petlover

We are on a African cruise in which the fare includes various excursions which we must choose.

We have two full day options to chose from in Mombasa on Feb. 12 (both include charter flights from Mombasa).

#1 is called "Amboseli in the shadow of mighty Kilimanjaro" which involves a flight on a chartered aircraft to Amboseli National Park with a game drive, then luncheon at Ol Tukai Lodge. 9 hour day

#2 Is called "Nairobi Then and Now". This is a full day tour of Nairobi including the Karen Von Blixen (Out of Africa) museum, a trip to the Giraffe Center (AFEW) devoted to the preservation of endagered Rothschild giraffes; then on to the Daphne Sheldrick conservation center elephant orphanage; then to African Heritage House. 11 hour day

We will be doing a safari for a few days to Mataya (Madikwe) 2 weeks before this out of Johannesburg so we will get to go on one safari for sure.

Trying to choose which option to go with #1 or #2. They both sound so good. I appreciate the advice for you experts, I am an Africa novice!
Thank you!

waynehazle

Very easy choice for me: #2

But let me give some caveats. I went to Africa in October. Amboseli was HORRIBLY HORRIBLY dusty and barren. After being in the Masai Mara, Amboseli did feel like something of a let down.

HOWEVER, I saw some incredible herds of elephants there. I saw babies nursing. They were right off the side of road. The ostriches were also cool. You can see my Amboseli pics at:
waynehazleDOTcom/eastafrica/amboseli/

I also got the best view of a hippo for my entire trip at Amboseli. Almost everywhere in Africa the hippos stayed in the water and away from the road. But at one spot in Amboseli, a lone hippo stepped out of the water and just grazed by the side of the road.
waynehazleDOTcom/eastafrica/amboseli/roll22/index001.html

And yes seeing Kilimanjaro is great. Here is me and the family.
waynehazleDOTcom/eastafrica/amboseli/digital/100_1630.html

I must say that in the year since my trip my appreciation for Amboseli has grown, especially after hearing OTHER people's experiences. You may want to check the rain situation and see what it will be like in February.

-------------

Nairobi and the Sheldrick Conservation Center were wonderful. So was the Giraffe Center. Haven't been to the museum, but I hear it is great. I just think a day in Nairobi with those destinations give you such a great feeling for Kenya.

But I guess I should also ask you if you have ever been on safari before? Are you planning to go back for safari?

And ultimately you have to think, do I prefer a day in the city seeing multiple fascinating wildlife areas.

or a day in the wild with a place with an incredible elephant population that may (or may not) be incredibly dusty and dry?

OK, now that I have typed all this it has gotten to be a bit harder choice!

petlover

Thanks Wayne, for some reason I can't get any of your photos to open when I copied and pasted address?

waynehazle

Petlover,

I have been cheating. When I paste in the long url, it throws off the formatting of the post, so I removed the . and put DOT.

However, I will do what has been recommended for a long time and use Tinyurl.
To see my Amboseli site:
http://tinyurl.com/kbx7h

then check out
http://tinyurl.com/fw3lg

and also
http://tinyurl.com/e5cow

petlover

Thank you very much. This time the links worked (except for the last one). You have such wonderful pictures!

thit_cho

I will admit that Amboseli is one of my least favorite African national parks, but I would still select Option No. 1 over No. 2.

I have been to Karen Blixen's house and to the Giraffe Center, and I'd prefer a safari, which has the potential to see lots of amazing things, to a historic house and two attractions that are really zoos (captive animals). I haven't been to Daphne Sheldrick's and I'm sure she does great work, but to me, its still a zoo. African Heritage House sounds like a tourist trap (but I haven't been and I'm basing that narrowly formed opinion solely on its name).

atravelynn

What are your pets?

I'd go to Amboseli because it is more wild--even more wild than Madikwe. I enjoyed my stay in Amboseli. Option #2 would be nice also.

Out of curiosity what is the cruise itinerary?

petlover

Thank you. I think we've decided on Amboseli. We are actually going on a 4 month long around the world cruise which begins in Ft. Lauderdale, then to South America, then to Africa, on to Asia, then Europe then back to USA. Too lenghthy to list all 55 ports. (we overnight 1-3 nights in many of them so it's somewhat of a combination cruise/land vacation (3 nights in Cape Town). As for my pets, we have 3 cats and 2 dogs and a 25 year old daughter who is a GREAT house/pet sitter.

Thanks for your help!!

atravelynn

Wow, what a cruise! Good thing they will have your daughter to look after them.