Guests of Brett’s recently journeyed into the heart of Africa to experience some of the best camps that Kenya has to offer. This adventure of a lifetime included visiting the Maasai Mara where this extraordinary experience brings you face-to-face with the incredible beauty and diversity of African wildlife. Here is their feedback:
Hi Brett
Here is some feedback on the trip. Amazing as always.
“You did another amazing job with our itinerary. We have recommended Sun Safaris as a travel consultancy to so many of our friends as the trips organised by you have been seamless. Great accommodation options, choice of destination to meet all our wildlife encounter ideals, culturally sensitive, community-focussed, and the guides have excelled at showing us each region. Thanks again!”
On this trip we really enjoyed everywhere we stayed. Below are just some comments to give you a feel for what we thought. We wouldn’t change anything.
June 5 – 7: Karen Blixen Coffee Garden and Cottages, Nairobi
Great location.
Pick up with driver at airport went well.
Room was great and the room attendants were excellent. Particularly like the boot cleaning!
Restaurants were both excellent.
It was quite when we were there so we were well attended at the restaurants
Visit to Karen Blixen museum, elephant orphanage and giraffe centre were all very good and the guide was excellent. Definitely recommend these tours.
2) June 7 – 10: Sirikoi Lodge, Lewa Conservancy
Great choice of conservancy to see the Rhinos. We saw so many and had great opportunities to photograph them. 3 days was sufficient. I felt we saw most of what it had to offer in that time.
We saw lots of rhino (both types), elephants, a leopard at night, a small pride of lions, giraffe and a lot of other herd animals, some really unique ones.
Lodge – great accommodation and room and the lodge overall had a lovely panorama and views. Very comfortable and pleasant managers. The guide we had, Frank and his trainee Evelyn were excellent and very knowledgeable. We liked the eco-efforts like the garden supplying the lodge needs, and the carpentry area. Nice options for horse and camel riding (but we didn’t bother with these)
The lodge had a very British colonial feel. We preferred the other lodges with their local Maasai run style where staff were predominantly local, but this is a personal preference and we realise that British influence is common in Kenya.
We found the lodge to be very accommodating. Note that we asked for lunch in our room (to avoid group lunch, and to have a lighter lunch) and this was fabulous.
3) June 10 – 13: Leopard Hill, Maasai Mara
Fabulous location and we liked the feel of this glamping with the views over the dam. We liked the privacy of the tents, and the attentiveness of staff. Even a great massage treatment!
Staff were great and the food was excellent. The guide we had, Damah was fabulous. We saw leopards, lions, cheetah, and plenty of birds. The management was excellent. We appreciated the guide driving us to Ndoto, but thought in hindsight with the poor roads that it may have been more efficient to fly.
4) June 13 – 17: Offbeat Ndoto, Maasai Mara
Another great camp. Very friendly staff and great guide. Food here was also excellent and we appreciated the chefs cooking a local cuisine meal here instead of western style meals. They also made a nice birthday cake for me and local ceremony. Very touching.
We saw leopards, lions, cheetahs and plenty of herd animals. It was very muddy and we got bogged in the vehicle but that was part of the fun.
The Mara North region was great and we saw a good range of animals in different parts of the conservancy. Very happy to see the leopard in daylight and the cheetah hunting.
Good transfers to Uganda from the lodge.
5) June 17 – 18: Latitude 0°, Kampala
Nice location and large hotel. Very tastefully decorated and the food was great. It felt less personal than the other places we visited but that is to be expected for a large hotel. We ate in the Asian and A la carte restuarants and both were good.
Transfers worked out well. A little bit of stress with the pre flight pickup driver being later than planned but it all worked out.
6) June 18 – 21: Gorilla Safari Lodge, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
Comfortable lodge and very pleasant staff and manager
The tour guide was great and he even went for a local hike to the village with us
The hotel was slightly quirky but we liked this (e.g. a dinner in a room decorated like the jungle the night prior to departure). Food was tasty and plentiful.
We appreciated the close proximity to the gorilla trek.
Recommend the golden monkey trek also. It is a long drive from the accommodation but worth it.
This lodge was probably a lesser star rating than the others, so perhaps your previous guests prefer something more expensive. We were very happy with it. Enjoyed a nice dinner near the fire place organised for us as a surprise.
