資深美少女 LYJ (Senior Pretty Girl Jenny)

We took Thai Airways TG 410 and had a transit in Bangkok for around 3 hours and then took Kenya Airways KQ 887 to Nairobi.  No sooner had we arrived in Nairobi than we moved to the Masai Mara Game Reserve to start our safari tour.

Immigration:

Visitors need to fill in immigration forms.

We thought they would check our vaccination certificates, but they did not.

Currency

After you go through the customs, you can see a couple of banks.  You can exchange some Kenya Shilling there.  They have better exchange rates than hotels.  Although you can also use US dollars, you can use Shilling for tips, drinks, souvenirs, …etc.

SIM card

As soon as you walk out of the arrival hall, you will see some shops that sell SIM cards.  We bought one card with the cheapest package.  It cost USD 21.  However, there was no signal in national parks and the hotels we stayed offered free wi-fi.  In my opinion, if you are not addicted to the Internet, you will not need to buy SIM cards.

Natural World picked us up

When we were buying the SIM cards, our driver held the board “Natural World” around there.  We made sure he was our guide Aden.

Aden is a kind guide with good experience and sharp eyes.  As you know, cheetahs and leopards can move very fast, so it is hard to find them.  Nevertheless, Aden’s eyes are amazing!  During our trip, we were the first vehicle to view those animals several times!  Also, he has profound knowledge about the animals and environmental protection.

Tips:  We chose Natural World to arrange our private tour.  They are professional.  If you want to know how we chose Natural World, you can click here to view the procedure.

This day’s itinerary:

A. Nairobi Airport (NBO)

(→265 KM, 4~5 hours) B. Masai Mara

Our safari jeep

After we met our guide, we departed for the parking lot and got into our safari vehicle.

This vehicle was so spacious!  There was even an electric plug inside!

We took a soft medium sized suitcase and an extra-large-sized travel bag.  We put some items that we may use frequently such as insect repellent, sun screen, sun glasses, caps, scarfs, mouth masks, snacks, …etc.  Although the boot is not very big, it was enough for our medium sized suitcase.  If you are a big group you should consider using soft suitcases or travel bags to fit the boot.

Tips: We prepared a trash bag.  It is really a good idea!  You can put your garbage inside so that you can have a clean safari vehicle.

The Great Riftvalley

This was our first attraction in Kenya.  The weather was beautiful and the landscape was breathtaking!

On the way to Masai Mara

The view was stunning!

There were a lot of markets on the way.

During the safari tour, visitors usually use the toilets in this kind of shops.

After taking a break in this shop, we went down “massage road”, so called because it is so bumpy that you get a massage from your seat!  It took us about 1 hour!

Accommodation: Sarova Mara Game Camp

This is a camp or tent hotel.  Kenya’s national parks are also famous for camp or tent style hotels.  It is really a must try.

Website: https://www.sarovahotels.com/maracamp-masai-mara/

Meals: Full Board

Free Wi-Fi: Yes

Safe: Yes

Electricity limitation: no power 4 pm ~ 6 pm and midnight to 4 am

Lunch

All the hotels we chose offer western buffet.  The hot drinks are free, but if you want to get some cold drinks you may need to pay more.

Safari in Masai Mara:

We were as happy as Larry because we were starting our first safari!

Wait for a moment!  The hot air balloon staff came over and told us some important information as below:

1. morning call at 4:30

2. drink coffee or tea beside the restaurant at 5:00

3. departure at 5:15

He gave a receipt and told us that we needed to show it to their company’s driver since there were not the only hot air balloon company in Masai Mara.

And then we started our safari!!

At first, we just saw some birds and grazers around our hotel.

After that, our driver turned on his radio.  Shortly, we saw two groups of lions.  That was the reason why I felt excited when I heard the guide turn on the radio ^ ^

There were two packs of lions – one was a pack of baby lions, another was female lions.  They were on both sides of the road and we considered they were family.

In lions’ world, female lions look for food.  Near the group of female lions, there was a buffalo.  Those female lions were getting closer.  We thought we would see lions killing a buffalo, but the buffalo saw the lions nearby.  Those female lions gave up hunting it, so we left this scene to continue our safari.

There were lots of animals

Later, we saw many safari vehicles in front of us.  We knew it was something exciting!  Wow!  They were a lion couple!  There were herds of buffaloes near them.  However, adult buffaloes protected their babies against lions so that the two lions needed to run away.

Our driver told us, lions usually stay together.  Therefore, we found the other male lions nearby.

It was sunset!  We saw elephants, lions and buffaloes on this day.  We gathered three of the Big Five!  What a wonderful safari just in two hours!  We were looking forward to having fun the following days.

Dinner time

Before the restaurant began offering dinner, there was a Masai traditional show in front of the restaurant.

We heard a lot of noises outside during the night!  It was amazing!

We took a long-haul flight and a long journey to be here.  I was exhausted and went to bed earlier.  We were taking the hot air balloon and a full day safari tour on the next day!