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Lion (lyin') around in Masai Mara
In February 2020, I researched and booked a Kenya safari for my 50th birthday in January 2021. It was going to be an epic trip for the four of us in business class both ways and with a private guide and vehicle across Kenya. You can guess how that worked out. A month later, everything ground to a halt. We canceled in summer 2020 when it became obvious that things would not return to normal for a while. I hopefully rebooked for summer 2021, but by the end of 2020, I was concerned that there was now a testing requirement for returning to the US and couldn’t take the chance of getting stuck in Kenya for an extra 10 days. I canceled again and rebooked for January 2022. Everything looked good right up until December 2021 when the Omicron variant spiked and made it apparent that international travel was going to be difficult until the wave subsided. We canceled again about 10 days before we were scheduled to leave.

I rebooked yet again for January 2023 (leaving December 31, 2022) and hoped for the best. It was probably our last shot at all four of us being able to take the trip because of the kids’ school and work schedules. This time we did it!
The actual safari trip was booked with a company in Nairobi called Best Camping Tours & Safaris. I paid using a Chase Sapphire Reserve for 3x points on travel (although I had to pay a fee to use a credit card but that was preferable to me than bringing all that cash or using a wire transfer). We flew to Kenya on Qatar Airways booked with American Airlines miles (75k plus $40 taxes and fees per person) and flew home on KLM booked with Flying Blue miles (92.5k plus $400 taxes and fees per person). We stayed in Nairobi at the Sankara Nairobi, a Marriott Autograph Collection property using free night certificates.
Despite the odd hiccup, it was a great trip and I'll post the other segments here. They are also available on my blog at emptynestermiles.com

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O'Hare Terminal 3

I was nervous about two things when I woke up on New Year’s Eve.
1) Would we in fact get QSuites on our flight from Chicago to Doha? Qatar Airways had been swapping out the 777 for a non-QSuites aircraft about every three days or so in the weeks leading up to our trip.
2) Would any weather issues impact our AA flight to Chicago from Atlanta or our older daughter’s flight to Chicago from Boston? Just a week earlier, there was a huge meltdown over Christmas thanks to sub-zero temperatures across much of the Midwest.

As it turned out, the answers were YES (QSuites inbound to Chicago!) and NO (weather above freezing and not too bad across the Northeast, South and Midwest).
How did I know the inbound aircraft was a QSuites 777? I checked the FlightRadar24 app for the tail number and cross-checked with Flyertalk Qatar Airways forum to make sure it was a QSuites aircraft. As there’s only one flight per day to Chicago, it had to be the same plane for the return trip to Doha.

I ordered an Uber to the airport around 8:30am for myself, my wife and our younger daughter (a bargain at $42!) I had insisted everyone pack carry-on only for the outbound trip as the two planned connections (one long and one short) plus notoriously bad baggage handling in Chicago (more to come on this in the next segment) caused me to worry about lost luggage impacting the trip. It wasn’t too hard for the three of us and our smaller bags to fit in a regular Uber

We got to Atlanta airport around 9:15am and checked in with American Airlines. The agents checked our passports, visas and vaccine cards (even though my older daughter in Boston said they only checked her passport and vaccine card, which was lucky as I was holding her visa). We were given boarding passes all the way through to Nairobi, although I knew that we would have to get Qatar Airways-issued boarding passes in Chicago for those segments. There was no wait at Clear/Pre-Check at that hour on New Year’s Eve, and we headed to the Admirals Club in T Concourse. I had been there a couple of times when flying an international OneWorld business itinerary, but it was my wife and daughter’s first time. They were not impressed with the food offerings, but they were happy with the relative peace and quiet compared to the Sky Clubs.




I was told by the check-in agents that American does plan to consolidate operations at Concourse T (now that some new gates have been constructed) so that our trek from T to D will be avoided in the future. Around 10:45am, we headed over to the D Concourse for our E175 flight to Chicago.

AA4805
ATL-ORD
Scheduled: 11:40-12:50 (-1 hour)
Actual: 11:55-12:48 (-1 hour)

Our inbound aircraft arrived a bit late, but they turned the aircraft around pretty quickly. I think they boarded in about eight minutes from start to finish. It helps when there’s only 75 or so seats. We had row 2 in First Class with my daughter in the best seat (2A) with aisle access and a window. We had no issues stowing our larger bags overhead.


The flight was a bit choppy on the climb out but smoothed out after about ½ hour. Drinks and snacks were offered. I had a Woodford and my wife had a mimosa. Meanwhile, my daughter’s flight from Boston was delayed due a bathroom light malfunction. She did eventually take off about ½ hour late so everyone was on their way!


The rest of the flight was uneventful and we landed on time at O’Hare. The plan was to meet our oldest at the Flagship Lounge for a few hours, then all head over to Terminal 5 in plenty of time to make our Qatar Airways flight. Our youngest decided to meet a friend in Chicago so when we arrived, she exited out at Terminal 3 to be picked up while my wife and I went to find the Flagship Lounge.


Home Alone selfie

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After our daughter went to meet her friend for lunch, my wife and I walked down the H/K Concourse at O’Hare and found the dual entrance to the Flagship Lounge and Admirals Club. At the main entrance, the agent gave us a plastic reusable pass that we then turned in at the entrance to the Flagship Lounge on the second floor (the Admirals Club is on the third floor). We entered the relatively empty club around 1:15pm. We found some seats close to the entrance as our older daughter would be arriving in ½ hour or so. We grabbed some lunch and a glass of champagne.



The buffet was extensive and much better than anything in a regular domestic airline lounge.



The bar was free-pour and had some decent wine offerings as well.



Free-pour bar with some local offerings

One downside of no bartender is a lack of some mixers being available. I asked for simple syrup to make an old-fashioned, but they did not have any. There were also several big coolers with lots of water, seltzers, beers, fruit juices and soft drinks.
Our older daughter arrived shortly afterwards and after we had all had our fill of lunch, we decided to relocate to some loungers at the far side of the lounge so we could rest a bit ahead of our long flight to Doha. There were plenty of power outlets all through the lounge.



The lounge certainly had many seating options for both rest and work. These pictures show how empty it was earlier in the afternoon. It did get noticeably more crowded around 3:30-4pm as passengers for the evening redeye flights began to arrive.



I managed to catch our aircraft arriving into ORD through the large windows in the lounge.

777 compared with a Cessna

I watched some of the TCU-Michigan game on the big TV near the bar area before it was time for us to head over to Terminal 5. We left to meet our younger daughter outside the door in the departures area closest to the airport train. We then all took the train together to Terminal 5 to check in with Qatar Airways.
Up Next: QSuites!

gaobest

Fantastic TR and happy January birthday.

I chuckled that the lounge wasn’t super impressive for the family. I’ll take any lounge over zero lounge just like I’ll take a bad seat in F compared to a great seat in Y (eg exit row)

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Chicago skyline in the distance from ORD

In our last segment, three of us were enjoying the Flagship Lounge, but we left plenty of time to make the journey to Terminal 5. We left the Flagship Lounge around 4:45pm and met up with our younger daughter as she was dropped off outside Terminal 3. We all took the train to Terminal 5 and checked in with Qatar Airways to get our new boarding passes. The contract rep (Swissport) checked our visas and vaccine cards again. She seemed a bit clueless about the process to add our pre-check numbers to the boarding passes and had to ask for help. In the end, she gave us our new boarding passes and thanks to the new presence of Delta in Terminal 5, we were able to use Clear and PreCheck to sail through security.
Once on the other side, things took a turn for the worse. The older side of Terminal 5 is cramped, poorly designed and in terrible shape. I realize it will be torn down and replaced in a few years, but that cannot come soon enough.

We were at the gate about 10 minutes before scheduled boarding for our flight so we waited by the Priority Boarding sign at the Qatar Airways gate. Of course, there were no available seats even if we wanted to sit. I happened to glance at our boarding passes and realized that my seat and my wife’s seat were not the ones I had selected. When I selected seats, I put us in the “quad” arrangement so that we could all have dinner together and my wife and I could be in the double-bed seats. It’s a unique attribute of Qsuites to all sit together, close the doors and make our own private space. I went to the gate agent to see why things had been switched. It turned out (after several radio calls back and forth) that one of our seats was broken and would not recline so they had moved us to adjacent aisle seats in the row ahead. I asked if we could at least sit in the quad for dinner together and they told me I would have to ask on board. What a bummer! I had booked these seats 11 months ahead of time. Obviously, this kind of thing is out of anyone’s control so I just hoped we could have dinner in the quad and at least get that taste of the quad despite the issue.

The boarding time on our boarding passes came and went. The heaving mass of humanity (and approximately 73 wheelchairs) at the gate crowded around as the crew waited to board as well. We were then (not politely) asked to line up in a different area even though many of us had been standing in the same spot for 45 minutes by this point. Finally, around 6:30pm, the crew and some of the wheelchairs were allowed to board. Then we waited some more. Then some more wheelchairs were allowed to board. Our scheduled departure time came and went. The gate agents seemed completely clueless about what was causing the delay. The weather was fine (for Chicago in December). The plane had arrived on time. The crew had been all ready to board well ahead of the passengers.

I found out later there was some delay with baggage handling and loading which caused us to be late. This is apparently a normal occurrence in Terminal 5 as the Air France flight at the adjacent gate also was very late leaving, and the Qatar Airways purser told me that Chicago was consistently their worst US airport for delays due to airport staff. Finally, around 7pm, we were able to board the flight, but we were still a long time away from pushback. I started to get worried about our scheduled 1 hour 35 minute connection in Doha. Unfortunately, O’Hare was the only airport that I could find four business class award seats available for our dates on Qatar Airways, otherwise I would have avoided it.
Try and avoid making domestic to international connections at O'Hare. I can only guess that the arrivals process is equally chaotic. Terminal 5 (non-Delta side) is a disaster and frankly, not worthy of a major international airport.

OK I promise QSuites is actually next!

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The kids in their QSuites

After our extra wait at T5, we finally boarded about 90 minutes late and got to see the QSuites cabin. As I mentioned in the last segment, my wife and I were switched from the quad to seats in row 2 across the aisle from each other. I was in a window seat closer to the aisle and she was in an aisle seat closer to the aisle with the divider up. The kids were in their original aisle-side seats in row 4.


The seat (not my choice of location)




I asked the flight attendant if we could sit in row 3 for dinner and she sent over the purser. He said it should not be a problem, but I would need to ask again after takeoff just to make sure both seats were still open. I also expressed some concern about our connection and he seemed confident that we would make up enough time in the air to allow us to make our flight to Nairobi.

With those issues out of the way for now, it was time to enjoy the experience. We received pre-departure beverages and I asked for a glass of the rose champagne. We also were offered pajamas. The amenity kits were already in our seats when we boarded. I changed into the pajamas while economy was still boarding. Here is the amenity kit and contents. Women received a different style bag with different lotions.



QR726 ORD-DOH
Scheduled 18:35pm-16:55pm (+1 day)
Actual 20:03pm-18:07pm (+1 day)

We pushed back just after 8pm and I pushed the thought of our delay out of my mind as there was nothing I could do about it. We were wheels up around 8:20pm and headed east across the lake.
When service began, I asked again about sitting together for dinner and we were given the go-ahead. It was fun to sit together, have a drink and toast the new year. I ordered an Old-Fashioned which was served with warm nuts.




I logged in to get my free hour of Wi-Fi which all Privilege Club members are entitled to in business class. It was a bit intermittent, but I was able to check emails. We all ordered dinner and then right on cue, the turbulence started. It wasn’t too bad at first and we received our amuse bouche and bread.



Service continued with the soup and appetizers.

Arabic mezze was surprising to me considering we were flying to DOH and not from DOH.Maybe they brought it from Doha. Then, the turbulence got significantly worse and the flight attendants were required to take their seats. Once they were allowed to resume service, my beef came out very well done. The “surf” part of the surf and turf was just a large shrimp. My older daughter ordered this as well and enjoyed it as she prefers well-done meat.



As for the others, my younger daughter enjoyed the duck and my wife decided to test the a la carte concept by ordering the cheeseburger, sweet potato fries and cheese plate. She said the burger was good but a bit spicy.



The chocolate dessert was good, but a bit rich.

Sorry for the blurry turbulent picture. Following dinner, we had more turbulence. I also noticed we had quite a southerly routing. My wife and I returned to our assigned seats and when the bumps subsided for a few minutes, I went to the restroom to get ready for bed. The flight attendant came by to put on my mattress pad. I went ahead and paid for the internet service for $10 for the whole flight, which seemed like a good deal.



Before I went to sleep, I watched the movie Confess, Fletch. It was actually surprisingly good. Jon Hamm was a good Fletch and channeled his inner Chevy Chase (without being a jerk in real life). Qatar Airways silenced out all the cursing in the movie, but it was still pretty obvious what they were saying.

I’m not exactly sure what exact time zone we were in when midnight occurred. No announcement or toast was made as many people went to sleep long before midnight. I managed to sleep for about three hours or so, but the intermittent turbulence kept waking me up. I decided to watch Licorice Pizza. In this movie, they did not bleep or silence the cursing. Go figure.

Considering this is Qatar’s premium product, I thought the moving map was pretty bad. Plus, there were no cameras on this aircraft (not that I would have seen much in the dark but flying over Europe in daylight would have been nice to see).
After I woke up, I asked for the purser to get an update on our connection, but he was apparently dealing with an onboard medical/security emergency in economy. My oldest slept through most of the rest of the flight, but my wife and youngest were like me, sleeping off and on.

When I was hungry, I decided to order the afternoon tea instead of the usual breakfast as I wanted something other than eggs and meat. It was quite tasty. I ordered an orange juice with it and it tasted fresh squezed.


I ordered an iced cappuccino but then I got cold, so I ordered a hot one as well.


I was still a bit hungry so I ordered the deli platter, but it was very small although tasty.


Before landing in Doha, hot towels were brought around. We landed around 6pm and had a short taxi to a gate in the A section. If we had been allowed to deplane right away, we might have made our connecting flight (6:30pm), but due to the medical (and also security) issue in the back, we were asked to hold in our seats a few minutes. Eventually, the purser allowed us to exit through the forward door.

We grabbed our things and rushed off the plane. In my haste, I left my jacket in the overhead bin. I had only brought it for our brief stop in Amsterdam at the end of the trip, and I never was able to get it returned by Qatar Airways.

As we exited, there was a Qatar Airways rep waiting for us at the end of the jetway. He told us that we had just missed the flight even though we were still 15 minutes from the scheduled push back time. I asked if he could call the gate and hold it, but he said the captain makes the final decision and would not wait for us. He had already printed boarding passes for the next flight to Nairobi at 1:45am. I already knew that this was going to be an A330 instead of the 787-9 on the earlier flight.
At this point we were resigned to wait. I texted our safari company to let them know about the new morning pickup and chatted with our hotel in Nairobi to let them know we would not be arriving until the next morning. Then we were led to transit security.

I really enjoyed our QSuites experience. The delay and broken seat were out of Qatar Airways control (assuming the seat wasn't broken before the aircraft left Doha). The crew were all friendly and worked extremely hard to make the flight enjoyable for our family. The food was good (although mostly on the heavy side) and the seat was comfortable for lounging and sleeping. The overhead air vents on the 777 were also most welcome.

Minor nitpicks: The moving map is terrible relative to the rest of the entertainment options. The inconsistent editing of IFE content was weird. These are fairly minor annoyances.

Would I fly QSuites again? Absolutely. It's a great use of American Airlines miles (if you can find availability). I would also like to try the new 787-9 suites as we missed that chance on this trip due to the missed connection.

Up Next: An Unscheduled Long Visit to the Al-Mourjan Lounge in Doha.

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The famous (ugly) teddy bear at DOH

After the disappointment of our missed connection, we quickly went through transit security which is on the second level above the main concourse and just below the lounges in the older (a whopping eight years old) South part of the airport. There are also now similar facilities in the newer North section. I was at least happy that we had a flight option to get to Nairobi by the next morning as a 24 hour delay would have thrown the whole safari schedule off.

I took the obligatory pictures of the teddy bear, which my family thought was kind of silly. Then we followed the signs to the Al-Mourjan lounge which were fairly easy to spot.

We took the long escalator up to the lounge entrance and had our boarding passes checked at the bottom and the top. We entered the lounge and asked where there were some loungers as everyone was tired. It was not very crowded at 6:30pm when we arrived. We were directed to the business center and behind the business area there were loungers. We grabbed four and basically decided we would camp there for our layover. If anyone wanted to eat, shower, etc. we would go in smaller groups so we wouldn’t lose our spot. There were charging ports at all the loungers.


Our home for the next 6 hours or so.

My older daughter and I decided to go find the showers. There are two sets, one close to the restrooms in the main large room and one behind the deli area toward the back of the lounge. We found no wait at the second set so we each took a shower. I had read that the shower rooms were too warm, but I didn’t find it too bad. I also realized that I had forgotten my deodorant. ☹ As an aside, I tried to buy deodorant at Doha airport and it was the equivalent of US$24 for a tiny bottle so I figured I would wait for Nairobi and just borrow my wife’s.

ShowerToilet/bidet

We took turns going to the restaurant to eat and the sushi was surprisingly good.


Most of the other food was pretty heavy for pre-flight dining. There were also some salads and sandwiches available in the deli area. They do not allow taking food from the dining areas to other seating areas. I suppose that makes for a cleaner lounge, but it was a bit annoying as we’re used to just grabbing food and bringing it to where we sit. Here are the menus for the deli which were available via QR Code. Beverages were the same in the main dining area.



At some point, I realized I had left my jacket on the plane. I checked with the agents at the lounge and that began a three hour saga of “We found it” “It wasn’t yours” “We think it’s in lost and found” “Turns out it’s not there” and so on. So, someone on the next flight to Melbourne has my jacket (or more likely it was thrown out).

I tried to watch NFL football on my phone, but even with VPN, I could not get any links to work. I ended up listening to the Dolphins game on the SiriusXM app while we all napped on and off. Overall, I think we enjoyed the lounge despite our unwanted layover. I found it a bit sterile and cold (in look not temperature) and we preferred the Turkish lounge in Istanbul with all the food stations and activities. It wasn’t a bad place to wait and certainly better than the main concourse with all the screaming kids and retail overload.



Around 12:30am, we left and went to our gate in the B concourse. We noticed that the lounge was significantly busier at that hour than when we arrived.

Up Next: Qatar A330 DOH-NBO – Not What We Booked

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African sunrise through the windows

Unlike in Chicago, boarding was pretty much on time in Doha. The gates are set up to check passports and boarding passes before entering the gate areas. Then you can board fairly quickly when the time comes. It was still a bit chaotic as they had all of the priority boarding group sitting in one area of the gate and there was no PA announcement, just a guy who yelled “business class!”

I had prepared the family for the disappointment of going from QSuites to the A330. Not only that, but we were not all sitting together in this 2-2-2 configuration. We had two seats by the window in row 1 and two seats in front of each other in rows 3 and 4 on the aisle. At least they were able to find four business class seats for us after our missed connection.



QR1335 DOH-NBO
Scheduled 01:45-7:10
Actual 01:55-7:10

My wife and youngest took the two seats together while my oldest sat in row 3 and I took the seat in row 4. We taxied for quite a while and finally took off at 2:18am. I decided to skip eating after takeoff and try and sleep. The others decided to eat first. Service started once we took off, but I reclined all the way instead. Here’s the menu:



I was a little surprised that a 1:45am flight landing at 7:10am would have a heavy dinner and basically no breakfast instead of the opposite. Surely most people would have eaten dinner already and want to sleep for the first part of the flight?
I napped on and off for a couple of hours but couldn’t really get comfortable. It’s not surprising that the seats were much narrower than QSuites. I also noticed that the middle pair had even less space for the footwell compared to the seats on the side.

Around 4:30am, I sat up and ordered some breakfast (?) I decided on the Arabic mezze again as I was not in the mood for anything heavier. Bread and amuse bouche was brought out first then the mezze. I had a sparkling water to go with it.

Amuse bouche

There was a really pretty sunrise out the left (east facing) side of the plane.


I also grabbed a nice picture from the restroom window.


Before landing, I ordered a cappuccino which came with some delicious packaged cookies.


Before landing, I had an interesting chat with my seatmate, a UN lawyer headed to South Sudan via Nairobi. She is from the UK, lives in Hanoi and used to live in Kenya. She had been to some really eye-opening (and scary) places in her career.
We landed a few minutes after 7am and pulled up to the terminal right on time. We exited via stairs so I was able to get a quick picture of the plane. It looked like a widebody Kenya Airways flight arrived just before ours.



We were taken in a business class bus to Terminal 1E which is where all international arrivals are processed. It’s a bit of a makeshift terminal since there was a fire at the airport several years ago. We first had to wait outdoors in a line to have our vaccine cards checked. When I say checked, a lady glanced at them for less than a second while in an animated conversation with a colleague. Then we went into the main arrivals area and waited in line for passport control. There was only one line for non-African/non-UN arrivals, but after a few minutes, a second one opened and we got through in about 10 or 15 minutes. I did see a priority line after we had been standing there for a while, but I’m not sure if we had access to that line with our business class tickets and I was not about to jump out of line to check.



We each had to provide our fingerprints electronically and show the evisa, then we were through into baggage claim. As we did not check bags, we went directly to the exit line. There we had to scan some of our carry-on bags in order to exit the airport. Only some of our backpacks were required to be scanned so I’m not sure exactly what the criteria was for scanning. Anyway, we were now in Kenya and a rep from the safari company was there to meet us. He led us to the parking garage where our vehicle and driver was waiting for us. This was just a regular SUV as we would switch to our LandCruiser Safari model the next day when we left Nairobi.


Note the animal sculptures on the median as you drive through the airport.

We were driven to the Sankara hotel and because it was a holiday (January 2nd observing New Year’s Day), the traffic was light so we arrived about 8:30am. We were all pretty exhausted, but ready to start our vacation. We agreed to meet up with our safari company owner and our driver for the day in the hotel lobby around 10am.

Up Next: Our But Exhausted Fun Day in Nairobi.

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One of the many baby elephants we saw in Nairobi

After our ride from the airport, we checked in to the Sankara Narobi. I’ll have a full review of our rooms and the hotel in the next segment. Around 10am, we met Imraan, the owner of Best Camping Tours and Safaris, in the lobby. I had been corresponding with him for three years so it was like finally meeting an old friend. He offered to exchange my US dollars for Kenyan shillings at the current rate. This saved me from going to an ATM although I did need to replenish my cash later on.

We were then driven to the elephant orphanage in the Karen neighborhood (named for Karen Blixen, the famous Out of Africa naturalist). I had pre-reserved tickets as they only release about 100 spots per day for the 11-12 elephant feeding time. I paid cash in Kenyan shillings for the entrance fee. It was either $60 or 60,000 shillings for the four of us. Note that 60,000 shillings were equivalent to approximately $48, so it’s likely cheaper to pay with shillings if you can get some before you go.

We really enjoyed the baby elephants marching in and getting fed by the workers with giant milk bottles. They then ate some of the vegetation scattered around and walked past us so we could touch them.



There was also a fairly long introduction and explanation from one of the workers about how the elephants came to be orphans and how they eventually introduce them back to their natural environments in the national parks around Kenya.
We were of course fairly tired so around 11:45 we went back to our driver and headed to the giraffe center. On the way, we saw some wild baboons on the side of the road. At the Giraffe Center, I was able to pay the entrance fee there with a credit card (also US$15 per person).

We walked along a walkway that was set at the height of the giraffe necks and were given some food pellets. The giraffes ate the pellets from our hands.
We could see the famous Giraffe Manor in the distance as it’s all part of the same property.

Giraffe Manor in the distance


There were also some warthogs scrounging for giraffe food

On the way back to our hotel, we stopped at a pharmacy to pick up deodorant for me, some sunscreen and some bug spray. We met Imraan and his family at a local restaurant for a late lunch. He treated us to some great Kenyan-style Indian food. We enjoyed meeting his wife and kids as well. It was interesting to hear about their upbringing in Nairobi.

We were all ready for a nap at this point so Imraan dropped us back at the hotel, gave us a quick briefing on what to expect when we headed out on safari and left us to sleep off some jetlag. That evening, after trying the club lounge and room service, everyone just went back to sleep early, so I watched the Premier League match on TV. We all looked forward to our safari adventure beginning the next day.

Up Next: Sankara Nairobi, Marriot Autograph Collection Review.

Barrheadlass

I just read your entire trip report on your blog. What a fantastic trip! I loved your photos and details.

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Sankara rooftop pool

We only spent one night in Nairobi after our missed connection in Doha. I had booked two nights at the Sankara Nairobi, a Marriott Autograph Collection hotel. At various times when I previously booked this trip, I had reservations at the Hilton, which is closer to downtown and not in a nicer neighborhood like the Sankara. I settled on the Sankara because our safari company recommended it and also because I had two expiring free nights from my Marriott credit cards which I used for one room and 35,000 Marriott points per night for the other room. Cash rates were around $200 plus taxes so it was a decent, if not spectacular use of the certs and points.

In the end, the hotel claimed they would refund the points for the first night as we only used one night there. I’m still waiting to see if that happens and not super hopeful. After all, we canceled the first night after the check-in time once we missed our connection around 6:15pm so I don’t really expect the hotel or Marriott to actually refund the points. Those are the risks when you use points for the first night after a long trip but those certs were expiring. I guess I should have used certs for the first night for each room and points for the second night. Oh well.

Now, on to the hotel itself. We arrived around 8:30am and not surprisingly, our rooms were ready as they were likely sitting there ready from the night before. My wife and I had been upgraded to a beautiful suite and our kids were in an adjoining room. When the connecting door was opened, it basically turned the room into a 2BR, 2.5BA apartment (minus a kitchen of course). I’m a lifetime Platinum and was still Titanium with Marriott when we stayed at the hotel.
Here are some pictures of the rooms.


Kids' adjoining room

We were out from about 10am until 3pm and returned to the hotel for an afternoon nap. The blackout shades were really helpful in letting us rest. I woke up around 5pm and my younger daughter was also awake so we headed to the lounge where afternoon appetizers were being served along with an open self-pour bar (no extra charge). We had some tasty hot food and I had a couple of whiskeys which I assumed would help me sleep off the jetlag that night. Here are some lounge pictures.



Later that evening, my wife woke up and ordered some room service which was reasonable priced and arrived hot and promptly unlike many US hotels. Sorry I didn't get a picture, but she enjoyed it. I got some wings as well and they were good.

The next morning, we went to breakfast together. It was included for my wife and I thanks to my status and was $30pp for my kids. It was well worth it to pay for them. There were the usual eggs made to order and hot/cold buffet items, plus Indian, Kenyan and other delicacies. Coffees and other drinks were made to order and brought to the table. It was one of the most extensive hotel breakfast buffets we've seen, and we've been all over Europe as well as to Vietnam and Thailand.



After breakfast, we packed up and headed out on safari. We received Titanium elite welcome gifts chosen from a small catalog (instead of 1000 points) and my wife chose a set of animal sculptures. I highly recommend this hotel if you happen to be in Nairobi pre or post safari. It’s especially great if you have Marriott status as they treat elite members extremely well.

Up Next: Off on Safari – Aberdare & The Ark

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Elephants and buffalo at The Ark

We met our driver/guide for the week, David, outside the Sankara around 9am and loaded up our bags for our nine days and eight nights on the road across Kenya. Eventually, we learned that David’s tribal name was Kehara and he preferred to be called that. Just about all Kenyans have a Christian name and a tribal name. Most of them give tourists their Christian names as they are easier to remember and pronounce.

We headed out through Nairobi to the northwest and saw lots of different neighborhoods and developments, some very basic dwellings and some very nice apartments/houses and malls. The contrasts were something we would see again throughout our time in Kenya.



Our first stop after an hour or so was at a fruit stand where Kehara bought some fresh fruit for us to try. Then we stopped at a souvenir place for a restroom break. The highway for the first part of the trip was pretty decent, but after about an hour, there was a lot of construction, detours and dirt road to navigate. This was probably the worst road of all the ones we drove on in Kenya.

We arrived at Aberdare Country Club around 12:30pm. The club has a nice restaurant and bar along with many offered activities for guests like horseback riding, guided walks and a spa/health club. We said farewell to Kehara until the following day. He was going to stay with our vehicle at a local hotel in the nearby town.


Aberdare Country Club

We booked a horseback ride for my older daughter and had lunch at the club.

My first Kenyan beer



Unfortunately, it started raining pretty heavily after lunch so the horseback riding was canceled. We decided to take the earlier shuttle to our accommodations at The Ark, a special lodge in the middle of a nature preserve. The shuttle ride was about 45 minutes. The Ark looks a bit like a ship. The rooms are on “decks” instead of floors. At the aft of the “ship” there are large picture windows on the lower floors and an outdoor deck on the upper floor which overlook a natural watering hole and salt lick where many animals come to drink throughout the day and night.

When we arrived, we were given our accommodations which were basic but comfortable.

Kids' room


Our room with a view

There was already some action at the watering hole when we arrived as some buffalo and elephants were there.


We had dinner at the lodge and it was pretty good. It was served buffet style. There was also a bar available with reasonable prices where I had a drink with my younger daughter before dinner.
Later that night, we saw hyenas, deer, warthogs, mongoose and a wild cat.


Sorry the pics are bit blurry but these are taken through a picture window at night.

We were still being affected by jetlag so we were up in the night and saw more animals. The lodge is supposed to set off a buzzer in your room when they see animals at night, but I found the spotter sleeping on a sofa on the ground floor so I suppose he didn’t alert anyone. There weren't any more of the big 5 that we hadn't already seen when we arrived (elephants and buffalo).

The sunrise was pretty.


Breakfast was served around 7am and was also buffet style. We took a shuttle back to the country club at 8am. On the way, we saw some more buffaloes near the road.



Kehara was waiting for us and we loaded up to head to our next destination: Samburu.

Up Next: Samburu & Elephant Bedroom Camp

pjs

Up close with an elephant

Thankfully, the road to Samburu from Aberdare was fairly smooth. There were quite a few speed bumps and animal crossings along most of the highways and minor roads we drove in Kenya. Lots of nomadic tribespeople move their cattle to new grazing areas and have to cross the roads. We went past a lot of goat/sheep/cow herds on our travels.



It took about four hours to get to Samburu. We entered the national reserve and then had about a 20 minute drive to our camp, Elephant Bedroom. The camp itself is inside the reserve right on the Ewaso Ngiro River.

We were shown to our tents for the next two nights. I was impressed with how nice the furnishings and bathroom looked. Bottled water was provided and restocked throughout our stay. We were advised not to drink tap water or use it for teeth brushing.



We were warned to use the provided flashlights after dark and to always signal an escort to get to and from our rooms in the dark as elephants (and other animals) sometimes came into the camp.
We had lunch at the open air restaurant and rested for a couple of hours.

Salad

Then we went on our first official game drive of the trip. We were all still fairly tired as we had not adjusted too well to the time change yet.



After the game drive, we stopped for sundowners with the rest of the camp’s guests. It was a beautiful sunset.


My wife and oldest were too tired to go to dinner and just wanted to sleep so I went with my youngest. This is a sample of the menu we would get at all the meals at all of the camps where we stayed. Basically, there was an appetizer and/or soup or salad, four entrée choices - meat, fish/chicken, vegetarian (usually pasta) and Indian vegetarian. Dessert was usually a choice between tropical fruit or a slice of cake or pie.



We finally all got a decent night’s sleep and were ready for our early game drive the next morning. The camp brought coffee and biscuits to our room around 6am and we left just after sunrise to spot some animals. This time we saw a cheetah among other animals.



We came back to the camp for breakfast around 9am. At 10am, we left for a Samburu village. We got a tour of the village, a demonstration of some songs and dances (including the kids participating in the dances), saw the inside of a hut and a fire-making demonstration. We then met the kids (and Kehara had made sure we bought some candy on the way to Samburu) and handed out candy to them which we really enjoyed doing (and they enjoyed eating too). Someone commented on my blog that we shouldn't bring candy because dental care is so lacking in these tribal areas. To be honest, one family not bringing candy probably wouldn't make much of a difference, plus it's not just sugar that affects mouth health. I think they could do a better job with a lot of health-related issues in these areas without taking away one of the few things these kids look forward to.


Before you comment or ask, she had an infection on her lip so that's why she wore a mask. We never otherwise saw any masks throughout our time in Kenya.



We returned to the camp for lunch and while the others rested, I enjoyed a large Tusker while sitting on the deck overlooking the river.



Around 4pm, we took another game drive and it was very hot so there wasn’t much to see at first. Finally, as we headed back to camp, we came upon a family of lions who were feasting on a baboon. The lioness who had killed the unfortunate monkey had some sort of injury.





We later found out she had her jaw broken by a zebra kick a few weeks earlier. The local vet tried to find her and treat her but couldn’t. She slinked away from the rest of the group when it became apparent they would not share the meat with her. Unfortunately, if she did not get treatment within a few days after our visit, it’s likely that she did not make it. She was apparently fairly old as well.

On our return to camp, we enjoyed our last dinner at Elephant Bedroom. Throughout our stay there, elephants did in fact walk through the camp from time to time. We were always kept at a safe distance by the staff.



The next morning, we had an early departure so the staff prepared an early breakfast for us. Each morning at Elephant Bedroom there were eggs made to order, bacon (beef), sausage, mushrooms, beans, pastries and toast. Coffee was French press and quite good at all the camps.



Of the three camps we stayed in (all owned by the same company), Elephant Bedroom was my favorite. The staff just seemed to go the extra mile and the manager was always present, making sure all the guests were well taken care of. Our server even brought food to our tent one night when my wife didn’t make it to dinner.

Up Next: Lake Nakuru and Mbweha Camp

pjs

On the equator

We were up early to get on the road and the staff had a great breakfast ready for us. We met Kehara by the car at 7am and got on the road. This was our longest journey of the trip, but the scenery was beautiful. We passed Mount Kenya and lots of hills and valleys.



On the way, we made a stop at the equator. We had passed it on the way north, but this time, we stopped at a souvenir store and received a demonstration from a local on the Coriolis effect. It was pretty interesting to see the water swirl different directions 10 feet either side of the equator sign and not at all right at the equator. We all received a certificate for crossing the equator (for a price of course!)



The scenery on this long drive looked much different than the dry and dusty Samburu area. We made a couple of bathroom stops on the way before finally arriving around 2pm at Mbweha Camp.
We were shown to our cabins. They weren’t really tents at this camp as the buildings were built out of mud bricks. It was probably the nicest room of the three camps. All of the buildings were named after animals and we were placed in Dikdik (the smallest antelope.




After a late lunch (chicken was dry by then according to my notes), we went on an afternoon game drive to Lake Nakuru in search of the black rhino. The park entrance was only 15 minutes away from the camp.


Lake Nakuru

We lucked out as we saw some rhinos in the distance, but they made their way over to where we were driving. Unlike Samburu and Masai Mara, there are more patrols watching for vehicles driving off the trail in Lake Nakuru so we had to hope the rhinos would come to us. Luckily, they did.



We drove around the park and saw some other wildlife.



We got back to camp around 6pm and my younger daughter and I had a dip in the pool. The stairs were extremely slippery, and I wiped out. Lucky for me, I just had a bruise on my back and nothing worse.
Dinner was at 7:30pm and we asked our driver/guide Kehara to join us as by this point, we had bonded with him and learned all about his family.



We had an early start the next morning to head toward Masai Mara. We woke up at 6:15am and grabbed breakfast. It was good, but not as good as Elephant Bedroom. We headed out around 7:45am on our way to Masai Mara.

Mbweha camp was a quick one-night stop between Samburu and Masai Mara and the camp itself was fine. There was no Wi-Fi in the room and barely any cell phone reception, but as it was one night, that didn’t really bother us. Wi-Fi at reception was fine. The food was similar to Elephant Bedroom but not quite as good.

Up Next: Masai Mara Game Drives and Balloon Ride

smartytravel

What's your experience like in Serengeti?

I've heard and seen some videos with multiple cars/huge amounts of people gathering around and scaring animals in the wilderness.

I'm curious if that's the case for sure?