barefootbeach

Jan. 26, 2008: Two week flying safari organized by Africa Adventure Company begins...after much worry, daily checkings of Google Alerts on Kenya and Fodor talk updates, landed in Nairobi on a half full flight from Amsterdam on KlM...half expected to see the city in flames as we landed, but all looked normal. Driver from Cheli & Peacock met us for the transfer. Because I wanted to avoid the city centre, we overnighted at House of Waine in Karen...about a 45-50 min. drive...did notice a few police checkpoints along the road. Driver pointed out the Kibera Slums which actually didn't look too far away. House of Waine was beautiful...room was large and stylish,the marble bathroom with a huge tub and shower were put to use at once, and the bed and linens were luxurious...one of the most comfortable rooms I never slept in...should have taken a sleeping pill. They also had fresh cookies and coffe/tee setup in the room. Had a wakeup call at 5:00am to leave by 6:15am...made us a cooked breakfast at that ungodly hour.

Driver took us to Wilson and assisted checking us on in on the Safarilink flight to Amboseli. I was relieved to see we'd past the first weight hurdle...we stayed under the 33 # limit. ALso handed over to the driver a duffle filled with 50# of school supplies...glad to get rid of that...Cheli & Peacock saw that it got delivered to two children's centers/homes for abandoned and special needs children and they later sent an email of thanks. Since you're allowed to check two bags on the international flights, it's a good use for your baggage allowance.

We were pleasantly surprised by the flights we took on small airlines...Safarilink, Air Excel and Regional Air Charters...they were timely, smooth, and showed up at remote airstrips as promised. This first one held about 7 passengers and we were thrilled to see our first "game"...herds of zebras from the plane.

Our driver from Tortilis Camp, Simon, was waiting in an old open Land Rover. We later realized that these open game vehicles, Land Cruisers incl, are the preferred means...the enclosed pop-up types that we had to use at Ngorongoro were too restrictive for viewing, moving around, & photography...not to forget comfort. We picked up 2 women and we were off for a 2 & 1/2 hr game drive back to camp.
Right away, within sight of the airport, we saw two lions, one male, sleeping off the road. He banged on the truck (a no-no) but one just sleepily looked at us and went back to sleep. But, we'd seen our first predator! That am. was very productive, saw dainty little Thomson gazelles, tails flicking constanty, herds of Cape Buffalo looking at us suspiciously with their Dutch-girl horn helmets, huge elephants trailing their babies as they pondered across the road just in front of us as we held our breath, dizzying zebras, spotted hyenas skulking across the grass,, lots of wildebeest, looking rather unattractive with their oddly shaped back and gray whiskers, impala, funny little warthogs, Guinea, Gray Crowned Cranes, a majestic looking bird, Helmeted Guineafowl, pairs of Fish Eagles, Egyptian Guinea Hen, Ostriches, and Hippos...unbelievably huge when they lift their head out of the water...and way in the distance, a few giraffes...which were the animall that we most wanted to see. It was an incredible game drive to welcome us to Africa. As we were soon to find out, it doesn't always happen that way.
I was expecting Amboseli to be one big dust bowl, since it's name means "Land of Dust"..but there'd been some rains recently, and it was green and rather pretty, in a scrubby kind of way. As of now, Kilimanjaro was swathed in clouds, as she frequently in, and a light overcast kept the temperature pleasant in the 70's. We did see some dust devils in the distance, eerily lighted swirling clouds.

Got to Tortilis Camp about 11:30...you enter a lovely dining/lounge complex shaded by a huge conical thatched roof, that's set high up overlooking a watering hole that attracts wildlife, acacia trees, and the mountains of Kilimanjaro and others are on the horizon..stunning!
From there, we walk down a rather steep, winding stone path to the individual tents, nestled privately in the bush. Tent #1 had the best view of Kili...our was #10, which had a partial view of the mtns, but mostly looked at bush vegegation. I loved the tent..set on a stone terrace with outside loungers, wooden floor inside, huge king bed, chest at foot of bed, large bathroom in back with stone shower, flush toilet and 2 sinks...wood paneled wall separating it from sleep area...conical thatched room extended over the canvas walls..and a bottle of champagne congratulating us on our 25th Anniversary! For bookings being down, there seemed to be a fair numner of people here...about 20-24. Lunch was freshly made pasta, carved turkey, salads and chocolate cake. We ate everything because they prepare dished with good water.
After a nap, we were off for the afternoon game drive...the clouds had cleared off Kili and we could see the snow-covered top. But, it was raining lightly, which made for a dreary game drive...and we saw very few animals.
Excellent candlelit dinner in the open restaurant...mushroom risotto, beef steak with sauces, mashed potatoes, veggies, and ice cream...wine is included with your lunch and dinner. Temp was probably in the mid-60's at dinner.Slept like a baby with cool breezes wafting in the open tent flaps.

Wakeup call at 6am with coffe and biscuits(cookies) delivered to your tent. Game drive started at 6:30 with a glowingly pink sunrise and top of Kili visible. We enjoy the 2 women who share these with us...they're alot of fun and want to see "Twiga" (giraffes) too.
Walking up the hill in the semi darkenss, two cute little dik-dik's ran by us.

The am drive was a bit of a bust..just elephants, good hippos, some wildebeest, large herd of cape buffalo, but no giraffes. Did see some new things, a Gerenuk with its lovely long neck, A Reedbuck, similar to our deer, a Waterbuck, similar to our deer but bigger, and a Marabou Stork. But, it was a lovely morning, a bit cool (upper 50's) and we loved just driving around and seeing the scenery. Came back for breakfast at 9am. Nice gift shop and wish I had bought more items...remember the Moscow Rule of Shopping, if you see something you like buy it, because you probably won't find it again. There were some nice necklaces there, but since it was only our first stop, I didn't know prices, or if I'd see something better...never saw them again.
Got hot & sunny in afternoon, and lounged around the pool (which was chilly) after another great lunch.

Last game drive here and we're getting mutinous for giraffe (not really!) One of the women buys a Swahili phrase book, so we quickly learn some animal names...chanting Twiga, Twiga. Our guide doens't look promising, as there aren't many trees around here...for the giraffes to feed on. But, he takes off in another direction, asks permission from some park officials, and next thing we know, we're driving and driving across a vast, dried up lake bed...like being on the moon. At the opposide side, in the wooded slopes of Kilimanjaro...very near the Tanzania border, he finds us our target...about 8 lovely Maasai giraffes leisurely munching the tops of Acacia trees. We take picture after picture. Then, they start gliding along past Mt. Kimimanjaro as the sun comes out, the top clears, and we have the snow-capped mountain as the quintessential backdrop! Perfect! One of the highlights of our safari.

After that we watched a troop of baboons playing...tiny babies clutching on to their mom's bottoms, sinister looking males, gliding by never taking his eyes off us.

On the drive back, in the fading light, we had fun watching a herd of elephants wallowing in a muddy swamp, half submerged, joined with huge hippos. After a slow morning, this was truly a grand finale to Amboseli and it was nice seeing a different part of the park. Despite it's scrubbiness, it's still beautiful.

That night, there were just 3 couples in camp...guess yesterday was a one-day small group who came in...this is more typical. They set up our dining table out under the stars, above the campfire, and it was magical...the stars were brilliant! We joined up with the 2 women (from Scotland & England)for dinner...they're much younger than us, but we shared a lot of laughs and great conversation.

Next morning as we were packing, we finally saw the Vervet monkeys...one was on our deck and the others in a tree next to us.

All in all, Amboselli is a greata first park to go to, and Tortilis Camp is the place to stay. Excellent accommodatons, food, staff, driver/guide and scenery.

samcat

barefootbeach,
I love the way you've written this. I can feel your experience. Like I, you've included menus, which is interesting -- particularly for those who've not been to Africa.
Looking for the rest!
samcat

sandi

Great start. Amboseli & Tortilis was also my very first park and camp years back.

Suggest for reading purpose, you keep the entire report under one thread. It'a also easier for our wonderful Fodorite LyndaS who keep the East Africa Index up-to-date, to track your adventures.

Waiting for next segment.

Nyamera

Barefootbeach, thanks for starting your report. I think it’s the first time I’ve heard of gerenuk inside Amboseli NP. Everybody seems to see gerenuk “before the gate”. Was it in an area with bushes close to Tortilis?

barefootbeach

Glad you're enjoying the report so far. As you can tell, I'm as interested in locale, food, scenery and accommodations as seeing the animals!
Sandi,
I thought I'd time out by adding the trip reports to one thread. Maybe I'm misunderstanding "thread"...do I continue with the other parks by replying to my original one on Amboseli? Or start a new trip report on each camp? Also, what's the best way to include photos?
Right now, you can go to "www.photoshopshowcase.com"
and see my collection under "Amboseli" under the latest additions. Seems like there should be a better way of moving them from photoshop to here.
Nyamera,
I'm sorry but I don't remember where we saw the gerenuk in Amboseli...it was just in my notes. We saw tons more of them in Shaba...the next stop.

atravelynn

Happy 25th!

You had a very attentive and accommodating guide who went the extra mile(s) literally to find the giraffes!

Lots of other good animal action too!

How nice you made a school supply delivery.

From your lack of mention of problems, it appears the tragic events in Kenya did not affect you. That's been the consistent news from everyone coming back. Flying probably helped your cause.

I'd agree with you about starting in Amboseli and your thumbs up on Tortilis.

Since you asked about threads, I'd keep everthing here. Your title will hold true throughout your entire report because wherever you went, Amboseli was 1st. It also is helpful to see your whole itinerary at some point.

Great start and I am wondering if you ended up barefoot on a beach or not.

Patty

Great report so far!

Yes, I would add the next installment by replying to this thread instead of starting separate ones on each camp.

I think this is the direct link to your album http://www.photoshopshowcase.com/Vie...95607&AT=3

After I found your album, I clicked on "Share" at the bottom and emailed myself an invite. At the bottom of the invite was the link I pasted above which should take you directly there.

barefootbeach

Thanks Patty for clarifying how to find the photos!

cary999

BFB - how about a short listing of your total itinerary, please. Including number of days at each camp.

regard - tom

philw

Great report- look forward to reading the next installment. I haven't been to Amboseli since the early 1980's - at that time it was the best place to see lion (and to a lesser degree cheetah) in Kenya. No one seems to mention cat sightings there any more - does anyone know what happened - disease ?

waynehazle

Wow Amboseli can look great with a little rain

barefootbeach

Part 2: Shaba Reserve

Let me backtrack and give you my overall itinerary, beginning with arriving in Nairobi, Jan 26, 2008:

KENYA
Nairobi, House of Waine, 1 night
Amboseli, Tortilis Camp, 2 nights
Shaba, Joy's Camp, 2 nights
Maasai Mara, Little Governor's Camp, 2 nights

TANZANIA
Arusha, Arusha Coffee Lodge, 1 night
Lake Manyara, Lake Manyara Tree Lodge, 2 nights
Serengeti, Kusini Camp, 3 nights
Ngorongoro Crater, NG Serena Lodge, 2 nights
Zanzibar, Unguja Resort, 3 nights
Beyt al Chai (Stonetown Inn) 1 night

Stopover in Amsterdam at the Canal House Hotel, 2 nights before and 1 night after.

The US Tour operator is The Africa Adventure Company...their Kenya operator is Cheli & Peacock and their Tanzania operator is CC Africa.

My Shaba photos can be viewed at:
http://www.photoshopshowcase.com/Go....mp;ABID=298965

Left Amboseli on Safarlink, connecting through Wilson airport in Nairobi. It was a seamless transfer...on arrival, someone met us as we got off the plane, checked our name, gave us new boarding passes, we identified our luggage, and they moved it to a plane nearby. Extremely easy. While waiting to reboard, we saw the local newspaper with stories of more violence that's spreading to new areas and the first news of the murder of 2 German tourists during a robbery at a private villa on the coast. An American couple on the plane with us, who had also been at Tortilis, were met by their tour operator to advise them of a change in plans...instead of driving in a couple of days(to Laikipia, I think) they would fly instead because of the 'trouble'.

Our plane with 7 passengers, stopped first at Samburu, where the other American couple got out, and we continued to Shaba. From the air, Samburu looked pretty nice and I was wondering if we'd made the right choice for Shaba instead. As we approached the Shaba airstrip, which is nothing but a strip in the ground, we saw a lone Range Rover waiting...Newton, our driver/guide from Joy's Camp was waiting. We're starting to feel like true explorers!
The drive to Camp took about 20 minutes, and although Shaba is a semi-arid region, it looked much more lush than Amboseli, more trees and bushes, and grasses and hills & rocks...and hotter too, probably upper 80's.
Joy's Camp is set on the former residence of Joy Abramson, of "Born Free" fame. She was actually murdered her, believed to be by a former employee rather than a lion, as initially reported.
The camp's inspiration evoked a Moorish/Arabian fantasy, instead of neutral African decor. Very chic and colorful with curving whitewashed walls, arched niches, hanging beads, exotic sconces, and arched windows.
The scenery looked out at five different mountains across a meadow with a watering hole.

We were led to the farthest, most private tent...#1, The Chief's Tent. This was the favorite tent of one of two partners who built the camp, who tragically died a month after completion.
It is amazing...large, colorful, exotic. During the day, the tent's flaps are always open to a large wooden raised deck with a wide open meadow view to the mountains.
The bed is masssive with a colorful fabric and Arabic hanging lights. The huge bathroom has 2 sinks, a glassed wall shower, with an arched window that looks outside. The only problem was the atmospheric lighting was not bright enough to be practical...like putting in contacts or applying makeup.
A great 3 course lunch was served in a tented, half-white pavilion...overlooking the mountains, the watering hole and the free-form swimming pool, which was a more comfortable temperature than Tortilis. It appeared that there were only 2 other couples staying here, about a 25% occupancy.

At 4:00, our first game drive with Newton, which happened to be private. To my delight,we soon saw a bunch of reticulated giraffes, only found in this area of Kenya, and I believe much prettier than their Maasi cousins. Also, it was antelope heaven with lots of Grant's gazelles, gerenuk with their long skinny necks, impala, and jittery little Dik Diks...I had trouble photographing them because they seemed extremely skittish and ran away too quickly. The Grevy's zebras, again only found in this area, was especially stiking and more attractive than the Plains Zebra...it's stripes wiere thinner and closer together and had more of a mane. Also watched a male and female Masai ostrich run by.
Newton drove us up into the hills and we enjoyed a sundowner as the sun was setting. Newton is extremely knowledgeable and seemed a warehouse of facts about the animals, topography and flora...he talked the most of any of our guides.
Got back to camp late, 7:20p so had to shower fast and let hair air-dry before dinner. ( I didn't even pack a hair dryer) We couldn't walk in the evening without a Samburu guide, who lit the way with his torch...pointing out a little scorpion on the path that I had just missed in my thong sandals.

Dinner was set up under the stars, very elegant, overlooking a bonfire. Stars were crystal clear although it was difficult to identify constellations in the southern hemisphere. Food was excellent: Cream of Leek soup, Sauteed breaded eggplant, Baked Tilapia in a delicous sauce, roasted potatoes & green beans, but bad ice cream for dessert. Again, wine was included with the meals.

By the way, we loved the local soda, Krest Bitter Lemon, which we always had for lunch. Very refreshing.

Very comfortable bed and temperture for sleeping...all the side flaps were open.

Next morning 6:30am game drive started out cool, but what a beautiful morning. Drove into some lovely, green and lush areas near the river, but didn't see many animals. Some zebra, gazelles, a secretary bird, a rock hydrax, ostrich...wanted to see Simba (lions) but no luck. After driving for a couple of hours, Newton asked if we were ready for our picnic breakfast...after our strong affirmative, he said the camp had forgotten to put in the food! We were annoyed, but didn't say anything too negative, and I pulled out boxes of raisins for all of us to tide us over. Then, he drove near the river and he spotted someone had set up a camp down there...turns out it was a surprise Bush Breakfast, right on the banks of the Ewaso Ngiro river. The tables had colorful tablecloths, the chef was making eggs to order, and another couple from camp joined us. The beauty of the area made up for the lack of animals.
As an aside, before we reached the bush breakfast, I experienced my first bush loo break behind the Range Rover...for you women out there, the Urinelle product (a paper type funnel)works great!

The game drive back to camp was uneventful again. Guess we saw all the animals yesterday. Newton said that the rains they had gotten recently had sent the animals over to the Samburu side.

After another delightful lunch: 3 bean salad, chicken drumsticks in curry sauce, asparagus risotto and fruit salad, it was time for some relaxation with a 30 min. back massage for both me and my husband...Jane, the masseuse, set up the table on our deck, and it felt heavenly with the warm breezes caressing your body.
We are loving Africa! The people are so warm and gracious, and it's so sad and frustrating that the two greedy, power-hungry politicians are ruining Kenya and killing all those people over the sake of politics. The future doesn't look good. When we checked in yesterday the manager informed us that now a parliament member had been murdered.

4:30 game drive...Newton said he'd drive us to Penny's Falls, named after one of Joy Abramson's leopards, but we wouldn't see many animals. He was right. My husband got concerned when we saw 2 men wearing camouflage fatigues, walking along the road carrying rifles...but Newton assured us they were park rangers on patrol.

On the way home, I spotted a striped hyena, mom, but didn't see the 2 cubs.

Newton surprised us again, by taking us to a hilltop for the view...and the camp had set up a bar for sundowners, with the other 2 couples in camp (one from Nairobi, one from England). We're getting to like these Gin & Tonics...very colonial!

A rush to clean up for dinner and tonight's menu: Green Pea soup, Smoked Trout on Savory pancakes with caper sauce, Filet of Beef, Mash Potatoes & Squash, and Chocolate nut torte...withh a South African merlot. Excellent!

Back to tent and found mosquitoes all over the ceiling, despite my husband had duct taped some screen holes earlier. Used the emergency walkie talkie to request Doom, since our can was empty. Took awhile, but the Samburu guard came back and sprayed for us...he had trouble finding a full can also. With the tent flaps open, the fresh air helped dissipate the spray.

Apparently, the guards heard a lion near our tent in the wee hours, but we slept through it.

Next morning,tThe staff turned out to wave us good bye...we really loved the personal attention here and enjoyed seeing the difference of more arabic features on some of the people up here. Shaba is quite lovely, even if the animals prefer Samburu right now, and Newton is a sweetheart.
On the way to the airstrip, we saw the hyena cubs. It's amazing to watch a small plane approach and land on an airstrip just to pick us up.

Stopped at Samburu again enroute to the Maasai Mara, and that American couple got on. Their plans had changed again because of the violence, and were now going to the Maasi Mara instead of Laikipia.

Next: Maasai Mara, Little Governor's Camp

simbakubwa

Barefootbeach,

If you had to choose one country, did you prefer your Kenya experience or your Tanzania experience?

ranchobernardo

Hi barefootbeach,

What an awesome discription of your travels in Amboseli. I love the photo of the two Twiga's with Kilimanjaro in the distance. George looked pretty enthralled while in the Land Rover. Such a grand way to celebrate your 25 years of marriage. Happy Anniversary!

barefootbeach

Simbakubwa,
That's a tough one, but we'd have to give the nod to Kenya. We saw the most interesting animals there, the scenery was a bit better, generally preferred the camps, and they seem to be a notch up on the service...ways things work scale. In retrospect, I think I would've preferred to do a week in South Africa around Capetown (not in the game parks because it's their rainy season now) instead of Tanzania, just for the variety of experiences. I know this is heresy, but we were getting tired of game drives after 2 weeks of it. Initially though, I just couldn't choose between the two.

Patty

Thanks for posting your Shaba installment and photos! We stopped for breakfast at the same spot along the river (only ours was a packed picnic). Wasn't it gorgeous?

I think your hornbill is an eastern yellow-billed (do others agree?). The Von der Decken's has red on the bill and a red patch near the throat on males and a grey/black bill on the female and white stripes instead of spots on the wings. We started calling every hornbill we saw an eastern red-billed Von der Jackson's just to cover all bases

And the ostrich is a Somali ostrich which are only found in the northern areas like Samburu, Shaba, Meru. The males have a blueish neck and legs, very distinctive and beautiful.

Looking forward to the next installment and photos!

Nyamera

Thanks for you quickly posted new instalment!
I agree with Patty about the photos. And, the first picture is an impala. I very much enjoyed seeing your reticulated giraffes and Grevy’s zebras.

sandi

"the camp forgot to put the food in the vehicle" - think I've heard that one before. A sure sign they have something planned. But so wonderful that they do.

No heresy saying you're "game-drived out." Some visitors can't have enough game drives, others are fine with twice daily, and I'm fine with afternoon only. It's your holiday, go with what works best for you.

Great report so far. Waiting for more.

barefootbeach

THanks for correcting my animal tags...it's so hard for a first timer to tell all the antelope apart (and I'm cheating by refering to the Nat'l Audubon Field Guide to African Wildlife...though it's hard to tell from some pictures)
And as for birds, I have to laugh that I'm even looking them up, or took photos in the first place since I have a bird phobia from as long as I can remember! This made for an interesting time on our game drives at Lake Manyara since we were paired with two birders! More on that later.
Some of you may recall I earlier mentioned bringing a toy yellow see-thru water pistol to scare the birds away if they bothered us during meals. Well, I was upfront and showed it to security...made it from the US after some gentle persuasion...made it through the first pass in Amsterdam, but the TSA guy came back and said he was overrulled because I could paint it black and it would look real! My husband's was in his carryon, didn't show it to them, and was able to keep it. Never used it though and hope housekeeping in Zanzibar had a child to give it to.
And as for Africa, I think you could carry a bazooka in your carry-on and it would pass.
Still waking at 2:30 am...helps to edit the photos and get the trip reports written.

barefootbeach

Part 3: Maasai Mara, Little Governor's Camp, 1/31/-2/2/08

You can view my photos from here at http://www.photoshopshowcase.com/Go....mp;ABID=298965

Safarilink flight from Shaba got us into Musiara about 11:30a. Am amazed at how smooth those little planes are. That American couple whose tour operator had changed their itinerary from driving to flying were on our plane again, and now the operator had changed the venue to the Maasai Mara (from Laikipia?) because of the continuing violence. They also said they'd seen a lot of animals at Samburu, especially elephants, so that's where the Shaba animals must have gone.

Samuel the elder was there to pick us up, along with another couple from Britain. We had requested him as our guide, based on the recommendation of another Fodorite, but the camp wasn't sure he'd be back from leave, so I was glad to see him.

Right away, the difference between Shaba and the Mara in terms of animals was remarkable. We saw many giraffes, buffalo, and gazelles just during the short drive to camp. One of the fun parts of Little Governor's is the arrival. You get let off and walk down steep stone steps, with a rope railing, to a small, flat boat, and the boatsman uses a rope pulley to get you across a narrow part of the Mara River. If he let go, you'd go down a small rapids. Then, you climb up steep steps on the other side.

We and the other couple were greeted with the customary fruit juice and given our tent assignments, #14 for us and #17 for them. For the first time, I noticed on the voucher I handed over that our tour operator was requesting some special treatment for us because it was our 25th Anniversary...that was nice, I thought.

This camp has a more "authentic, Hemingway-style" feel than Joy's Camp and Tortilis. No electricity, just kerosene lamps in your tent, basic green canvas roofs, plain wood furnishings, but you're on a raised wood deck with 2 camp chairs overlooking a large waterhole, no fencing, so elephants, baboons, warthogs, etc. roam freely. The bathroom does have a flush toilet, open tile shower, sink and even a bidet! Although I knew this wouldn't be luxurious, I was still under-whelmed by the tent. It could definately use some decorating update.

The camp itself is sited well...it's in a forested part of the Mara up above a large water-hole, so it was very green and refreshing. At this camp, you must be escorted by a guard at all times and that felt a little restrictive to me. Walking to lunch, a group of warthogs ran close by us. The tables are set up so you look out over the water hole and we watched a family of baboons playing. Lunch was a buffet but very good...moussaka, lentil salads, soup, and a great chocolate banana pie. While eating, a warthog ran right up to me, and I jumped up. We also got an offer we couldn't refuse. Captain David, who pilots the famed hot air balloon rides that take off from Little Governor's, came up and offered a 2 for 1 special on the next mornings's flight due to the lack of tourists....so that turned out to be $415 for both of us and included a champagne bush breakfast. When booking the safari, we had decided against the ride because of the cost, but a 1/2 off sale is worth it.

After lunch, a family of elephants were munching in the wetlands right in front of our tent. While shooting photos of the baby, he looked like he was going to come over so I ran in the tent because I didn't want Mama to follow just as a guard ran over to warn me. It was pretty exciting to have these huge elephants so close.

3:30 game drive: On our walk to the game drive we ran into the other couple who checked in with us. They were laughing that they'd been given the honeymoon tent and they didn't know what to do with it! When we got across the river, there were several Range Rovers, and we were assigned to a different guide, Fred, while the British couple got Samuel, all to themselves! This annoyed me since we had requested him in advance. But, we set off, along with another British couple, for our first game drive.

Fred was young, reckless and didn't say much, but we did see more animals than any other place. First, after spraying my husband with mud while grinding his wheels, we basically drove off-road through a vast, boring savannah. However, there are animals everywhere you look....herds of waterbuck, topi (a first for us), Grant's and Thompson's gazelles, Impala, Maasai Giraffes, Plains Zebras, Baboons, Cape Buffalo, Elephants, all peacefully co-existing side-by-side. Watched male giraffes "necking", a play form of fighting, and saw them splay their legs so they could bend over far enough to drink.

We drove by 2 sleeping lionesses, our first close-up enounter with lions. They opened their eyes but that was about it.

I got very nervous when Fred parked the Range Rover right in the path of an approaching mom elephant with her baby. She kept coming right at us and I got afraid and said "move", while the lady in the back seat said "Oh, no!" But, Fred pulled ahead and they passed behind us. This is the problem with sharing a game vehicle: we have conflicting ideas of what's dangerous, but it didn't seem to make sense to position the vehicle right in their path.

Then, we spotted "Duma"...2 half-grown cheetah cubs playing and their mother, sitting erect on a rock. Beautiful! I hadn't realized how black and definative the teardrop marking on their faces were. Her coat was lovely...she looked so regal and elegant perched there impassively surveying the plains. Then, I was trying to figure out a temporary camera misfunction, so missed the excitement when the cubs took off after a Topi, but didn't catch it. Then, the three of them cuddled on their rock perch...I think cheetahs are rivaling giraffes as my favorite.
After that, we spotted another lioness, but she was walking around. We pulled up right next to her, and I have to admit, I'm still nervous around them, since we're in an open game vehicle without windows. But, you do get a sense of security inside the vehicle.

On the way back, the Grand Finale....leopards! A half-grown cub was up a tree with his antelope kill...exciting! It was hard to photograph him through the leaves and it was getting dark outside. Then, we spotted the mother in the bushes on the ground. She eventually started to get irritated so we left. The other woman said she'd been on 5 safaris before she ever saw a leopard. So, now we've seen 4 of the Big 5...Lion (but no male or cubs yet), Water buffalo, elephants, leopard (or cheetah), but no rhino yet.

This is going to sound really heretical, but despite seeing more game in 2 hours in the Mara than Shaba and Amboseli combined, I really didn't enjoy the game drive as much. It almost was like riding through a zoo...there was no challenge to finding the animals. I could really notice the difference in the herds of antelopes. At the other parks it was difficult to photograph them because they were so skittish. Here, they didn't run away as quickly or often. And, there are so many more game vehicles around...and this is with about 25% occupancy due to the violence...I can't imagine how crowded it must get during normal peak times. And, I didn't like the scenery...it was flat and boring...also overcast, which makes everything look worse....and I didn't like Fred, who didn't provide much information about the animals like the other guides did.

I had a hunch that the camp had mixed us up with the other couple at check-in...since they got the driver we requested and were given the honeymoon tent, which would've gone along with the special treatment request. We didn't care about the tent...actually glad we weren't at the very end of the camp where it was located...but we didn't want another game drive with Fred. So, my husband planned to talk to the mgr about it at dinner, but we were told he wasn't available to speak with until the next am.

Dinner was lovely. The tables were set up under the stars, our waiter was very good (you usually have the same waiter the whole visit), the food delicous: Garlic cream of tomato soup, red snapper starter, roast pork and potato croquettes, green beans and cheesecake for dessert. Here we had to pay for wine and soft drinks. But laundry is free, as at the other camps.

With the balloon ride, we had to have a 5:15am wake up call (with hot chocolate and bisuits) to get to the site by 5:45am..a short walk away in the dark (all the while thinking that it's prime leopard/ lion feeding time).
Heard the safety lecture about how the landing could be like a controlled car crash, the basket could turn over and be dragged...and how you have to climb over to get inside the basket pretty quickly, and started worrying if this was going to be a mistake with my knee ( had torn the miniscus a month earlier and delayed surgery until after Africa).

Last night we'd had a hard rainfall and wondered if the flight would be cancelled. However, the rain had stopped but now it was too calm. There was hardly any wind, poor visibility, and we were drifting the wrong direction. We crossed the Mara River, where we scared lots of hippos running out of the water, saw giraffes and baboons, but we were losing altitude and it looked like we were going to put down in a swamp. Not good! The captain said this was not going to work, and we had to put down in an entirely different area than planned...we made it to drier ground, thank God, but it was on Maasai land...not good again!

A lone Maasai approached and negotiated landing fees, and while we were waiting to get picked up, another Maasai came over out of nowhere with trinkets to sell. How did he get there so quickly? Anyway, my husband bought a beaded stick with the tail of a wildebeest on it...yuk! and I got a beaded bracelet...figure we should buy something.
That brings up the Maasai village visits, that are an option around here. We heard so many negative reports about the high pressure selling tactics, the lack of authenticity, etc. that we chose not to go to one.
We headed back and had our champagne breakfast at the balloon field at Little Governor's and Captain David said we could all go again tomorrow am. so we could have a good experience. We were concerned that we'd get back in time for our 11:00am flight but he assured us we would. So why not? Four flights for the price of one!

My husband had a talk with the staff about our driver situation, and found out that they had indeed mixed us up at checkin. So, on the 10:30a game drive, we went with Samuel, the other British couple, and another guy...three in a row is too crowded though. Didn't really enjoy the game drive...saw all the usual suspects but we spent way too much time waiting to see if the leoparad would come out of the bushes (didn't). I was getting bored, had gone to the same area again and I was very tired.

After lunch, we headed back to our tent for a much needed nap. However, the baby and big elephant were literally 10ft in front of our tent. Our guard motioned for us to come around the other side of the tent, but as we approached the front, the large one got very agitated and we raced back behind the tent. Again, the guard tried to get us to go to the front, but first he had to scare away another big elephant who was approaching from the other side. We shook our heads "no", but he kept motioning to keep quiet, stay low (which is hard with my knee), and while the elephant's back was turned, we raced up, unzipped the tent and ran in. Then, the elephant turned and seemed mad, and I swear was staring in the tent. We had run to the back where the bathroom was, and kept peering out to see if he had left. We were both scared and made no noise because it seemed like he could trample our tent with no problem while we were trapped in the bathroom. I told my husband to get his knife in case we had to cut through the canvas to get out. But,we waited about 10 minutes and he finally moved on.
I could finally get my nap, and decided to skip the 3:30 game drive.
My husband went, and saw a male lion and two more leopards, but I was happy with some alone time sitting on the deck, enjoying the scenery and catching up on housekeeping chores.
At dinner, sat around the campfire with a drink, before some raindrops sent us under cover in the bar. Tonight they set up the dinner tables in the tented dining area, and we did have some rain. Excellent dinner again...smoked salmon, beef filet, roasted potatoes, red cabbage.
Then, we heard chanting and about 10 Maasai warriors with their spears, dressed in red, came out preceded by the chef carrying a lighted cake. Must be someone's birthday, we thought. Well, they came up to our table and presented a lovely cake with our names and 25th anniversary on it! We were shocked! Then, they grabbed my hand and led me around the room for awhile...then it was my husband's turn to try the jumping that they do. It was very special and a lovely touch!
The bed and linens are so comfortable here and the temperature is perfect for sleeping. Heard hyenas and hippos munching outside the tent but slept well.
Another early wake up call for our second balloon try. This time we drifted off immediately in the right direction, the sun rose, and the scenery was much prettier...skimming over the treetops with the baboons below...giraffes and elephants watching us...scattering herds of gazelles..and more hippos in the Mara River. We sat down gently right in front of a hyena den, but no animals came out. Then, we were whisked off to a lovely spot high above the banks of the Mara River for our champagne breakfast. What a difference a day makes! The flight was lovely and Captain David is charming. Others took a game drive back to camp, but we went straight back to catch our flight.

Next: Tanzania: Lake Manyara Tree Lodge