September 2016:Kenya from the USA-1 client 2cnd repeat visit.

Overall it was an excellent vacation. The connections worked perfectly and the …. staff was very attentive and the connections were totally seamless from start to finish. ( give them a rating of 5/5). They also booked us time at the giraffe center and elephant orphanage in Nairobi.

 

Kilaguni serena was nice and the highlight was sitting on the dining area deck watching wildlife walk up to the watering hole 24 hours a day. The food there was all buffet meals which was good and a heavy emphasis on Indian cuisine. The game drives there were not amazing with very sparse wildlife. The brush there is so dense that it’s hard to spot anything and we saw no rhinos even in the rhino sanctuary. I’d rate the lodge a 3/5 and the wildlife a 2/5). (Note from Stephen I suggested other parks) Ngare Serian blew us all away from the moment we were greeted by our guides at the landing strip.

 

The hospitality was most gracious. The tents were stunning and secluded with the white noise of the river as background white noise. The dining tent was awesome as was the food. Our beverage glasses were kept full as were our stomachs. We did not opt for the treehouse because of rain at night. It sounds more appropriate for a romantic couple without extra people and we didn’t want to leave the luxury of out respective tents.

We also opted out of the fly tent experience because of rain and the comfort level. We had thought we were assigned to the mobile camp and that is different from the fly camp so there was some confusion but the manager Fred helps us figure things out and we were so happy staying in out tents for three nights. ( I’d rate the Ngare Serian camp 5 out of 5).

The game drives in Nasai Mara were abundant with wildlife and many prides of lions. Out of the 5 safari locations I’ve booked with you, this was by far the most exciting! The ballooning was excellent although not lots of animals that morning. I think we were all glad we did that. I would give the Masai Mara a 5 out of 5 rating).

The Panfric Saronova in Nairobi was a perfect beginning and end to the trip. Accommodating, good location, good restaurant and convenient location. It was not too fancy and not to gritty.

Four highlights

1. Spending an hour photographing a cheetah and her cubs as she struck various poses basking in the sunshine.

2. Seeing so many lion prides up close with tons of cute cubs

3. A night drive in the Mara with a pack of hyenas chasing the wildebeests and zebras in the pitch black of night. We saw hundreds of reflective eyes darting wildly around us in the darkness.

4. everything about the Ngare Serian camp. It blew us away. Thanks again for your help. It was one of the two most amazing and memorable vacations in my life.

The other being the safari trip to Southern Africa booked through you in 2013. Steve Riback. PS. I’m speaking for myself but Julie and Hillary may have other opinions.

PPS. If it weren’t for Hillary’s motion sickness a flight back to Nairobi would have been a better option but it was our decision to drive to avoid the extra flight and we did get a great view of the great Rift Valley.