Jump to content

My Safari #3 -- Kenya again and again


amybatt

Recommended Posts

@@amybatt

 

Amboseli and its elephants really happened for you! Great to see the big herds there again. Plus you had a big bonus of a clear Kilimanjaro.

I like how you chose to concentrate on the eles in Amboseli and leave the big cats until the Mara. A very good efficient way of making the most of your time.

 

I have taken note of Tawi as it sounds a great place to stay. When I was in Amboseli I was in the Porini camp which is a long and not so interesting journey from the Park itself. I hasten to add I loved the camp and the whole ethos behind Porini but the long journey into the park made you think twice about going. Luckily there was abundant wildlife in the conservancy. Only downside you miss the great herds of eles in the park.

 

Right onto your time in the Mara and hopefully some cats!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@CarolE yes, Tawi was wonderfully situated to get to Amboseli quickly, plus it was in its own conservancy, so the best of both worlds! If I returned to Amboseli I wouldn't hesitate to stay there again. I was thrilled with the elephants, they certainly did show up for me!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Conundrum is right. But I am sure you'll get it worked out one way or another.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well I'm caught up. The Mara - what a rollercoaster! My emotions were up and down just reading it, heaven knows how you coped!

I think all in all the positives outweighed the negatives in the end. Bravo to you for asking to leave situations with the appalling behaviour of others. More people need to be doing this so that guides and camps know it is not acceptable.

Then karma did happen....you received the great sightings you deserved. The last lion almost kill sighting in the Mara sounded thrilling. Add that to a great leopard and other lion sightings (those 3 mohawk guys are going to be causing trouble in the future!) and the visit ended on a spectacular note. Then we move onto Nairobi, talking about saving the best until last. The Sheldrick eles are so cute. You only have to see the huge smile on your face to know how special that visit was for you. Then you see a leopard in Nairobi NP :)

 

So sorry to hear about the loss of one of your fosters. At least his last days were spent in a safe, fun environment with lots of love.

 

Compliments also on the photography. some cracking shots in this TR.

 

I'm possibly going back to the Mara in June and am curious, if not anxious, about long grass! If the visit happens I hope there will be areas without it. Also thank you for the food and drink information. It all sounded wonderful! I am not completely vegetarian but eat so little meat I am thinking of chosing the vegetarian option on my next trrip and your delicious meals have given me some assurancies that it can be varied, tasty and interesting!

 

Thank you for finding the time for this TR, and also so quickly after your trip! It was a really enjoyable read with some great photography..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks, @CarolE ! You made me go back and read it all again and it was a good safari in the end, despite the trials and tribulations. There really is no place like the Mara, which makes planning "where to next" so difficult, it's always calling me back!

 

I look forward to hearing how you make out in June so make sure you let us all know!! There are areas without the grass, but I was surprised, especially in the Reserve and parts of Naboisho, how high it really was. In other places, almost nothing. I wouldn't let it keep you up at night worrying.

 

Thank you for reading along!! :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@@amybatt

 

Thanks for the encouraging words about the grass!!!

The trip is almost there, I have added an extra day to it....yes in the Mara! So easy to add extra days onto safaris :) Therefore I need to have a word with the powers that be at work tomorrow to ok an extra day's leave. Then it can be booked! Really lookng forward to a return visit to the Mara, it really is a great place. And do not worry I will be reporting back on my return.

 

As you like the Mara so much have you visited the Serengeti Mara? Still the Mara but it is also somewhere else :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@CarolE, yes, my first safari finished up in the Serengeti in Tanzania. (Trip report also here). While that was wonderful, nothing beats the conservancies in Kenya for uncrowded, relaxed game viewing!

 

So happy you're ready to book. Good luck at work, I always hold my breath until work approves the time off. I will live vicariously through you when you return!! Is your itinerary all Mara? Whereabouts? (Apologies if this is on the travel planning forum, I haven't made it there yet today)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

SafariChick

Finally got a chance to read through this whole report. Thanks for all the detail, it is really helpful in envisioning the scenes. The Mara is truly a special place and you did have a bunch of good sightings despite some tribulations. I really didn't understand the whole guiding situation but glad it improved. And the beginning of the trip looked great with all the eles - I have to get to Amboselli some day.

 

The parts about Emakoko took me back to my stay there a bit over a year ago - rock hyrax coming in the room and yummy food and all. But you didn't have their special cocktail? It was soooo delicious! And I don't know if you remember from my report but I actually saw a leopard there my last day too! But my sighting was not as good as yours because Anthony had actually seen it first and called my guide after Anthony went back to Emakoko to get his camera. He was trying to describe to my guide where it was and we drove around and around and couldn't find it til Anthony came back. Even then it was farther away than yours seemed to be, but still a big thrill!

 

Also loved the Sheldrick parts - one of my favorite parts of my Kenya trip as well. I didn't realize you could book a totally private visit - I did the morning and evening ones you did but not that. So sorry about the one who died.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Was the drink a Dawa? I think vodka and lime juice with honey and brown sugar? I had had one at Carnivore (pre-vegetarian days!) a few years ago, and stuck to the wines or G&T at Emakoko.

 

The leopard I think remains a highlight, as does Sheldricks. I'd go back to Nairobi just to do that day at Sheldricks again. They do such good work, as you well know. One of the two wee babies they'd just rescued that week that I saw there still isn't available to foster but he is still alive. The second one died last week. It's such a struggle to get them over that initial hurdle. I'll foster him in Simotua's honor once he's ready.

 

Amboseli is magical. I'm so glad I went and did it the way that I did, staying so close to the park but still in a conservancy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I also wondered about the extra private visit. I am going next year and plan to visit the orphanage two or three times. I have adopted 3 orphans but have not got details about this extra opportunity. How much did you pay and how did you book it. Thanks Pen

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@@penolva, it was US$500 and can be arranged through the same address that you write to in order to get on the list for the 5 p.m. Foster Parent Visit: info@sheldrickwildlifetrust.org The private visit is at 3:00 p.m. and you can wait outside from 4-5 to do the Foster Parent Visit after. I highly recommend all three visits, but especially the two in the afternoon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@@amybatt thank you, do you happen to know if that US$500 is for more than one person? My other half will be with me and we would both like to go. Pen

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@@penolva, yes, my friend did it the week before I did and the $500 was for her and her boyfriend.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@@penolva, yes, my friend did it the week before I did and the $500 was for her and her boyfriend.

Thankyou Amy I will get in touch with them when I book our adopters visits. Pen

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lois Hild Photography

@@amybatt, I am particularly interested in your impressions of the Tawi conservancy. I have been looking for a private conservancy in the Amboseli ecosystem with good access to the park itself. How was the game viewing in the conservancy? Is it good enough for a full game drive in the conservancy itself? Was entry at the Kimana gate fairly speedy as a guest of Tawi, or were there delays at the gate? My experience with that gate has been that processing can sometimes be very slow.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@@Lois Hild Photography I never did an official game ride in the conservancy other than the to/from the park entrance, which I'd guess is a couple miles, tops. That said, I regularly saw 2-3 elephants, herds of zebra, wildebeest, warthog, a few giraffes at Tawi Lodge's own watering hole, and 3 elephant brothers between the lodge and the gate with impressive regularity. I can safely say I saw just about all I would have wanted to, except the cats, rhino and hippo. A great array of plains game and birds as well as the eles was a great find for me.

 

Granted I was there in February, so it may vary depending on when you go, but I never encountered a line entering or leaving Amboseli. My guide seemed to have bought a pass of some sort for me before I landed, so it was just a matter of him showing that at the gate each time we passed through.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lois Hild Photography

@@amybatt Thanks for the info. I have always had a pass when entering Amboseli, but there has often been a delay at that gate while they checked it and made phone calls. Maybe just my bad luck, or I look untrustworthy! LOL!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
snuglbear13

@@amybatt Amazing report and beautifully stunning pics! I am in love with cats, all cats. If I saw nothing but cats I'd be in heaven!

I laughed out loud when I read this, " I shared the vehicle with a couple and their young (4 year old) son. Bearing in mind how much I dislike kids, you can imagine that that set the tone. That is exactly how I would've felt.

 

Now that you've been to both, which would you recommend to someone wanting cat overload? (My first safari was in Sabi Sands. I've seen the usual suspects and am planning on half my trip in Tanzania to see the migration, and half Kenya.) Not sure if my budget will allow that but i'm trying.

 

I'm at the pricing stage of our proposed Feb/March trip. Is it worth going into the Reserve on the off months? I notice some lodges don't include it.

 

Thanks for your response :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@@snuglbear13 my stay at Porini Lion (also a trip report here) still holds the record for me with cats. The quantity and quality of sightings can't be beat. That said I'm doing safari #4 in Mara north conservancy. I have a rule or not trying to replicate perfection, so I'm trying other areas. I'm Hoping to get into the reserve and see the Marsh Pride while I'm there too.

 

I've only been to Kenya in Feb and I'm split on whether the Reserve is "worth it" if you're having good sightings in the conservancies. The first time it was for me, the second definitely not due to El Niño high grass and the breakdown of the vehicle. But with Mother Nature it's all a carp shoot I think! You can't go wrong in the Mara for cats anyway!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Let's skip the travel day and overnight at the Eka (it's much the same) and consider the first day in Amboseli Day One

 

I was met at the airstrip by a Tawi Lodge's guide Julius. He was dropping some passengers off and I joined a Welsh couple for the rest of their stay. Coming out of the airstrip, we hit upon a few birds of interest.

 

Ugandan cranes with chicks:

gallery_15489_1481_3551820.jpg
{Need the name for this, not in my notes...}
gallery_15489_1481_2498435.jpg

 

We headed off straight away for a scenic overlook called Noomotio. We stopped for coffee here with stunning views of Amboseli and Kilimanjaro (who had a shawl of clouds over her shoulders today). If I'd not been told that was the mountain, I would have just guessed that her snow capped top was just more clouds.

 

My first view of Kilimanjaro (midday light):

gallery_15489_1481_736824.jpg

 

Julius saw that there were maybe 30-40 or so elephants all headed toward the swamp. We had coffee and cookies and then headed in that direction too.

 

gallery_15489_1481_1576765.jpg

 

The elephants are so majestic, and so huge, but so silent. They are like gentle giants. They move silently and just sort of float past our vehicle. Two or three times they crossed right in front of us, hardly a bother on them. Julius explained how he can tell how old the elephants are by their tusks, whether they're just starting to grow in on a young one (they come in at about 4 years of age) or the medium length tusks on a 25-30 year old bull.

 

 

gallery_15489_1481_5357853.jpg

 

gallery_15489_1481_1685340.jpg

 

At the first swamp with an elephant family we came across, I kept angling for "that photo" of elephants in front of Kilimanjaro. The light was harsh, but I warned that Kili can be fickle, and I may not see it again while I'm there. So I took lots and hoped for the best.

 

gallery_15489_1481_5393068.jpg

 

gallery_15489_1481_1733109.jpg

 

 

gallery_15489_1481_1105125.jpg

 

Lunch today was pretty good. First course was a wonderful asparagus salad, with diced asparagus over a bit of lettuce with chopped olives and balsamic vinegar. The main course was pasta pomodoro, likely a spaghettini with tomato sauce. Dessert was a watermelon, mango and pineapple fruit salad. I had a glass of red with that, I think a cabernet and some still water.

 

The afternoon's game drive went back into Amboseli. We were on the look out for a big bull elephant that the researchers have named Tim. Tim is known as the oldest male in Amboseli (at the ripe age of 47) but also for enormous tusks that are well past his trunk. In fact, one is practically dragging on the ground as he walks. It took Julius a while to track him down but we finally did, on his own just chomping on grass. The tusks were indeed impressive. Either he never gets in fights, or he always wins them, because for them to be that long without getting broken is quite the feat. Julius says Tim's in musth now, meaning he's ripe to mate. This period can last up to 20 days or more. So look out ladies, Tim and his tusks may be coming at you.
gallery_15489_1481_3311657.jpg
Tim:
gallery_15489_1481_5583800.jpg
gallery_15489_1481_3674874.jpg
I saw a lot of lone wildebeest out here, more so than I remember anywhere else I've been. I thought they were herd animals but Julius says the weaker males get chased out of a herd and aren't allowed to mate, so they then will live the rest of their lives alone. That's sort of sad. Adolescent elephants are also forced out of their pride when they come of age, but they will eventually form a boys' club with other adolescent males and live as a bachelor herd for a while. Funny how nature works.
The landscape here is also interesting. Amboseli National Park is flat with almost no trees at all. So inside the park, you'll see mainly plains game, but mostly elephants. There are no giraffes since there aren't any trees really. There are lions but they are hard to spot and I have to think the lack of available food might hinder them somewhat. Julius said he hadn't seen a lion in about 5 days, so not that long, but long enough for me to think I won't see one.
Outside the Amboseli, the conservancies are really bushy and filled with trees. There's a weird African palm that look almost like the palm trees we see in L.A. But also acacia and baobab. That draws the giraffes. And I saw them quite a lot more than I expected. Tonight on the way in we also saw some jackals, another hippo lounging in a pool, two parent Grey Crowned Cranes with four chicks and some zebra. I'd estimate today I saw somewhere in the neighborhood of 150-200 elephants. They are EVERY where.
Ugandan cranes photo-bombed by a white bird:
gallery_15489_1481_526943.jpg
Julius our guide is an ornithologist. He knows more about birds than I think any guide I've had before. We stopped at a bush where hundreds of these yellow weavers (chestnut weavers, I think?) were building nests. These were the males trying to impress one of two females hanging about. Whichever male she picked, she'd mate with. It was quite a cacophony of activity, with the males squeeking and preening and fluttering their wings as they maniacally went about building these orb-shaped nests. That was really neat to see, and learn why they're doing it. There were other weavers doing the same thing over the path on the way to the reception area at Tawi.
Weavers:

gallery_15489_1481_367908.jpg

 

gallery_15489_1481_1697246.jpg

Kori bustard trying to impress the ladies with that neck of his:
gallery_15489_1481_4258282.jpg

As the day went on, more and more of Kilimanjaro became covered in clouds. As the sun set, the clouds seemed to lift and we saw more of it at dusk than we did all day. I'd love to get one good clear view of it just to get the photos. It is truly beautiful.

 

gallery_15489_1481_1808053.jpg
gallery_15489_1481_4454798.jpg

 

I freshened up a bit before dinner and then had a gin and tonic at the bar with the Welsh couple. They then invited me to join them for dinner, which was really good fun. Whomever the chef is really knows how to do a salad. Tonight's was beet root salad which was just wonderful. Then a potato leek soup. My main course (vegetarian option) was a succotash with zucchini, cauliflower, mushroom and tomatoes over a handful of french fries. I'm not sure what the sauce and seasoning was, but it was very good. Dessert was a slice of cheesecake. All very very good. Portions are just the right size given that we do nothing but sit around in the vehicle all day!

 

They should call it, Ambereli :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

@@amybatt Sorry (my loss) that I missed this. It sounds like you really had mixed luck, but the weather can mess up all plans, or produce something wonderful (which was our experience at Encounter Mara/Naiboisho when we were there at what should have been a much less promising time of year). I was glad you got something back to make up for the disappointments. Nothing is ever certain. In any case, I loved reading about both good and bad told so honestly and from the heart.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Such a huge herd of elephants !!really awsome.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you @@pault. I really do love when I'm there and I hope that comes through. Looking ahead to #4.... :-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@@amybatt

 

I somehow missed the orphanage visit but it looks fantastic, I had no idea about the private visit. Thanks for the info and the really well written report now I need to figure out who to adopt for my visit in November!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Safaritalk uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. By using Safaritalk you agree to our use of cookies. If you wish to refuse the setting of cookies you can change settings on your browser to clear and block cookies. However, by doing so, Safaritalk may not work properly and you may not be able to access all areas. If you are happy to accept cookies and haven't adjusted browser settings to refuse cookies, Safaritalk will issue cookies when you log on to our site. Please also take a moment to read the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy: Terms of Use l Privacy Policy