Just returned from the Hilton Safari reward with nothing but positive reviews. Take this trip.

Traveled via KLM WBC to NRB and was met by the Hilton at the airport. No problem buying the visa in NRB. We were about 10 back in line and it only took about 15 minutes - Just enough time to fill out the form. I don�t know where this legend about them only liking crisp $50 dollar bills got started, but people were giving them all sorts of bills and I paid with ten�s and twenty�s. A quick stamp in the passport and you�re in.

The drive to the Hilton took about 15 minutes with no traffic. The Hilton does have a metal detector at the door, but we were waved around it with our bags. Here�s where the only problem we had arose. This reward requires a certificate just like any hotel reward, however, we were unaware of this and Hilton never sent us one. I assumed (incorrectly) that the confirmation email from HHonors Glasgow was enough. Anyway, the Hilton allowed me to check in with the assurance that I would contact HHonors to get the certificate. I fired-off an email from the business center and HHonors emailed the certificate directly to the hotel. Given a standard suite at the hotel for the night. A little worn, but very nice.

Had the included breakfast in the morning and departed at 7:00 am. Dominick was our driver. Trip took 5.5 hours to the lodge. Road varied from good to bad to worse. I don�t think this trip would be much fun if it was hot. The van had no air conditioning and you get a big whiff of diesel exhaust from the 100 trucks you�ll pass on the route if you have the windows open. Emission controls don�t seem to have made it to Kenya yet. The temp for us was good though, and we enjoyed the scenery along the route.

Checked in at the main lodge and proceeded to the Salt Lick Lodge. Given a great room looking at the waterhole. Overall, I think we overestimated how much we�d be roughing it on this trip. The facilities at the lodge are very nice and you have everything you need. Food was very good and service excellent. They leave two bottles of water in your room everyday and more are available at the bar or during meals in the restaurant. Water was 185 K.SHS, Coke 80 K.SHS, Tusker Lager 180 K.SHS, Tusker Malt 140 K.SHS. All very reasonable.

Safari drives were all very enjoyable. The park is not that big, so by the end of the week you�ll have covered the park a few times over. This didn�t really bother us, but the scheduled itinerary is very adequate. You�ll see more elephants than you can count at the park. I counted more than 100 at the lodge one night, and they�re amazing to watch, but they bully the other animals away from the waterhole. In addition, we saw many zebras, giraffes, baboons, cape buffalos, warthogs, gray duikers, dik-diks, grant�s gazelles, waterbucks, hartebeests, impalas, greater kudu�s, common elands, blue monkeys, and Vervet monkeys. We even ran into a bushbaby in the dining room one evening returning to the room from the bar. The staff was in the kitchen but had already put out the desert trays on the buffet. The bushbaby was having himself some desert when a waiter came through the kitchen door and scared him off. In the cat family we had a great Cheetah sighting and a quick sighting of a serval cat. We thought we were going to leave Africa without seeing a lion, but finally on the last hour of the last drive on the last day we finally found a pride of 5 lions with a male, two females and two cubs. The perfect ending to a great week.

The dive back to Nairobi went a little faster because of less traffic, but we did have a flat tire we had to change along the way. FYI: As soon as we pulled off the road two other safari vans pulled off to make sure we were okay and stayed until we were back on our way. Code of the safari drivers to look out for each other.

Back in Nairobi we got the presidential suite at the Hilton. Went to the Carnivore that night and the next day we visited the Giraffe center and the city market. I highly recommend the giraffe center as a must do. I would skip the city market. The vendors are on you from the second you walk in the door and don�t let up. Spent some time at the Hilton pool and headed back to the airport for the flight home. Check-in was quick and KLM has a lounge with Kenya Airways that�s better than the regular waiting area if you have lounge access.

Overall a fantastic trip. Anyone can do this trip and should before it goes away. Oh yea, not a single bug bite for the entire week. Saw about 5 flies, and that was it.

Thanks for posting your report, corppilot. Glad to hear of your good experience in the line to get your visa. I had been planning to send mine in to a visa service, and have decided to save the money and "pay at the door". We're doing this trip in December.

Thanks for the report. I would love to do this someday! Is there anything to do at the Lodge when you're not out on safari in the park? Or is it just eating/drinking/sleeping/reading?

Great review! Sounds like you had a good time. My husband and I were amazed at the bushbaby sighting in the dining room But they do have good desserts, so I can see how it would have been tempted!

Nice report. As a veteran of three Africa trips I have to tell you no trip is complete without either a flat tire or getting stuck in the mud!

An online visa form can be found on the Kenya Airways website. If you arrive in C class, disembark first, make a beeline for the visa desk, have the form filled out and US$50 in cash to hand, the procedure need not take much longer than a minute.

johan

Enjoyed the report, thank you! BUT what is a bushbaby. (or should I do a search?!)

Here's a photo of a bushbaby:
http://home.san.rr.com/surfari/anima.../bushbaby.html

We're leaving a month from tomorrow for this trip and I have some questions about clothing to take:

will we need anything other than casual clothing while we're at the Nairobi Hilton or Salt Lick Lodge?

My most important question regards shoes...do I really need to take my heavy hiking boots or will a comfortable pair of regular shoes work just as well? I've read a lot of the safari trip reports and it seems that there won't be a lot of walking while at the Lodge. Is that correct? I don't want to pack big, bulky, heavy shoes and would love to leave them at home.

Does the airline hand out visa forms to fill out on the flight or can we only get them at the airport? Would love to avoid a line, but as we're flying in on BA from London and sitting in first class, I doubt there'll be much of a line when we get off unless other flights come in ahead of us. I've looked at the Kenya Airways site and filled out the form and pressed "Prepare Application" but I keep getting an error message.

Thanks for any information any of you can pass on.

No need for hiking shoes at all (unless you're on a walking safari which I venture less than 1% of game viewers do), and casual clothes are perfectly fine. What you need is something comfortable to stand in. You'll be doing a lot of that.

KQ never handed out any visa forms for JNB-NBO so not sure if the other airlines do. BTW, just print this form and fill it out. What you are risking are the KQ and KL flights from LHR and AMS beating yours in.

Nanook, you will want somewhat nice clothes if you go to Carnivore. Especially if you stay for dancing. Otherwise casual is fine.

I flew SAA from JNB to NBO and they gave us visa forms in advance. So I had the forms and $50's in my hand and got our visas in less than a minute.

Thanks for the link for the form, terenz. I've printed it out and it's in my papers to take with me. It looks like the KQ flights get in in the morning, but there is a KLM flight that arrives at 8:25 pm. Our BA flight gets in at 8:20 pm. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Thanks, stimpy, for the info on the dress for Carnivore. We're toying with the idea of going there...is the food really that good, or is Carnivore so popular because it has unusual offerings?

If you are a carnivore like I am the food is the number one highlight. It is both good and unique. My companion wasn't a carnivore, but she enjoyed a few of the dishes quite a bit. But the ambiance is great too. Dr. Dawa is a lot of fun (you will see). The disco is fun if you are there on the right night. If your jet lag can handle it, I recommend going late as the joint will be jumping. Several other flyertalkers have remarked positively on this place.

I belong to that 1%, and always wear hiking sandals. No socks, much cooler, dries much faster when you have been walking through water.

johan