the crowning touch in preparing us for our trip.

Thanks very much,

Kevin from California

Mohammed

Oh how I wish.....

... I could go back again with you Kevin.....

"Wake me up before you go go"

Have a gr8 time and all the best.

Mohammed

Hi

Has anyone got any further news on the migration?

stakerk

following are links to recent reports:

http://www.atta.co.uk/nomad/index.html

http://www.atta.co.uk/heritage/index.html

Also I mention your helpful trip report in my trip report:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34868269

Thanks,

Kevin from California

waynehazle

excellent report Mohammed.

Another strike against those Aberdares lodges. Yeah watching some elephants licking salt out of mud just can't compare to seeing them walk across the Mara.

atravelynn

I missed this when you first posted. Interesting tidbit on the Sri Lankan leopard. What a start at Samburu with leopard and hunting cheetah. The Mara crossing was very exciting to read about. Three more cheetahs!

I think 2 days at Nakuru would be a good idea too. I did only one.

What a wonderful family trip. Will check out the photos later.

atravelynn

Mohammed,

I hope you are still checking in and see this. Can you give a few more details on Crescent Island? (or anyone) How long did you stay? How long did it take you to get there from your accommodations? Can you only do guided walks? Anything else.

Mohammed

Hi there,

This refers to your posting some days back on Fodors travel forums asking me some questions on Crescent Island. I am sorry it took so long to reply but I only saw your posting and question today and thought it best to email you back.

Crescent Island is on lake Naivasha and we stayed at the Lake Naivasha Sopa Lodge. The lodge is sprawled out on a very large extent of land and from the reception area/rooms it is about 5 to 7 mins walk to the lake shore where they have a small boat jetty. The rooms are also a bit of a walk from the reception area. The lodge and rooms are very good, but staff was a bit stiff. The lodge operates its own boat ride service from the jetty. The lake has lots of hippos in it and hippos visit the hotel grounds after dark so after 6.00pm you have to call for a escort to even go to dinner. The boat ride is from the hotel jetty and takes about a 45 mins to Crescent island. Along the way you see plenty of hippos and pelicans. You can do the boat ride only without going to crescent island also. At crescent Island you do a walking safari. Basically on landing you are met by a ranger/guide who takes you on a walk. There are no predators on the island. You see giraffes, various gazelles, antelopes, zebra etc. There are supposed to be some colobus monkeys but we did not see any. I stayed there one night and one night is more than enough. In fact I would recommend to do this as a stopover en route from Mara to Nairobi and not stay the night but this would be a long day, however the effort would give one an extra full day in the Mara instead. Jus my 0.02! Hope this helps. If you need any more infor please do not hesitate to ask me.

You can see my pictures at my web site now http://www.abidally.com/mp/AfricaGallery

Regards
Mohammed Abidally
(Sri Lanka)

marthag

Mohammed....thanks so much for posting the link to this report. You have written beautifully and the report is very helpful with my trip planning. I had never heard of Crescent Island, but now I plan to include it on our itinerary.

Mohammed

Hi marthag and glad you found this report useful. Hope you too have a great trip. We are planning a family trip to South Africa next April....

Novak

We stayed at the Lake Naivasha Country Club for 2 nights after 9 nights in the Masai Mara. It was a short boat ride to Crescent Island, 10 minutes and we had no trouble at the pier, deep water and easy exit. Moses was an excellent guide and really knew his birds. Our stay here was for the birders in the family, and we were all impressed with the fish eagles. Our boat guide brought fish to feed them and they would answer his calls and swoop down and pick up the fish. Gorgeous grounds, trees, roses, huge swimming pool ( warmest one we had in Kenya). It was a nice rest at the end of our trip. This was an add on to our trip because I couldn't get the flight home that I wanted. Crescent Island was interesting, but we wouldn't do it again. The birding around the Country Club was great!

Agree that 2 nights were lovely at Lake Nakuru. One night would have been too rushed. Saw the big 4 there, including tree climbing lions.