Edkelly0404

I would do #5. We recently did the Gamewatchers Adventure camp with 3 nights in Amboseli and 3 in Ol Kinyei in the Maasai Mara. Our safari included flights between the camps - no land transfers. We met people in the more expensive camps that had land transfers from Nairobi and they wished that they had air transfers. The only advantage to the land transfers is that you can carry more baggage (33 lb limit on the small planes).

I disagree with the idea that Amboseli is a one species park. We saw as many animals in Amboseli as we did in the Maasai Mara.There were more cats in the Mara but we did see lions, cheetahs and wild cats in Amboseli. There is a lot more bird life in Amboseli - you also get views of Kilimanjaro. Overall the landscape is more impressive in the Mara but I am really glad we saw both. We did one full day in each park - the other days were in the conservancies where although the scenery was not as spectacular as the parks it was more enjoyable as there was a lot less traffic and the animals were more approachable.

Ed

Ghentleman

+1 for N°5 (this is FlyerTalk after all). Stay at one place to get a feeling for the place. Unless you really want to tick as many boxes as possible, save time by flying and maximise your time in the parks.
Also consider that driving when dark is not recommended and that the best game-viewing is dusk and dawn. So make sure you lodge close to (or in) the park.
Also make sure the entry-fees for the parks are included, and food/drinks when no other options are around.
If you visit Nairobi national park, make it the starting point. After the Mara and Amboseli it might disappoint.

DaveInLA

Seems like a lot of people favor flying safaris... which makes sense. Is the main reason they're not so popular because of cost? The ones I've seen are about $500 more, which is a lot, but in the grand scheme of things, probably worth the extra cost if it makes for a more enjoyable experience.

I did more searching and Gamewatchers has a 7 day/6 night flying safari for $2000. 2 main parks, 3 nights in Amboseli area, 3 nights in Mara area. The main thing making me hesitate is that this safari has only tents, no lodges or hotels. I don't need luxury for this, but I wonder if doing this for 6 nights will work for me and my wife. I've been to Yosemite a few times, but never truly camping in the classic sense. Part of me wonders if "roughing it" will give a better ("real") safari experience. What are your thoughts on tents vs lodges?

Ghentleman

There's tents and tents... Some of of the most luxurious places are in tents (with a real bed, en-suite bathroom with flushing toilet, hot shower, ...). Some cheap safari's set up their own tents every night, and can be pretty basic. Check with the organizer what you can expect exactly. If the "Gamewatchers" you are referring to is Porini, even their most basic camps are quite good: campsite is completely prepared for you, all meals prepared, real dining tables, mattresses in tents.
Sleeping in a tent is a experience not to be missed imo, if you still like it after 6 nights depends on you (and your wife).

DaveInLA

Yes, the Gamewatchers I'm talking about is Porini. Their brochure says the tents are 10 x 10 x 6 feet with a mattress, but we have to bring our own sleeping bags or pay $10/night/person to borrow theirs. There's a separate flushing toilet. I assume there's a communal shower facility.

One thing I would be interested is a romantic safari dinner. Will a basic Gamewatchers itinerary allow for this? Or is it more of a cafeteria setting? Do I have to book a "luxury" safari to get that?

Edkelly0404

The Gamewatchers camps you are referring to are the Adventure Camps. The Porini camps are close by and a bit more upscale (and quite a bit more $$). I stayed in the Adventure Camps in October/November - did the $2000 Amboseli/Mara safari. The camps are not in the parks but in conservancies adjacent to the parks. The conservancies are leased by Gamewatchers which gives them the exclusive rights to have camps there. The tents are basic - Coleman dome tents - no electricity but there are solar powered lamps. There is a private shower and flushing toilet for each tent.

Not sure about a private romantic dinner. The dining is at a communal table - the food is excellent considering where you are (make sure you get the cold avocado soup if you go). We were a little spoiled as at Amboseli we were the only guests (last week of their season) and had waiter service for all meals. Breakfast was a choice of cold and cooked food (bacon and eggs, oatmeal etc.) It was cooked to order. Lunch was a sit down three course meal except on the day that we visited Amboseli. Ol Kinyei was much the same - after the first night there were just four of us, the other two being my sister and my niece who stays long term with Gamewatchers as she is doing research for a Ph. D. in the conservancy.

Staying in the conservancy has its advantages. One is that there is no park fee except for the days that you visit the park (and one visit each to Amboseli and the Mara are included in the price of the safari). Also there is a lot less traffic as the other camps cannot access the conservancy without permission. The landscape in the parks is more impressive so the trips there are definitely not to be missed but we saw all the animals we wanted in the conservancy.

The guides and drivers are first class and the vehicles are perfect - open sided Land Rovers and LandCruisers.

Before we went we were worried that the recommendations on TripAdvisor etc were fictitious as they were all 5 starts - but having been and experienced it we gave the 5 stars too!

Ed

DaveInLA

Thanks do much for the info! I didn't realize the Gamewatchers Safari is based in the conservatories rather than the parks themselves. You said that you saw the animals you wanted at the conservatory, but do you think I would miss out on anything doing that rather than going on game drives at the main parks? It seems the main advantage of this Safari is that the conservatories or more exclusive with fewer visitors, but what are the main disadvantages? Does it seem more artificial than visiting the Mara itself?

DaveInLA

So it seems like my options are:

1. Gamewatchers Adventures 6 nights described above (3 nights Mara conservancy, 3 nights Amboseli conservancy, with 1 night at the park itself at each destination), housing in tents.

2. Another safari agency (Lion Trails, I think) for 4 nights-- 2 in Mara park, 2 in Amboseli, all housing in lodges.

both are flying safaris, prices comparable.

Edkelly0404

I don't think that you will miss out on anything. The Adventure Camp package includes a day in Amboseli Park and a day in the Mara park. When we did it those were all day drives so you got more time than you would have doing the morning/afternoon drives with the lodges in the parks. The guides knew how to time the drive to avoid the "rush hour" when the park lodges were out (although it was the low season when we were there - if you are there in peak migration season it's probably not possible to avoid the crowds).

The conservation areas are definitely not more artificial than the Mara - if anything it's the opposite. In the Mara you have to stay on the defined roads - in the conservancy areas you can go "off-road". On our trip, when we were picked up from the airstrip we were asked if we minded taking a detour on the way to the camp as there had been a lion kill near a watering hole and they wanted to see if they could find the lions. Obviously we agreed - by the time we got to the camp (~2 hours later) we had seen elephants, giraffes, zebras, warthogs, eland, a number of other antelopes, any number of birds and we did find the lions. All before breakfast! The Mara does have much more scenic landscape and I am sure that during the migration it is spectacular but you will have to share it with a lot of people.

Also the guides and most of the staff with Gamewatchers are Masaii. They all have very close ties - on one of the trips we did to the local village we visited the hut that belonged to our guides mother and saw the hut that his new wife was building.

Bear in mind that this is based on my one and only safari - but I can't wait to go back.

One other thing - you are sleeping in tents on mattresses on the ground so the comfort level is not as good as the more expensive camps. They offer the choice of renting sleeping bags or bringing your own. As you will fly out you will probably want to rent the sleeping bag as you are very limited on the luggage that you can take. We brought lightweight sleeping bag liners to use in their sleeping bags.

Ed

JDiver

I beg to differ.

While the Maasai / Masai Mara is a very good place to view a variety of wildlife (particularly when the migration is in from the Serengeti), Lake Nakuru has some very interesting species (including Rothschild giraffes - practically the only place you will see them), leopards, some "white" and "black" rhinos (Nakuru was the first "black" or hook-lipped rhino sanctuary in Kenya), bohor reeduck, defassa waterbuck, colobus monkeys (actually quite lovely), etc. The pelican "can-can" lines can be quite spectacular as well (often two species here). African fish eagles can be seen, and heard as well, their clarion call a sounds that remains ever in one's memories as quintessential Africa.Here's a page listing some of the species that can be seen at Lake Nakuru N.P.

And Amboseli can be good for predators such as lion, leopard, caracal, cheetah, jackal, hyena and serval cat; other mammals including Cape buffalo, wildebeest, zebra, giraffes, impala and warthog and various antelope. (The classic scene is Mount Kilimanjaro in the background with a herd of elephants grazing in the foreground). Great place for raptors, including several species of eagles, as well.

The Mt. Kenya / Aberdares area can be well worth some time - one can see species here not seen elsewhere, such as bongo antelope, giant forest hog, eland, bushbuck, as well as Cape buffalo, elephants and the like.

Admittedly, it is likely to take more than one game drive to see these. And if one can hook up with a camping safari, so much the better, IMO.

And the 'Mara is spectacular when the migration is on. One july 4 we took a balloon over, initially, river areas with hippos and elephant, and as we emerged into the short grass plains, skeins weaving back and forth, merging and splitting, or wildebeest and zebras especially, and when the burner was off one could hear the grunting, whinnying, farting even of thousands of animals on the move.

As we stopped by the river overlook on the return, we observed several Nile crocodiles (some up to 6 meters / 18+ feet) sunning themselves, and large numbers of animals "piling up" nervously on the southern side of the river. Eventually, in they went - and so did the crocs, and soon the chaotic crossing was in full swing, wild-eyed animals sometimes piling up on each other, others being watched by crocs - usually, they singled out a yearling and moved in, with a big splash only to emerge some yards downstream with a thrashing of gorging crocs tearing flesh from the zebra (or wildebeest, but these guys preferred zebra, and so do I ) and schools of small catfishes boiling up for bits and blood. The time frame was about 5:00 AM to perhaps 3:00 PM. Happy fourth indeed!

And yep, the conservancies - and the area immediately around the 'Mara - can be quite good, often better because of better habitat preservation, lesser visitor impact and better game conservation.

The average Kenya safari, unfortunately, consists of staying at a lodge and going forth for a couple of game drives during the day - mostly at the same time as every other lodge's guests - in minivans (some 4WD Land Cruisers and Rovers) and "doing the circuit", often with drivers from a pool who work for whoever is paying them at the moment.

So, IMO, check for a company that might cost a bit more that uses professional full time employees and venture away from the usual park tracks. You will see more, your guide will be more knowledgeable and better able to spot and explain wildlife (and less reliant on radio chatter with other drivers that see herds of vehicles piling on" when there's a kill or cheetah).

And IMO again don't hyperfocus on the big five - there is lots more, even learning about some weird animals. I remember a morning in Tsavo West observing and learning about a very weird critter, the Kenya naked mole rat (photos from stock company) - a blind mammal that lives underground and lives in a true colonial association with others.

DaveInLA

So it seems that the animals seen at the conservancies are just as diverse and abundant as in the main park, but a couple have said that the scenery isn't as nice. Is this because the vegetation is more sparse? Does it feel more cramped? What makes the scenery not as good? I've been on fake safaris like the one in Animal Kingdom in Disneyworld. Will a game drive in a conservancy feel artificial like that? Right now, I'm leaning toward doing the 7 day, 6 night Gamewatchers Adventure safari with tents in the conservancy over the 5 day, 4 night safari in the parks with nights in lodges.

JDiver

Some of that depends on where you go. After all, there are national parks that are entirely fenced in in Kenya, or that have extensive and smaller fenced in areas. And the most impacted parks offer a "round the track we go" experience with as many as 20-30 vans surrounding animals (sometimes not much natural behavior in these circumstances), as I described previously. Doing your research is definitely the way to go.

Edkelly0404

I was one that said the scenery wasn't as nice. It's just not the wide open views that you get in the parks. It's not at all fake - in fact it is probably more realistic as you don't have paved roads and dozens of minibuses full of tourists buzzing around. The drivers have a lot more freedom to go off-road (in the parks they have to stay on the trails). I think that the safari that you are thinking of doing gives you the best of both worlds, and for a very good price as long as you don't need the extra comfort that the lodges provide..

Ed

schley

I'm using http://www.basecampexplorer.com/ as I won this in a charity auction on charitybuzz.com which is great btw. Going late July.

will do 3 nights in the masi mara basecamp then 1 night at Eagle View before we end and fly to Zanzibar for a couple nights.

Will report back how it goes.

londonfog

I am very fond of Amboseli and Nakuru. Nakuru has more than flamingos and Amboseli has Kilimanjaro. Waking up in the morning, getting ready for your morning drive and see the snowy top all pink... that is definitely worth it. By the way, Amboseli has more than elephants.

I agree with those who advise to spend as much time at Mara as possible but pick a lodge where you can spend time by the pool, etc. or that has some form of activity during the day since you only get two drives a day everywhere, once in the morning and once in the late afternoon.

If you like to go off the most beaten tracks I would recommend Aberdare and Samburu, although your option 3 has a lot of long trips between parks.

A flying safari only saves extended land transfers between parks. If you choose a flying Safari I would book a one night excursion to Lake Nakuru from Nairobi (not very far).