Africa – Kenya & Tanzania (July 29th – August
7th, 2012)
Extraordinarily ‘Wild’ Time:
First a big ‘Thank you’ to all those who assisted with
itinerary planning – Shruti Mittal, Aiman Merchant, Gaurav Jain, Pooja Hada,
Vasudha Mittal, Tushar Chandra, Nandini & Paresh Kapashi amongst others.
Without your insights the trip would not have been so terrific!
Pre-holiday- Lots of confusion about which places to visit
in a week’s time. Main dilemma was whether we see Kenya only or combine 2
countries. Visiting Tanzania entailed 2 flights and a 4-5 hour road journey all
packed into 1 day, making it a rather tedious. At the same time, combing a
visit to a neighboring country and seeing something different is always
tempting. Finally, after lots of deliberation and blog/website browsing we
decided on both Kenya and Tanzania. We chose Masai Mara as our main safari
destination given the density and variety of animals we could see. Also, 1st
August is when the herds cross over from Tanzania into Kenya (migration) so we
would be perfectly positioned to enjoy the spectacle. Also, we decided to end
our vacation by lounging on the beach (people warned us that the safaris can be
quite exhausting!) and heard that Zanzibar (Tanzania) was a better option than
Mombasa (Kenya). We also decided to visit a lodge called the Ark in Aberdes
National Park (3 hour drive from Nairobi) the day we arrived to enjoy the
experience of wildlife (mainly elephants and buffalo) visiting the watering
hole facing the lodge. The animals come to you rather that you having to seek
them here!
Once we had decided on the places we wanted to visit I
realized that to book domestic flights and hotels, we needed a local agent to
source rooms and better pricing. The tour companies in India were extremely over-priced
and essentially out-sourced their work to a local agent in Africa and simply
charged a margin over the price charged by a local agent.
Shruti Mittal shared the contact information of the company
she had used for her trip – Mara Gates Safari (Director - Agnes) based in
Nairobi. I corresponded with them to book our hotels/flights etc. and found
their service very prompt and efficient. Even though we detest planned tours
and packages, we found a balanced approach wherein we decided our destinations and
most hotels and got them booked through the agent. Agnes wasn’t able to get us
the Fairmont Mara (initially our top choice) but suggest the Kichwa Tembo
(elephant’s head!) camp instead and we went with her recommendation and are so
glad for it! August is also peak season (best time to visit Kenya/Tanzania –
August/September/October) so the hotels are totally booked out. I strongly
suggest using a reliable agent who can get bookings at the lodges/camps you
want since it was the camp that made our Masai Mara experience truly
unforgettable.
To drive or to fly: We were conflicted about driving around
Kenya vs flying. Driving was tempting given it is much cheaper and also a great
way to explore a new country and see the changing landscapes. However, after
discussions with many friends who had previously visited and driven, we decided
against it and in hindsight are really glad we made that decision.
Day 1 – We arrived into NBO at 7:30 am (flew Kenyan Air, overnight
flight from Bombay) met a friend who is working there at Watergate Mall, drank coffee
at Art Café and then left for the Aberdes Country Club about 3 hours away from
NBO. The NBO airport was very small and the immigration personnel were quite
rude. However, the visa process was very quick and a highly recommend just
getting a visa on arrival ($50/person). They didn’t check our yellow fever certificates!
The car that Agnes sent to receive us was really run down – it was a 10 seat
vehicle for 3 of us and had worn out upholstery. Our driver Maurice was at the
airport when we landed. We picked up Agnes paid her the entire amount (bit
nervously, I must admit) and then were on our way to Aberdes National park.
Left around 10:30 am, reached at 1:45 pm. Roads very good 95% of the time. Ate
lunch – buffet with lots of veggie items including Indian food and hot soup n
salads. Pretty much the same pattern ensued the rest of the trip too with lots
of Indian veggie options available in both Kenya and Tanzania. Left for the Ark
(45 minute uphill drive) at 2:30 in buses that were also quite run down.
Reached at 3:30. Met for tea at 4:00 pm with the group in a balcony overlooking
the watering hole. The lodge is very well designed with several viewing
galleries on every floor to ensure that each guest has access to the view. It
was raining quite heavily the day we were there hence were unable to walk
outside or do the bird watching walk. We stayed overnight and left early next
morning (6:30 am) for our drive back to Aberdes Country Club and then onwards
to Nanyuki airstrip (1:15 minutes drive) for our flight to Kitchwa Tembo’s
private airstrip.
Masai Mara – spotted land of the Masai.
Remember to carry:
Clothes for extreme heat and at least 2-3 layers. Get’s very
chilly at night and extremely hot during the day. It also rained heavily one
night.
The 3 nights we spent at the camp were simply magical. Upon
arrival, we were served hot coffee/tea and snacks just as we exited the
aircraft (yes, at the airstrip itself!). We were driven to the lodge (15 minute
drive) in incredible 10 seat jeeps that were super comfortable and perfectly
designed to enjoy the safari. From the moment we landed, I knew we were in for
a treat.
The tents were large, stable structures luxuriously adorned
with several amenities. Small details such as a hair dryer, umbrella, torch,
electronic sockets etc. had been taken care of, creating an ideal home in the
middle of the Mara.
Our first meal at the camp had us smacking our lips and
confirmed the onset of 2 kgs weight around our bellies! We had informed the
camp that were vegetarian – every server in the dining area was apprised of
this fact before our arrival. The camp has its private organic farm so the
vegetables they served were the juiciest and freshest I’ve ever tasted in a
hotel. The regular spread already included 2 veggie options and in addition the
chef would cook up a special meal for us making each meal and absolute delight.
In terms of the safari, we had an excellent (touted as the
best in the region) guide, James, who knew the forest and the animals therein
since he was born (he was a Masai and had the keenest animal instinct I have ever
witnessed. He shocked us when he spotted a leopard camouflaged in the trees
from far away without using his binoculars. It took the rest of us several
minutes and lots of assistance to finally spot it.
As one can imagine, given his expertise the safaris were
just incredible. We saw the African Big 5 – lions, rhino, buffalo, elephant and
the leopard all on our first full day of safari (8:30 am – 6:30 pm). James also
took us on a night safari to see nocturnal animals. It was very interesting to
see the large hippos we had previously seen lazing in the river in their active
mode at night. We also spotted several hyena, zebra, buffalo etc. On July 31st,
our mission was to catch the river crossing of the wildebeest – crossing the
Mara river as they enter Kenya from Tanzania to feed on the greener pastures of
the Mara for 3 months. James took this on as personal mission and drove crazily
from one spot on the river to another (the wildebeest were on the banks of the
river at several points and there movement was totally unpredictable). James
eventually managed to find the spot of the crossing and marveled at the
spectacle saying, “You guys are seeing National Geographic!”
We also visited the Serena Lodge (small rooms, basic guest
area but terrific location – 5 kms from the river crossing) about 1.5 hours
away from Kichwa and Little Governor’s camp (15 minutes from our lodge and
located inside the park). Our camp is 1 km away from the entrance to the park
but I STRONGLY recommend staying there if you enjoy being wildly pampered in
the wild. Our camp is also the sight where the film Out of Africa was filmed and
has the most exotic swimming pool I have ever swum in (a stone pool divided
into 3 sections, overlooking the game park). Yes, I could see elephants,
giraffe and zebras as I took my laps. As I mentioned the evenings were very
chilly and as I walked back to the camp after dinner on the first evening, I
was cold and exhausted. I snuggled into bed and to my absolute delight felt a
hot-water bag that had just been placed in between the layers of bedding –
small touch that went a long way. We were also woken up a by our personal room
steward who sounded his morning wake up call with a cup of tea served in bed.
We left Kichwa Tembo knowing we would come back some day to
relive the magic and recommend it to all our friends and family so they too can
experience the experience on offer.
Flight from Kichwa Tembo’s private landing strip to Wilson
airport in Nairobi was 50 minutes, plus a stop over at another private
airstrip. Flights were perfectly on time and quite pleasant given that they
were 15 seat planes.
Then connected to Kenya Air flight to Kilimanjaro airport (closest
international airport for visiting the crater; you can take another flight to
Arusha or lake Manyara if you want to minimize the drive) in Tanzania. Flight
was 50 minutes again. The entire flight was over flat lands and was almost an
aerial game drive. KJO airport is a very basis, just functional airport in the
midst of the flat lands. Getting a visa on arrival was extremely quick and
hassle free as was immigration. We exited the airport very quickly and were
received by our guide, Edwin from Leopard Safaris. He had a 4 wheeler
landcruiser that was very comfortable (far superior to the car that we were
assigned to in Kenya!) We left for Arusha (45 kms away) immediately, arriving
there in an hour, ate lunch at Hotel Arusha (good Indian vegetarian spread
again) and then embarked onward to Ngorongoro Crater (roughly 3.5 hours from
Arusha in no traffic) on a well constructed single lane highway. Entrance to
the park is prohibited after 6 pm and given the higher altitude, the weather
gets very chilly. We stayed at the Sopa Lodge (located at the rim of the crater)
for 2 nights. Highly recommend staying on the rim itself to enjoy fabulous
views from the lodges. There are only 5 lodges/hotels on the rim and getting
bookings during season time is difficult. The lodge was serving an array of Indian
dishes in addition to pasta and lots of salads/soups. Hit the sack after a long
day spent just getting out of the Mara and into Ngorongoro, ready for our next
adventure.
We asked for a 6:30 am wake up call to get an early start
for the crater. The Sopa Lodge is superbly located, with the approach road to
the crater just 5 minutes away. After a quick breakfast (it took us some time
to re-adjust to the normal world after Kichwa!) we descended into the crater
(about 20 minute drive) and began our game drive. Our first sighting was a
pride of 10 lions that were moving together. There were about 12-15 more jeeps
that lined up on the road near the lions. The lions wove in between all the
jeeps completely unperturbed by our presence. We saw our first chase when one
of the lions ran towards a herd of zebra – unsuccessfully. We drove slowly and
followed the lions till they made a second attack on 3 buffaloes – unsuccessful
yet again. They then lay down in the sun to catch a quick nap and possibly
re-strategize their hunting plan for the day.
We spent about 4 hours in the crater and saw several animals
and birds – hyena, flamingoes, buffalo, gazelle, lions, wildebeest etc. We had seen most animals in Mara already but
the experience in the crater was unique on 2 counts. 1) The landscape is very
unique given that the animals are all located amidst a huge crater that was
formed 2 million years ago. 2) The number of animals seemed to be much more than
that in the Mara. Every group of animals we saw outnumbered the size of the
group we had seen in the Mara.
We returned to the lodge for a hot meal and then decided to
drive 1 hour to see the Ngorongoro Crater Lodge (also an &Beyond property
owned by the same company that owns Kitchwa Tembo). The lodge is also located
on the rim and has an access road to the crater 5 minutes away (the road is
under construction currently and only functions as a one way access road right
now). The lodge is extremely expensive (around $1000 per person/night,
including all meals, drinks, safari etc.) and after Beata (the Assistant GM)
showed us around, we quickly understood why. We spent about 2 hours at the
lodge, looked at a room, drank coffee overlooking the crater and then spent
some time in the lodge shop before returning to the Sopa Lodge just in time to
catch the sunset from the rim of our hotel. The Lodge also had a Masai dance
performance planned pre-dinner that was quite enjoyable. After a quick dinner
(4 course meal served on our table) we retired for the evening in anticipation
of an early start for Arusha to catch our flight to Zanzibar.
We arrived into Arusha early morning with a few hours in
hand to shop at a local market and meet with Vasudha and her family. Bought a
range of trinkets including necklaces, slippers, bracelets, t-shirts, scarves,
trays, show-pieces etc. thanks to Vasudha’s bargaining prowess. We had a
delicious Indian lunch at her place (gulab jamuns et all) and rushed to the
airport to catch our flight to Zanzibar. Arusha airport looked as though 3
sheds had been combined to create a check-in area, a waiting zone and a
departure area – appalling infrastructure.
Once in Zanzibar, we hired a local taxi and drove about an
hour to reach “The Residence” to begin our 3 day ‘intensive relaxation’ period.
We were largely unaware of time during our stay here. We slept for over 10
hours a day, and divided the rest of the time between swimming and enjoying the
terrific food at the restaurant overlooking the beach. Best meal was breakfast
each morning, where in addition to a vast spread of fresh exotic fruits and
juices, waffles/pancakes, cheeses, noodles, stir fry etc. they also served us
an Indian option! We swam in the ocean every day and even went on the hobbie
cat twice. One afternoon, when the tide went down, mom and I walked on the sea
bed and picked up shells. The helper in the watersports area offered to take us
for an early morning trip to learn how to control the hobbie cat – an
exhilarating experience.
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