Kenya, could this be your once in a lifetime trip?

Have you been on an African safari? If the answer is yes, then you will appreciate everything I have to say, and you are one of the privileged people to have experienced the African dream. If your answer is no, then let me give you a little insight into why an African safari needs to be on your bucket list and can hopefully be something you can tick off more than once in your life. In June 2019 I returned home from my third trip to Kenya and my eighth time to Africa as a continent. This trip was particularly special as it was my partner’s first trip to Africa. Having sold luxury holidays to Africa for the past 11 years I have a huge passion for Africa and my partner couldn’t quite work out why I loved it so much. He was about to find out. When is the best time to travel? We travelled to Kenya In June as it’s just after rainy season (end of March, April and May) so it was nice and dry. It is also just before the peak travel season of July and August which also happens to be when the migration takes place. What is the migration you may ask? It’s when millions of wildebeest are travelling from the Serengeti in Tanzania to the Masai Mara in Kenya. They do this every year and can arrive as early as late June and head back to the Serengeti in September/October. This in itself is a breath-taking sight, but not only will you see millions of wildebeest you will have the chance to see the action unfold as well. Following the migration, you often have the cats out for an easy meal or a crocodile waiting along the riverbanks for them to cross. Your game drive experience is often heightened but just remember there will be a lot more people there at this time of the year too. Other than the rains Kenya is still a year-round destination with warm temperatures and is usually dry during the day. What are the Big 5? The lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and buffalo. We were lucky enough to tick them all off in 1 day plus see them again on other game drives. Leopard and rhino are extremely rare to see. How did we get there? We took a fantastic 1-hour flight in a 12-seater plane straight into the Masai Mara. As we came into land our pilot gave us a guided tour of what was happening on the ground. We flew over herds of elephants, giraffe and the famous Mara River. Upon landing we had a 5-minute drive to our camp. Within this 5-minute journey we had been welcomed by a huge troop of baboons, buffalo, giraffes and many smaller animals. Everything was right there ready and waiting to be spotted. A typical day on safari. We arrived at 11am into the Mara, had a quick briefing about the camp and what we would do on our 4-night stay and were taken to our luxury tent overlooking the Mara River with a couple of crocs and hippos relaxing on the bank. Don’t worry, we were quite a few feet up the riverbank. After a lovely warm rain shower, we headed back to the main area for a delicious lunch overlooking the bush. The Mongoose and Pumba’s (warthogs) liked to take a stroll around the camp and check out what’s for lunch (they aren’t fed). Head back to your tent for a bit of relaxation or a nap before heading back out at 15:30. This was my favourite part of the day. We went out in our open 4x4 vehicle for a 3-hour game drive. The cooler hours of the day are when the animals are more active, and you have the best chance of spotting them. Watching an African sunset is magical! Back to camp at 18:30 we sat on the main deck overlooking the hippos in the river with a drink in hand and some bar snacks. The chattering of other guests comparing stories and what they had seen that day brought a very comfortable communal feel. 8pm and its time for an a la carte dinner. Having a dedicated waiter and separate barman was great, he knew our drinks order before we sat down and it was great to have the same staff for every meal giving the real personal touch to our stay. After dinner we took our drinks and sat on benches around the fire with other fellow safari goers, sometimes joined by a hippo taking a stroll off to eat some fresh grass. We were surprised to find a lovely turn down service including a hot water bottle in our bed which was a lovely touch. Our personal wakeup call with hot chocolate and biscuits at 5:45. 06:30 head off on your morning game drive for 2.5hrs to see what other animals will be ticked off. You can decide to either head back to the camp at 09:00 for a freshly cooked breakfast or decide to extend your game drive and have a picnic breakfast of sausages, bacon and pancakes in the bush, usually heading back around 11:30 so not to miss lunch. Your days then generally follow the same structure, but a game drive is never the same as the last, you don’t know what you might see or what ‘safari dramas’ may happen. How about a hot air balloon ride? This was my first experience in a hot air balloon, and I got to do it in my favourite place! 04:30 you are off to the balloon staging site. After a safety briefing, we climbed into the basket and we were ready to go. As the sun rose in the early morning African sky so did we. The pilot explained that the balloon is driven by the wind so as we glided through the sky he took us up and down at different heights for spectacular views over the Masai Mara and the animals who lived with in it. Elephants were a great sighting at this height. Spotting them from afar with your binoculars and then majestically gliding over the herd and watching them go about their business. 1 hour in the African sky was not enough but all good things must come to an end. After a fun but bumpy landing we were driven off to where a champagne breakfast awaits in the bush! What better way to end a once in a lifetime experience than sitting on a little stall eating freshly made scrambled eggs, sausages, bacon and fresh fruit? They even cooked fresh crepes using the balloon gas cylinders. Once everyone was finished, we hopped back into the vehicle and head out on our 3 hour game drive which was now over the other side of the Mara River from where our camp was. To our excitement we caught a black rhino and her calf wandering through the vegetation. A quick snap on the camera and she was gone. This was such a rare sight that everyone back at camp was very jealous as we had managed to tick off the final member of the Big Five. What a fantastic holiday this was!