What to do with our extra day in Kenya?
 

I just changed our outbound flights for next Jan so we could leave one day earlier. By doing so, I was able to get a more direct routing cutting our total travel time down to a mere 22 hours instead of nearly 30.

Here's what we have booked:

Day 1 - arrive NBO 6:00am, stay ?
Day 2/3 - Galdessa, Tsavo East
Day 4/5 - Satao Rock, Taita Ranch
Day 6/7 - Lion Rock, Lumo Sanctuary
Day 8/9 - Finch Hattons, Tsavo West
Day 10 - fly to Wilson, drive to Sandai
Day 11/12 - Sandai
Day 13 - Holiday Inn, Nairobi
Day 14 - 9:00am flight to SEZ

Except for Tsavo West to Wilson, the itinerary is all drive, but most are reasonable except the long drive from Nairobi to Galdessa (don't want to pay for the charter).

The simplest thing would be to stay in Nairobi on Day 1 and that could also act as a buffer day in case of any flight issues, but it's not the most exciting idea.

My other thought was to stay somewhere "on the way" to Galdessa to break up the long drive, only there really isn't a whole lot on the way. I've been interested in staying at Satao Elerai near Amboseli since I found out about it but it's a bit of a detour south off the Mombasa highway for 1 night, isn't it?

Yet another idea was to fly to somewhere on the coast, Mombasa or Malindi after arrival in NBO, spend the night and drive to Tsavo East (or Taita Ranch, I could switch the order if coming from Mombasa) the following day which would cut the drive in half vs coming from Nairobi, I think. Not sure if it's worth flying out and spending 1 night on the coast to accomplish this and it'd be awfully hot to try to do any sightseeing in Jan, wouldn't it? Most likely we'd just spend the rest of our day by the pool or in an air conditioned room. That actually doesn't sound half bad :? OTOH I could stay in Nairobi and do that.

Or I could fly out to Mombasa and head some place like Shimba Hills for the first night before going to Tsavo East (or Taita Ranch). Anyone have comments on the various options of places to stay in/around this area? Anyone been to Shimba Hills?

Finally, I could torment my TO yet again by shifting the entire Tsavo portion of our itinerary up one day and head straight out to Galdessa on Day 1. I don't like the idea of driving for 6 hours on arrival day (though that was what we were originally going to do before I moved our flights up one day), but that would enable me to stay at Satao Elerai on Day 9 which makes more sense from a driving standpoint (coming from Tsavo West) and I can still take a scheduled flight from Amboseli back to Wilson on Day 10.

Regardless of the option, I'd like to keep it to around $600ish (total for the 2 of us). If I spend any more than that, I might as well take a charter to Galdessa ;)

Thanks!

Naturally, you've given this some thought with good options.

After the long flight from the West Coast, staying in NBO would be easiest, but I'd prefer to just keep on moving.

You could 1) fly to Mombasa and relax on the beach, switch itinerary to visit Satao Rock first, then..... or 2) just drive to Galdessa and get it over with.

Galdessa is a bit pricey so compare 1) flight to and Mombasa hotel with 2) an extra o/n Galdessa. If comparable, do Galdessa and not drive your outfitter nuts by changing the routing. :)

A good portion of that road towards Galdassa is in pretty decent shape... catch some Zzzzzzzs during the ride.

You should arrive for late lunch.

No advice, just a virtual high five that you are going back again so soon! Some fascinating destinations you have chosen, as always.

Thanks, Sandi & Lynn!

I hadn't even pondered an extra night at Galdessa yet. That would make the most sense, wouldn't it? This is why 2 heads are better than one! ;) OK, that'll be idea #6.

Idea #7 which I woke up thinking this morning was to spend 1 night at the Sheldrick Ithumba camp. According to Jan's 2006 report, it's located about 1.5 hours north of Lugard Falls which is near Galdessa. Looks like we'd have to self provision though. It would be interesting to see a re-introduction location although I can do that at Voi too and "my" ele is actually at Voi.

At this point, I think I'll choose one of the options that don't impact (or only very minimally impact) the dates of my existing bookings. I want to narrow it down to 2 or maybe 3 options in my head before contacting my TO for pricing. I'll probably sleep on it for a few days and see how I feel.

Thanks for the responses so far. Anyone else? Feel free to come up with option #8 or 9 ;)

Patty, I’ve been to Shimba Hills, but an extra day at Galdessa sounds better. Ithumba sounds extremely interesting. The eles are visited/disturbed by wild dogs regularly.

For something “on the way” you could stay at Swara Plains. Safaridude gave me the idea.

Nyamera,
My ears perked up at the sound of mbwa mwitu ;)

Swara Plains sounds very interesting too and something I hadn't given any thought to before. I'll have to investigate that.

BTW, Shimba Hills is worth a visit because of the sable and elephants, the walk down to Sheldrick’s Falls and the very fat Nile monitors at the Shimba Rainforest Lodge.

I've emailed my operator about either staying an extra night at Galdessa or spending our first night at Swara Plains. Those seemed like the simplest and most straightforward options rather than my convoluted ones ;)

Thanks again!

"creative" routing :)

Just wanted to update this and say we decided to stay at Swara Plains on Day 1. I'm looking forward to it. Thanks for the advice!

Haven't read the other replies (very lazy of me) but I'd simply add an extra night at Galdessa since you only have two and a lot of the first day will be lost in travel time. Travel there on day 1 instead and enjoy the next two full days there rather than effectively just one full day.

Oops, now I've read the other responses I see a) I'm too late and b) my thought was already provided anyway!

Your decisions sounds like a good plan to me!

Your itinerary sounds lovely, Patty!

I'd like some more information on Swara Plains if someone can provide it. I came across it while investigating accommodation options for Nairobi. I guess what I'd really like to know is whether it's a viable option to something in town. Last year we stayed at the Fairfield which was very nice, but I'd like a different experience next year. Swara Plains may be too far out of town for us to consider - we'll just be stopping over for a night on our way to or from Tanzania. Thoughts. Rack rate for Swara Plains?

Hi Calo,
What are your plans for your time in Nairobi? I think Swara Plains would make a good alternative if you just wanted to spend time in the bush rather than any sightseeing/shopping in Nairobi. From what I understand, it's about the same distance to NBO as downtown hotels but in the opposite direction (southeast of the airport). We're staying at the lodge and are paying $295pp for this additional night (including full board and activities). We arrive NBO at 6:00am so will be spending a full day there before departing for Tsavo the following morning. There's also Acacia Camp which is lower priced but is full for our date, so I didn't inquire about the cost difference. Have you seen safaridude's thread? http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35067825

Raine Samuels is the lodge manager and booking contact if you want to inquire directly [email protected]

Oops, misspelled that, it's [email protected]

Hi Patty,
Thank you for this information. Very helpful. We were hoping to get a bit of shopping done while in Nairobi so maybe Swara Plains isn't a good choice, but I'll investigate further with Raine. Thank you for that contact info. I'm also investigating the Karen Blixen Cottages.