KENYA with GAMEWATCHERS SAFARIS

4 Porini Camps in 4 different parts of Kenya

Paka Kubwa means big cat in Swahili, and we saw a lot of  big cats, they are cool, but we enjoyed the little cats even more. Baby lions are just the best thing to watch, especially when they are playing, fighting and running around. They are beaten in cuteness only by hyena pups, which are getting to be my top favorites.

NR.1:  NAIROBI- Nairobi tented Camp

I’ve visited Kenya before, now for the first time, I’m traveling with Gamewatchers Safaris, I must say, I’m impressed. From start to finish everything worked flawlessly. We arrive late, at 10pm and take about an hour for the passport control. Edith, a lovely, friendly, very helpful lady from Gamewatchers Safaris is there to greet us, help us exchange money. We don’t really need much money, just for tips and souvenirs, everything else is included, food, drinks, flights between camps and game drives. We drive 30min on the outskirts of Nairobi to the park gate, then another 30min to camp, which is in the middle of thick bushland, we get there in the middle of the night, but all the staff is there waiting for us, if we would like dinner. No thank you, I just want to sleep. So 2 Masai guys with torches take us to our tent, see you tomorrow.

The next morning we get a wake up call with coffee at 6am, not so bad, just a little short on the sleep ! First game drive, from camp it gently slopes down, after that it is more or less flat, wide open grass plains with soft yellow grasses, few bushes and the Nairobi skyline in the background, imagine, the city center is only 7km away ! This N.P. is a successful sanctuary for rhinos and all the wildlife is very used to cars. We see four rhinos grazing peacefully, then a group of five, one of which is a baby, so cool. I think by the time we get back to camp we’ve seen about 20 rhino, 2 of them babies ! 

Breakfast is followed by a lovely warm bucket shower, then time to check my photos and relax a bit. Already it is time for lunch, the lounge area and the food are the very best at this camp ! The afternoon game drive is successful, the only negative thing in this park is an ugly bridge with railway line on it, spanning the whole park. Ugly but thanks to conservationists at least now the wildlife can pass under, and is not at risk. We see a lot, and I get a lot of  different „wildlife with Nairobi city skyline background“shots, now just pick my favorite, I’m not picking one with the bridge ! When it gets dark we head back to camp, drinks at the fire, a very nice dinner, then pack up and off to bed. Tomorrow we leave early for Amboseli.

Nr.2: SELENKAY CONSERVANCY – Porini Amboseli Camp

At 05:30 we are on our way to Wilson airport. All goes well, everything is perfectly organized. We have an 18-seater all to ourselves, get to take a shot of the Kilimanjaro sticking out of the clouds and at 8am land at the Porini Amboseli airstrip. This conservancy is just north of the Amboseli N.P. and shares the same ecosystem and is established on the lands of local Masai, with the aim of protecting the wildlife habitat and encouraging wildlife conservation.

We do a game drive on our way to camp. Since this is a private reserve we can go off road, which we do. We see gerenuk, the antelopes with the very long neck (mini giraffes they call them), then giraffes and shortly after that lions. They made a giraffe kill just this morning but there is not much left of it. 

Camp is nice, the tent is great and a bit bigger than at Nairobi, the lounge is not quite as lovely. It is run by Masai, all wearing their red checked cloths in some form. The camp has 10 tents, (max 18 guests), and as in Nairobi with bucket shower and flush toilet, light is by solar panels. This is also the only camp which has a shop, which I think is very nice. The people of the Masai village make necklaces, bracelets, belts, keychains, earrings and lots of other stuff, and sell it here, I can tell you all the female guests make good use of the shop ! We have a shower, download, our photos and relax. Lunch, some more time to relax, and at 4pm we leave for the Masai village.

It is a short drive, and the village is a pleasant surprise, it is not a tourist trap, the kids are delighted when you photograph, it doesn’t matter whom or what, they always want to be in the picture. That is is not always good, but terribly cute. They sing and dance for us, the men do their jump-thing. Can’t get a proper picture of the men because of all the kids hopping in the foreground, but is actually really nice. Nobody tries to sell us stuff because that is taken care of in camp, which is a super solution for all, for the guests and for the Masai. After a short game drive we end up at the platform and watch the elephants drink, with the Kilimanjaro in the background, it is totally visible ! The view is great and the drinks are strong, wow !

AMBOSELI N.P.

Today we drive to Amboseli N.P., a rather long and uneventful 90min drive. Boy, it is so flat ! I don’t know what I expected, I guess something like the Masai Mara, but it is very different. It is totally flat, grazed down, dusty and empty, all we see is a few Thomson gazelles and a handful of zebra. Mount Kilimanjaro present in the background but we only see the bottom, the top third is in a big mass of clouds. First to the airstrip to get the park tickets (since we are coming in via some side trail) then off we go. Unfortunately no off-road driving allowed here. 

We head to the south-eastern part which is totally different from the „flats“, more of a swamp with lakes and lots of green, rivers coming in from the slopes of Kilimanjaro. There are flamingoes in the shallow saline waters, we see 3 hyenas running and standing in the water, that looks cool and sort of different than any other hyena photo I have ever taken. 

Our guide Ben says there is a big group of elephants at the end of the lake, we will go get ahead of them. They take their time to come forward, but in the end we have a wonderful elephant experience, elephants walking towards us in groups of 5 or 6, stopping in a sandy part to dust themselves, a few very tiny babies, 2 young bulls start a fight right beside our jeep, plenty of photo opportunities. We even get a big tusker in the frame, the guys say his name is TJ.

Nr. 3: OL PEJETA CONSERVANCY – Porini Rhino Camp

Wake up call at 6am which is quite reasonable. After a lovely breakfast we are taken to the airstrip, the same pilot that flew us here, arrives to take us back to Nairobi which takes little over 30min. But this time the plane is full. In Nairobi we change planes and fly with a 20-seat Twin-Otter to Nanyuki in the north. This 90’000 acre private conservancy rests at the foothills of Mount Kenya and the Aberdare Mountain Range in central Kenya’s Laikipia County. It  was once a cattle farm, but now it is the largest black rhino sanctuary in East Africa, they have lots of black rhinos here ! It is also home to the last 2 southern white rhinos and some of the last remaining northern white rhinos in the world.

We drive through Nanyuki, I love it, watching all the people, the little shops, the motorbike guys waiting for customers. We cross the equator ! We take about half an hour to reach the gate, then another 90min to camp. On a big flat plain there are at least 200 buffalo, and in between them are 5 rhinos. Unfortunately rather far away, and here you can’t drive off-road, so no spectacular pics. One of the rhinos comes towards us and crosses the road to have a mud bath, in doing so chasing all the buffalo that were in there out of their muddy delight. One of the people we are now teamed up with asked if rhinos have eyelashes. The rhino passed so close to our jeep, I could do a close up photo of its face. The answer is yes they do ! 

The camp is cool. It is in a secluded valley in the western part (where you can go off-road) and there are 8 tents under the shade of acacia trees looking out over the plains, the first and only camp with really wide views. This camp has my favorite tents ! They even have a waterhole here, and a sunken hide. It has been raining quite a bit, it is the start of the rainy season, so I don’t expect much wildlife at the waterhole now, but it must be sensational in dry season. After lunch we get the usual briefing then have time to relax and get settled. Leave at 4:30 pm for the afternoon game drive.

The next morning wake up call at 6am as usual. We leave and soon get to a hyena den, this is marvelous. There are 2 grown ups and 3 pups, one about 4 months old, the other two about 2 months old. They play and chase each other about, so cute. 

We move forward a bit, there are now 2 jackals joining the scene. Their den seems to be close to the hyena den, and it looks as if they know each other.  One jackal passes by, very close to the hyenas, it is first chased, but then sort of greeted by the one hyena pup. Now that is animal behavior. It always pays to sit and stay and watch, you are rewarded with these wonderful special moments. 

The afternoon game drive. What do we want to see ? A black rhino and stay with him for really a long time. Well, we are lucky, that happens about 10min after we leave camp. As we watch him a hyena shows up. A striped hyena, which is really, really rare, so exiting. So we leave the peacefully grazing rhino which doesn’t look like it is going anywhere, we can come back to him later, and head after the hyena, and we do find him. He is actually quite pretty, for a hyena that is. We get to spend ages there, see him dig in the earth and eat, John says he is probably eating termites. The light is great, the background is beautiful and the hyena seems totally at ease with our presence. 

We move on for a sundowner on the plains, see about 15 giraffe walk by and get some great shots of impala on the horizon whilst having our sundowner. Back in camp we have a drink at the fire, followed by a good dinner once again. Tomorrow we leave. Wake up call at 6:30am, easy. Nice warm water bottle in the bed as we get to the room. Sleep well, or LALA SALAMA as they say here.

Nr. 4: OL KINYEI CONSERVANCY – Porini Mara Camp

We leave camp at 7:30am, we stumble across a whole lot of hyena, at least 20, plus about 8 jackal. There is a kill site and they are feeding off whatever is left. After that a single lion at a fresh kill, a couple of rhinos, (we really are so spoilt), and all too soon we are out of the park. There was no need for a hurry, the plane is late. That was the good news. We have 3 stops, Samburu and Lewa both way up north and 100% in the wrong direction. Then drop all these people off at the Mara airstrip, and finally 10min more to our airstrip. Shit, just short of 3 hrs on the plane. We arrive after 2pm, are taken to camp for a late lunch, get the briefing, settle in and the game drive starts at 4:15pm. Let’s go !

The 18’700 acre Ol Kinyei Conservancy is one of 16 conservancies that are part of the Masai Mara. It is a pristine wilderness area with open savannah plains, riverine forest, springs, rivers and rolling hills. The camp is lovely and we are teamed up with 2  „Africa virgins“, they are totally thrilled at everything we see, and they soon notice that it is really worth the while to stay a bit longer and be patient to get the best sightings. I have been on many safaris and have seen almost everything, so I have these crazy „simple“ wishes. I am delighted that today one of them comes true, a baby giraffe with its mum, so very exiting ! We stay with them for ages, I get a great shot of junior resting its head on mums bum. 

After that we find hyenas fighting over a fresh kill, a baby impala. They run and quarrel, it is fun to watch them before, in no time, they chew it all up. From there to the lions, but they have full and fat bellies and are as flat as can be. We soon leave them and head for a nice sundowner spot where we get a brilliant sunset. Dinner in camp is very nice, and before dinner we have drinks at the fire with our jeep mates, the nice Americans and two ladies from Norway. What a lovely place to be, and the good thing is we are staying 3 nights ! This camp has the best mess tent and a great camp fire. 

The next morning our wake up call her is at 5:45am, well so it be. We leave at 6:15 and don’t see much at first, 3 elephants, then usual impala, Thompsons gazelles, zebra, giraffe and gnu. We have a lovely bush breakfast after which we don’t see much either, a baby Thomson’s gazelle is the highlight. The guides think it was born the last 24 hrs and it is still all furry and wobbly on its legs, so cute ! You can’t be lucky every day, and little things are also worth the while !

The afternoon we leave for the Masai village. Compared to the Amboseli one, this one is a total tourist trap. No wonder with the tourist numbers they have here, can’t really blame them. They greet us, we pay 20USD each, then they do their dance and jump thing. We are shown the village, which is huge and more or less deserted except for 3 elderly ladies. We are shown a house, are taken to the shop, not before having been bothered by „warriors“ to spend some more money. Forget it guys, I would rather donate to the village in Amboseli. 

On the drive back, once we have left the highway and are in the conservancy again, we find the lion pride with the 7 cubs again. It is a delight to watch them, they play fight, jump on each other and roll about. After that to a wonderful sunset spot overlooking the plains with a few gnu dotted about.

MASAI MARA N.P. 

Today we visit the Masai Mara NP. We drive to the eastern border of the reserve and drive on the highway, past the Masai village we visited, and a few more like that, until we reach the main entrance gate to the Mara. We are under siege by dozens of Masai woman which try to sell us just about anything, bracelets, necklaces, woodcarvings, cloths etc. Must admire their persistance, but this is not funny anymore. We are so glad when Wilson finally returns with the entrance tickets, which are by the way 80USD per person. Let’s go ! It is a terribly bumpy road and except for a few zebra in the first kilometer we hardly see anything. I am a bit disappointed.

The landscape is beautiful, rolling hills with yellow grasses, some parts are already green after the first of the short rains have set in. But there is no more wildlife than in the conservancy, and it is about 5x bigger. A few Thomson gazelles, warthogs and zebra, nothing much, okay it is not the  main season, but still. As we cross the next ridge there are loads of cars parked in the field, there are supposed to be 3 cheetah somewhere behind all these cars. We park in the second row and have a tiny angle in which we see them, the next cars frame and the other cars antenna extremely limit our range. Suddenly the cheetahs get up and start moving towards us, finally something brilliant to photograph ! The first cars in the second row start to move to get in a better angle, it is car chaos and a miracle no accidents happen, meanwhile the cheetahs come straight for the cars and walk right between them, sit down right on the other side, I believe they do it on purpose to annoy the stupid tourists, their way of getting back at them. It is almost a miracle that I have some reasonable shots, mostly thanks to Wilson’s great positioning in impossible circumstances. We flee the circus before cars start bumping into each other. Out of sight of the crazy tourists, and the poor cheetahs, we stop for coffee, then continue on to the Mara River. There are serious efforts on the way to protect the wildlife and limit tourist impact, visitor numbers are over 300’000 annually ! The number of cheetah babies per litter that are raised to independence have dropped from 2,3 per litter to 0,2, and that is because of us. So if you visit, do behave and stick to the rules as to distance from the wildlife and number of cars per sighting ! 

After our early lunch we agree upon leaving this place as soon as possible. The conservancy is much nicer and back „home“ there are 5 cars per sighting, worst case ! So that was 8 hrs of driving for a 10 second cheetah experience, never again ! 

END OF TOUR

Our last day here. One more morning game drive, then back to Nairobi. We are welcomed by a nice guy from Gamewatchers. Once we get our bags we go to a souvenir shop, the UTAMADUNI CRAFTS CENTRE, now ladies, this is a must go ! There are crafts from all over Kenya and just about anything you can dream of ! Bring your credit cards ! A day room at the Sheraton near the airport before we fly home is the perfect end. Showers, a nice bed and it has a brilliant roof top bar and great restaurant for a last Kenyan dinner before you fly. 

Big compliments to the Gamewatchers Safaris Team: perfect organization, flawless logistics, good camps with fabulous staff and great food, plus absolutely amazing sightings even in off-season ! I believe I will book again, maybe next time Tansania….

For my favorite photos:go to gallery