Sep 2, 2018 - Travel Day

September 2 - Travel Day We were awakened at 4:00 am so we could checkout of the hotel and make our 7:20 flight out of Nairobi, Kenya to Livingston, Zambia and on to Botswana! Upon arrival at Livingston even though we told them we were transiting to Botswana we were charged a $50 Visa fee. Collecting our bags and exiting customs we looked for our Wilderness Air Representative to no avail. Finally a young gentleman said he was going to help us so he took our passports and left us only to return with our $50 each. However we were then charged...

Dec 14, 2017 - Masai Mara

We had 3 nights at Maasai Mara and yet it felt like only a few hours (that means we enjoyed it a lot) but it was the most amazing experience. We saw plenty of common animals along with a bunch that we have never heard of. Our lodge (Mara West) had the most amazing view from our chalet and very comfortable beds. We had very enjoyable game drives in a vehicle with a roof that we could stick our heads out of and feel the wind in our hair as we sailed through herds and herds of animals (and cattle) on the open plains of the famous Maasai Mara....

Dec 11, 2017 - Lake Naivasha

Arrival at Lake Naivasha was a proper shock to our system. After arriving at our guest house, we headed down to the local “harbour”. Picture this harbour scene - throw the smell of burning fish nets, 2 dozen outboard powered canoes, fish guts from the market being devoured by a host of marabou storks, a few goats lurking around, loads of donkeys and motorbikes carrying up to 5 men, into a cauldron and you have the makings of a true witch doctors potion. Linda and Hanna remember the stench, Tristan the trees he could climb and the barbed...

Dec 9, 2017 - Ok Pejeta Conservancy

Apologies for tardy first update. Africa.... Arrived in Nairobi to a cool evening. Big thanks to Euty for his house and to his sister Catherine and Steve for a home cooked meal we really appreciated. Next day we spent most of day getting through Nairobi and a short while traveling the 280km or so to Ol Pejeta. Kenyan drivers are crazy, and they clearly pick the best of this lot to terrorise the streets of the capital. So, after some near misses and a chancer who tried to convince us we had a hole in our radiator (aka aircon unit overflow)...

Sep 6, 2017 - Almost home

We left Amboseli yesterday (Tuesday) morning at a decent 9 am and while heading out of the park did a bit of a game-drive. It then took us until 4 pm to reach Nairobi, having a "picnic" boxlunch on a blanket just off the main road!!!! As our flight didn't leave until midnight, and our US companions at 11:30 pm we made a deal with Moses our driver suggesting we take him for a nice dinner at the Eka Hotel. He agreed and prior to the dinner we went to a very neat and well known bead factory, employing somewhere around 340 women making and...

Sep 4, 2017 - Amboseli National Park

Although we were up early today, we were not able to see Mount Kilimanjaro, which btw is 19,450 feet high. The park is known for its wildlife, especially the prolific elephant herds. We went on an early game-drive and we indeed saw lots and lots of elephant herds. The male in one of the herds, crossing in front of our vehicle, was huge with long tusks. Very majestic! There were also a lot of baby elephants while teenagers gave us hilarious warning signals. African elephants are the largest land animals on earth. They can grow up to 13 feet...

Sep 3, 2017 - Tarangire national Park

Sorry guys, I couldn't post yesterday as the Internet was not friendly to us. We arrived at the Tarangire safari lodge were the main areas were absolutely fantastic and the view incredible. We were a bit surprised that our accommodation was a permanent tent, but so much better in every aspect than Mawe camp. Again it was totally open to wildlife, so escorts in the evening were a must. The layout of the tent was well done with spectacular views, and......we had lots of light in the tent.......... Again an early start with young Simon for a...

Sep 1, 2017 - Photos - camp and crater

We spent two nights at the Mawe camp, which I will describe. Large tents are situated in an open area not protected by fences and wildlife roams around and through the camp easily. There are about eight individual tents for nightly accommodation, actually very large. Each tent contains a queen and a standard bed, shower, toilet, washbasin and a small area with a desk. there are separate tents for a kitchen, a dining room and a bar/sitting room. Electricity is supplied via solar panels and hot water is only supplied at certain times. Neither...

Aug 31, 2017 - A day of cats and elephants

As usual we started out early and very soon we encountered two cheetahs in preparation of a hunt. We followed them for some time and watch their strategy. One cheetah to our right and the other to our left. We were also amidst oodles of Tomson gazelles and Impala so it was a pretty sure thing that the cheetahs were preparing breakfast. This actually happened when one cheetah made her choice and the chase started. Unfortunately she was unsuccessful but for us it was a wonderful experience again. In short during our day we saw a total of six...

Aug 30, 2017 - Good day - bad day - good day

Again departure at 7 pm from the beautiful accommodations. On our way to the Tanzanian border we did a short gamedrive and were rewarded with some lions. We continued on at a good rate, bouncing up and dawn for a road massage. We had a blowout front left tire, which was completely shredded. Fortunately the van carried two spare tires so George used the last one to get us moving again. Kids gathered and I gave them a Canadian pin as well as nuts and crackers, little knowing that my own lunch would be so poor. We continued on the the border...

Aug 29, 2017 - The great migration and Masai village

Again on our way at 7 am. Encountered a male lion having wildebeest for breakfast. Further on we noticed another huge male lion next to his recent kill. He was so full, having consumed forty kilos of meat so that all he wanted to do was rest. We proceeded to the Mara river, passing hundreds of wildebeest scattered throughout the Mara. Upon reaching one of the river crossings, there were hundreds of zebra lined up to attempt the crossing, being very aware of the large crocodiles. Some ventured close to the water to have a drink, all the...

Aug 28, 2017 - Rita asks and nature supplies.......

We didn't think we could top yesterday's excitement of the cheetah kill, but today turned out to be an excellent day as well. Left the Lodge at 7 am for a full day gamedrive with a nice box lunch for each. I forgot to mention that we are traveling with two nice people from the US (sigh of relief𤘈) a brother and sister team. We're all getting along well. We first spotted two Jackals, easily mistaken for dogs by some, and sightings of Cape Buffalo, zebras, crocodilles and wildebeest. Noticed a lioness next to a recently killed zebra with...