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For many years I avoided the Zoos, thinking that one day I will do a safari and see all the animals in their natural habitat.
That’s why, when we found a great offer for the airplane tickets (330e roundtrip Amsterdam – Nairobi with Egypt Air), we did not give it a second thought and just booked it.

The complicated part, every time we decide to go somewhere, is to do the itinerary. The planning started and at the end, we came up with: 6 days safari and 5 days at the beach. Just perfect.
After getting in touch with multiple local safari companies, we decided to book with www.mojhi.com
You can choose to entirely personalize your safari (number of days, parks, what kind of accommodation, type of car/shared or private tour, pick-up and drop off location, and so on), so after exchanging many emails, there it was, the perfect itinerary for us 🙂.

I would like to tell you how amazing everything was, but the pictures can show it better than words can describe it so I will stick to technical details: prices, accommodation, what can you see/do in each natural reservation.

The price we got was $1400 /person which included a 6 days private safari with transportation, accommodation, food, water, and safari games included.

Our choice was to do 3 different national reservation: Maasai Mara, Amboseli, and Tsavo West.

After a long flight, we safely landed in Nairobi. It was 7 o’clock in the morning (local time) and we’ve been picked up by our driver who was waiting for us in front of the Airport. “I will be your guide and driver. Ready to explore Kenya for the next 6 days?” Off we went!
We did “hit the road, Jack!” and after 6 hours of a bumpy road, we arrived at Maasai Mara.

Our accommodation was AA Lodge, a beautiful lodge at the entrance of the National Park. The food was good, but not great while the lodge was clean and very beautiful. The only downside was the hot water… It was not hot at all…

As soon as we arrived, we had lunch, slept for an hour and went for the first safari game in the afternoon. Just look at these pictures:

During the safari, we normally started the day around 6 o’clock in the morning.

2nd day was a full safari game day (10 hours), roaming in Maasai Masa, looking for animals. We went close to the border with Tanzania and witnessed the Wildebeest Migration.
The Wildebeest Migration is one of the “Seven New Wonders of the World”. The Maasai Mara and the Serengeti National Park (Tanzania) together form what no other reserve or park in Africa can.
Nowhere in the world is there a movement of animals as immense as the wildebeest migration, over two million animals migrate from the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania to the greener pastures of the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya during July through to October.
The migration has to cross the Mara River in the Maasai Mara where crocodiles will prey on them. This is one of the highlights as the animals try and cross the Mara River alive. Magical!

On the 3rd day, we left Maasai Mara and went back to Nairobi. Once in Nairobi, we had some time in the afternoon, so we visited the Giraffe Center.

Here you can feed the Rothschild Giraffes for an entrance fee of $10.

Our accommodation in Nairobi: Cloud Hotel and Suites (B&B). I wouldn’t call it a hotel, as it has just one floor. Not a lot to be said. Room was clean and the bed was comfortable (and the water was hot!!). Buffet breakfast was included.

Our next morning started early as usual and we left Nairobi for Amboseli Park.

Crowned by Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest peak, the Amboseli National Parks is one of Kenya’s most popular parks. The name “Amboseli” comes from a Maasai word meaning “salty dust”, and it is one of the best places in Africa to view large herds of elephants up close.
If we thought the first lodge was amazing, just wait and see this 2nd one. Our “tent” had a direct view of Mt. Kilimanjaro. Speechless – Kibo Safari Camp (have a look):

We did an afternoon game drive that pretty much surpassed our expectations for that day: herds and herds of elephants crossing the road in front of us, coming from the swamp.

The morning started with another game drive, way before breakfast, in order to spot the elephants on their way back to the swamp.

Back to our Lodge for breakfast, before leaving Amboseli for Tsavo West. Yes. Taking the bumpy road again.

We arrived just in time for lunch. We then visited Mzima Springs where Hippos, Crocodiles, different species of fish and so much more can be seen in crystal clear waters.

The best part for this last park is not the park itself, as it’s very bushy which makes it quite hard to spot the animals, but the accommodation – Kilaguni Serena Safari Lodge. The Lodge has a direct view (dining area + our room), to a water hole, where all the animals are coming for water. We’ve spent here just 1 night, but if I would go back… well, that would make a different blog.

In our last safari day, we had a short game drive in the morning that ended up with us taking the looong road to Diani Beach (Mombasa).

Our safari driver dropped us there (this was also negotiated with the safari company).

If you ever thought of doing a safari, trust me, it’s completely worth it.
I do not recommend it though if you have a problem with being many hours in a car (when I say many, I mean around 50h in 6 days) or dust allergies.
Most time will be spent on bumpy roads driving.

We did all the vaccines before heading to Kenya (yellow fever, hepatitis A, typhoid’s and poliomyelitis + malaria pills), but now I am not so convinced that all of them were needed. Also, during these 6 days, the only mosquitos I’ve seen were in the airport – and not even close as dangerous as the ones I have in my kitchen :).

Once we arrived in Diani Beach, we’ve spent one night at Diani Backpackers, a famous hostel, where we had the chance to meet amazing people from all over the world and also taste amazing food cooked by the chef from the hostel.
What I really enjoyed at the hostel was a nice atmosphere, where you could play your own music and enjoy the best (and very cheap) massage. (Hostel’s price: 32e/night/room for a private double room.)

The last 3 nights were spent at Jacaranda Indian Ocean Beach Resort, a 4* resort with 2 meals included (breakfast and dinner).

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And finally, here we are, taking a long way back: 4 flights and 36 hours later we arrived home.

Useful information:

• The parks have several rules to protect the wildlife: never leave the vehicle, except at designated spots; do not harass the animals in any way; always keep to the tracks; no off-road driving; and always give the animals the right of way;
• Always give tip, almost to everybody. They are expecting it and will also make them be nicer with you (around $1-2);
• Carry the mosquito spray with you all the time (you never know when you will need it). I had this one, with DEET 50%;
• Make sure you have wet wipes all the time (so much dust) + hand sanitizer;
• Bring some warm clothes, for cold mornings;
• Bring comfortable clothes, sunglasses, and a hat 🙂
• Exchange your money in dollars before heading to Kenya and the best thing to do is to exchange the dollars in shillings (local currency) once you arrive in Kenya. Do not exchange them at the banks once you are there, but rather use the black market as they have a better deal. 100 shilling = 1$

In Nairobi, we kind of avoided to walk around, as we thought we saw enough from the car and the driver told us is not that safe. The city has a weird combination of tall buildings and really poor houses. We also had the chance to drive through a very rich area, which looked amazing, but I guess a normal Kenyan person does not have access to it.

You can see many people walking, everywhere in the country. Kids are walking more than 4km just to go to school. The country indeed is very poor and this can ruin a vacation, the feeling you have seeing the struggle of these people to live and get the basic stuff which we take for granted (like water, pens, gasoline in a gas station).

Even if nature is amazing and also the animals are impressive, we had to take into account that these people made a living close to them (and trust me, the animals are dangerous when you have to cross their way because your school is that way).

Kenya’s fertility rate stands at 4.6. This means that, on average, a Kenyan woman gives birth to four children, or five if you round off. 30 years ago Kenya had a population of 20 million people, and now it has 50 million people. In 30 years from now, they will probably be around 90 million.

Also, the level of hygiene is not high, but it’s not the case to worry about this when you are just a tourist. It’s not everything sugar and honey and many people do not fancy such a country, so if you feel like poor countries are not your thing, then just don’t go.

Otherwise, go with your heart open, take many pens with you and also biscuits, give them to every kid that asks you and enjoy it. Life is not fair, but it’s not so dramatic either

Jambo!