A Long Awaited Birthday Safari in Kenya
Feb 16, 2023, 7:35 pm
#31
Join Date: Oct 2012
Programs: Previously top-tier everything, now a happy free agent
Posts: 1,003
What an incredible trip report. Thank you for sharing and giving us a reminder that this hobby can turn into some quality family time and lifelong memories. I'm sure your family enjoyed it and will remember it for a long time (even if teens can be sulky at times... having been a teen myself at one point).
You are ambitious - an (unplanned) 10am safari start on the day of arrival and a 9:30am Anne Frank house reservation after a red-eye from Africa. Kudos to you! While I'm sure exhausting, it's a great use of time.
Sorry to hear about your troubles with QR - I'm surprised they didn't hold the DOH-NBO flight for you given I feel like connections are a huge business for them (but I guess someone in a back room felt like giving a 6-hour layover with confirmed seats in J was fine).
You are ambitious - an (unplanned) 10am safari start on the day of arrival and a 9:30am Anne Frank house reservation after a red-eye from Africa. Kudos to you! While I'm sure exhausting, it's a great use of time.
Sorry to hear about your troubles with QR - I'm surprised they didn't hold the DOH-NBO flight for you given I feel like connections are a huge business for them (but I guess someone in a back room felt like giving a 6-hour layover with confirmed seats in J was fine).
Feb 17, 2023, 4:34 am
#32
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 1999
Location: Alpharetta, GA, USA
Posts: 948
What an incredible trip report. Thank you for sharing and giving us a reminder that this hobby can turn into some quality family time and lifelong memories. I'm sure your family enjoyed it and will remember it for a long time (even if teens can be sulky at times... having been a teen myself at one point).
You are ambitious - an (unplanned) 10am safari start on the day of arrival and a 9:30am Anne Frank house reservation after a red-eye from Africa. Kudos to you! While I'm sure exhausting, it's a great use of time.
Sorry to hear about your troubles with QR - I'm surprised they didn't hold the DOH-NBO flight for you given I feel like connections are a huge business for them (but I guess someone in a back room felt like giving a 6-hour layover with confirmed seats in J was fine).
You are ambitious - an (unplanned) 10am safari start on the day of arrival and a 9:30am Anne Frank house reservation after a red-eye from Africa. Kudos to you! While I'm sure exhausting, it's a great use of time.
Sorry to hear about your troubles with QR - I'm surprised they didn't hold the DOH-NBO flight for you given I feel like connections are a huge business for them (but I guess someone in a back room felt like giving a 6-hour layover with confirmed seats in J was fine).
Feb 17, 2023, 6:28 pm
#33
Join Date: Dec 2022
Programs: AA Plat Pro, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 8
What a well written and thoroughly enjoyable trip report!
I found myself in similar circumstances. My wife and I had booked a Kenya safari to celebrate our daughter's 30th birthday and her boyfriend's 35th birthday. After many cancelations and re-schedules, we finally took the trip in September 2022 by which time they had already celebrated their 32nd and 37th birthdays respectively! We flew into Kilimanjaro and added a few days in Tanzania at the front end of the safari. I would point out for those of you planning a safari that the land crossing from Tanzania into Kenya at Namanga went very smoothly. We found the border officials there were more relaxed and less officious than their counterparts at both Kilimanjaro and Nairobi airports. From our experience your concluding tips and recommendations were spot on.
From a flight perspective we traveled LAX-DOH-JRO and NBO-DOH-LAX on Qatar. We had a 9-hour layover on the outbound (it was meant to 10 hours, but we arrived in DOH an hour late from LAX), and we had a 90-minute connection on the inbound which we, and our luggage, made without a problem. We flew business class but given the length of our outbound layover in DOH, we paid a surcharge on arrival at DOH to upgrade to the first class Al Safwa lounge.
I found myself in similar circumstances. My wife and I had booked a Kenya safari to celebrate our daughter's 30th birthday and her boyfriend's 35th birthday. After many cancelations and re-schedules, we finally took the trip in September 2022 by which time they had already celebrated their 32nd and 37th birthdays respectively! We flew into Kilimanjaro and added a few days in Tanzania at the front end of the safari. I would point out for those of you planning a safari that the land crossing from Tanzania into Kenya at Namanga went very smoothly. We found the border officials there were more relaxed and less officious than their counterparts at both Kilimanjaro and Nairobi airports. From our experience your concluding tips and recommendations were spot on.
From a flight perspective we traveled LAX-DOH-JRO and NBO-DOH-LAX on Qatar. We had a 9-hour layover on the outbound (it was meant to 10 hours, but we arrived in DOH an hour late from LAX), and we had a 90-minute connection on the inbound which we, and our luggage, made without a problem. We flew business class but given the length of our outbound layover in DOH, we paid a surcharge on arrival at DOH to upgrade to the first class Al Safwa lounge.
Feb 18, 2023, 12:13 am
#34
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: Austin, TX
Programs: BAEC Gold, HHonors Diamond, Marriott Titanium, UA Gold (*G), DL Silver, Makers Mark Ambassador
Posts: 4,643
An interesting and enjoyable report! Africa is on our list, though we already have 2x Europe booked this year and Mrs. WS93 wants to do Japan, Australia and her native Kazakhstan, so it may be 2025 or beyond before we make it happpen.
