African Safari, I believe it’s a childhood dream for most of the wild life enthusiasts. Perhaps, it is one of the most amazing things happened to me.
It all started, on a routine Monday at work, with a casual discussion on my next solo backpacking trip which turned out to be a stupendous travel experience.
As couple of my colleagues were keen to join me on the Safari, soon it became a pack and we headed to one of the world’s best Game
Let me take you through this wonderful journey in an orderly fashion....
Day 1: Nairobi
We arrived at Nairobi Intl airport around 8:40pm local time, as soon as we collected our baggage we were supposed to fill a form and get into a Visa on Arrival Q.
But out of nowhere a Kenyan immigration office arrived and took us into the immigration office, and we were ask few basic question like purpose of visit, stay details etc..
For a short while all three of us got a bit nervous, as we read couple of internet blog stories where it was told that the immigration officers may hold you for some bribe.
And it turned out to be the first myth buster, the officer over there helped us in filling the V-o-A forms and pre approved it, and then the visa part was just a cake walk.
After, lot of online research, we booked our safari with African veteran safaris.
Mr. Martin our tour organizer was waiting for us at the arrival point, and he received us with a warm welcome. And we left to out stay point Wildebeest Eco camp for the night.
Day2: We had an early breakfast at wildebeest camp, which was simple & delicious and headed out to Masai Mara National Park.
It is here that you will see The BIG FIVE of AFRICA, and will get a chance to witness some of the most beautiful sunsets.
Get a Sunset Pic from Vamsi:
The drive from Nairobi to Mara is long and bumpy too. But we considered ourselves lucky, as were in a Land Cruiser and Daniels was our guide/driver.
Pic - Our Safari vehicle
Dan was one of the most experienced guide for this route, and he has got a great eye for the game.
Pic - This is Dan our Guide/driver
Mara Sadai Camp: http://marasidaicamp.com/
We arrived at Mara Sadai camp by 15:00, as it was a long ride, as per our guides suggestion we decided to get refreshed and make a visit to Masai Village and close the day.
Our camping was very basic, as we were on a budget safari package, and it was still a nice place to stay, as most of the time we will in the park looking for the game.
Visit to Masai Village: Dan bought us a deal of 1500KSH per person for the masai village, the village is right outside the Mara park. This was mostly like a tourist formality kind of activity,
The villagers greeted us as entered the village , and started performing activities like dancing, jumping and singing.
And a local masai with a spear and dressed in a red colour masai dress, took us on a complete tour of the village, showed us how they live, cook and where they sleep etc... On a personal note , we didn't enjoy it.
After the Masai Village tour we came back to the campsite, and found that it was exactly as we had expected, basic tents, decent bed, a camp fire area, a kitchen, dining room, and (surprisingly) hot showers. There were few Masai Warriors who watched over the campsite every night. As budget backpackers, this was a ample & we were more than happy. They even have a more luxurious rooms & safari tours. During nights there was sounds of hyenas and jackals near the tented camp, including one inside our camp (one of my friends was snoring badly).
Day 3: Despite knowing the fact that I have already kick-started my Trip to Africa, there was this thought "Was it worth it to do such an expensive safari " which was blinking in my mind all the time. Finally I found the answer for that, when we entered the gates of Masai Mara National Park. The endless Savannah grass lands (which till then were only limited to my old school books), vast density of animals always busy grassing, the hunters looking for pray and crazy wildebeest migration all these made it obvious that its a priceless trip.
Entrance of the Park - Pic
As we were heading into part after buying the entry pass, it was all beautiful landscape, huge group of zebras, wildebeests etc.. its simple amazing. As we move on, we got used to it and slowly we started to get disappointed, Firstly we failed to get a clear 7 closer view of Lions, as they were sleeping with grass covering all over them, secondly we waited near a tree so called Leopard's home, but it never came back.
Pic of the Leopard home.
Then all of a sudden Dan got a radio message, of course it was in Swahili (the local language), it was on the possibility of river crossing, then we rushed to the great Mara River for the crossing. By the time we arrived, already there were close to 25 vans & LC's waiting to witness the so called one of the best things of the safari.
Pic of the Vans
Pic of the River crossing
But it was just adding salt to the injury, after multiple attempts with in 60+ minutes, the show was cancelled or rather postponed. Then Dan declared the lunch break. As we were having the lunch which we got it packed from the camp, as we have decided to spend the whole day in search of Game. Then all of a sudden we got a radio message, we all got curious, abt that and this time it was the Masai Mara Cheetah.
Pic of the cheetah:
And finally we were done for the day and were on our way back to the camp, then came the surprise, a family of lions on their way back to their home.
Pic of the Lion family.
The king of the Land
Romantic couple
And then finally we got a chance to witness the biggest surprises of all - the Lion Mating @ Mara.
Video link
So finally the day got balanced.
Day4: As we had been poking him (Dan) to find us a leopard, he was determined to get one for us, so Day four was completed dedicated to find Leopard.
And the day started exactly where it ended the other day, we got a chance to witness the Lions mate again, this time our Driver Dan too got surprised, saying "that s rare thing The National Geographic crew wait of weeks to capture this". From there we moved on and covered almost all the possible spots where we could get a sight of this rare game (Leopard), but after a long 5hours search we failed. Day 4 was full of Lions, cheetahs, Giraffes, Eagle, Vultures, Jackal and the routine Zebra & Wildebeest..
Day 5: Vacated the camp and left to Nairobi Via Lake Nivasha
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Naivasha
Few pics:
Day6: We were back to the Eco camp - the wonder land in Nairobi, and had decided to cover Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage, A Giraffe center and then the world famous Carnivore restaurant.
Out of these the Elephant Orphanage was the best , its a must see.
Pics
Our Safari was 4days & 3 nights total, nights spent in tents in the Masai Sadaicamps. And it costs $510 per person, including welcome gift (a HAT), Safari Vehicle, food, guides, accommodation, some water, soft drinks and park fees.
Tips & Notes
Always prefer packaged drinking water, and its good to carry some extra bottles for the game drive.
Don't force or encourage the Driver to go Off-roading, that against the policy
There are pretty good accommodations inside the park, if you can afford try to get the stay there, we stayed out side the park.
Before making a booking ensure, that your tour operator is registered with KATO
Wild beast migration/ river crossing are natural events, so don't expect them to be as per your expected schedules and timings. It all depends on your luck
If possible avoid going in/out of Nairobi during peak hours, traffic is horrible
Myth busters:
Almost 90% of the people speak very good English
We didn't used any Mosquito repellents, not even once, but malaria pills are must
Nairobi - its cold, due to its high altitude
