1ladyrep

Hi I am signed in as 1ladyrep but when we went to South Africa I used the name Spiegelcjs. You were all so helpful and we actually met some of you at the LA get together. That trip was amazing and we used Eyes on Africa. We r now looking to plan Kenya and Tanzina for 2014. Suggestions for the following please
1. Best time of year for weather, viewing and migration
2. There is never enough time but what is a good amount?
3. Suggestions for companies for independent tour

Thanks as always

ShayTay

If you are planning to go to both countries, I'd suggest about 3 weeks. For Kenya and Tanzania, late July into early August would be great to catch the Migration in the northern Serengeti and/or the Masai Mara, which is an extension of the Serengeti ecosystem. I did this trip earlier this year in this timeframe and had a great time. My safari planner was Bill Given of The Wild Source. His guide Deo Magoye was wonderful!

1ladyrep

Thanks Shay Tay for this info and your e-mail I am going to contact Bill and tell him you sent me

atravelynn

Hi Spiegelcjs! Even Sept. Good luck!

RayW

I posted my safari experience elsewhere but I hope it will be helpful to you. I am already saving Kili and Tanzania.

Last August, my wife and I finally made our dream safari to Kenya;s Maasai Mara.
We stayed for a week with three days spent at the Intrapids camp while the remainder of the stay was at the Mara Safari club. Evans from Africa Remote Safaris was our guide.
While at the Mara Safari Club area and even Mara intrapids there were just too many vehicles ostensibly due to the peak tourism season and the migration of course.
Evans our guide would literally try and sneak out of the Many safari cars to do our game drives far away from the prying eyes of the Mara conservancy rangers, who were sometimes too enthusiastic in their work. In an effort to assert their control of game drives, they had taken over our guiding duties, like deciding how much time each group could stay with an animal. This was bad news for us because we really wanted to take our time and learn about the Animals and their behavior. All was not lost though because our guide drove far into the bush away from the rest. Each time he spotted something interesting, he would switch off the engine and we would stay for as long as we wanted just appreciating the animals.
Our 3rd day especially was made special as our guide decided to drive almost 45kilometeres from the hotel near Syria(or is it Siria)hills, no vans in sight not the noisy radios, just a sense of tranquil with the only sound coming from the animals..On this day we encountered a lone Cheetah. We were amazed with amount of knowledge our guide had about the wildlife, for instance, we encountered a lone Cheetah that was apparently a male hunting. We switched of the engine and were surprised when the cheetah came round and jumped on the bonnet, and made it part of his hideout to hunt the many gazelles in our vicinity. Evans explained to us that the Cheetah is able to hunt while adopting to the natural environment to stalk its prey without being noticed.

Our 5th day in the Mara we left camp very early as this was the day when we were switching camps, this was not entirely our decision. Our full day game drive was even more rewarding. Evans had told us about a famous pride of Lions around Mara Serena Lodge that are said to be ‘brothers’. We learned that when the cubs are weaned and old enough, the females are left with the Lioness while the male leave the pride. The males leave to adopt to a nomadic lifestyle, forming several territories. In this instance some males had decided to stay together and were hunting together using their superior strength and ‘brotherly’ bond. Seeing this Lions was indeed rewarding. I reckon they must be a must see since some cars had driven very far into the Mara triangle in search of the ‘brothers’

On Day 6 we were surprised to learn that we could not continue with our guide since the Camp was providing us with their vehicles and driver guides.(Maasai).
We asked to be taken back to the same place we had spotted the Lions the previous day. It had rained the previous night hence some roads were very slippery, we stopped on seeing some hyenas feasting on a carcass, the ‘brothers’ seem to have killed a Buffalo.A brief confrontation ensued between the lions and the invading hyenas. Hyenas know better than to meddle with a brotherhood coalition on a meal. They took their place and waited for the kings to have their fill.
As we were being driven through the herds of wildebeests on the last day. I couldn’t help but marvel at the quality of Guides(drivers) I learnt a lot. We certainly will come back. We would like to thank Evans Agade of Africa Remote Safaris for always being patient with us not forgetting his amazing driving skills on the tough road to Masai Mara. We will definitely be back.
Visited August 2012