Adventures in Kenya and Tanzania

Two friends and I spent an exciting month in Africa, June 18-July 15, 2012. 

We landed in Nairobi, KENYA, and stayed at the gated Flora Hostel (phone +254 720 071772). A Catholic-based center run by the Consolata Sisters, it is frequently used by missionaries but is open to anyone.

It had a friendly staff and offered immaculately clean rooms. Including three meals a day, room rates are currently KES3,000 (near $35) for a single with private shower and toilet (KES2,600 with shared facilities) and KES6,500 ($75) for a private triple (KES5,500 sharing facilities).

One of the highlights of our travels around the Nairobi area was Giraffe Manor (phone +254 [020] 502 0888). It’s pricey (currently $510 per person per night) but offers luxury accommodations and gourmet meals in a beautiful setting. And, of course, there are the endangered Rothschild giraffes, which stick their long necks into the hotel windows.

Within walking distance is the less expensive Giraffe Centre, where, for an entrance fee of $12, you can feed the same giraffes.

The David Sheldrick Elephant & Rhino Orphanage, located on the outskirts of Nairobi, is a must to visit. Dame Daphne Sheldrick, who founded the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (P.O. Box 15555, Nairobi, Kenya) in honor of her husband, continues to take in baby elephants, most of which have been orphaned by poachers. For at least two years, before being released into the wild, the animals are cared for and trained in how to be elephants.

At 11 o’clock every morning, the elephants are brought to an enclosure by their keepers for a special milk breakfast, and visitors are allowed to observe them for one hour. Watching these adorable little elephants as they interacted with each other and their keepers on such a human level brought tears to our eyes.

You can “foster” an elephant for $50 a year, and you’ll receive periodic reports via email on his/her progress. I believe the entrance fee was $20.

From Nairobi, on June 22 we took a shuttle bus ($25) to Arusha, TANZANIA. The trip was comfortable and, including a long delay at the border, lasted about six hours.

We stayed at Le Jacaranda Hotel (phone 255 27 254 4624), with clean rooms (currently $80, triple) and an excellent restaurant. 

Prior to arriving, we had hired Fortes Safaris (phone 255 027 250 6094), a company I had used three times before. For our 9-day, 8-night customized safari in Tanzania, the total cost for the three of us was $6,900, including all meals. (Rental of the Land Rover with driver was $200 a day; park entrance fees were $50 per person per day, and the remainder of the cost was for hotels.) We had our choice of hotels, and most were very expensive.

On my three previous trips to Tanzania, I had chosen to camp. Sleeping under the stars in such close proximity to the animals was an exciting experience. Campsites are available for something like $25 a night plus $15 for tent rental. Unfortunately, the campsites offer limited facilities, and, being beyond middle age, we decided to splurge on real beds. We chose the least expensive of the hotels.

We entered the Serengeti at the Nabi Hill Gate, where we were greeted by a cheetah with her three cubs. Our first three nights were spent at the Serengeti Sopa Lodge (phone +255 27 2500630). With great facilities and wonderful meals, this is a lovely lodge (currently $829 per night for a triple, full board, or $814, half board, in peak season).

We spent four days driving through the southeastern part of the park and saw a multitude of lions and leopards. There were elephants galore, including a huge family that became very put out as we approached them on the road.

Our guide, Remtualla (“Remy”), kept his hand on the stick shift and his foot on the gas, ready to take off in a split second if the elephants decided to enforce their claim to the road. Luckily, they allowed us to watch them maneuver around us for 30 minutes before they lumbered off.

Remy was a wonderful, humorous and friendly guide who was extremely knowledgeable about the parks and their animals.

On our last day there, we took a balloon ride over the Serengeti (currently $539 per person). The views were incredible, but we saw few animals, as many were congregating in the Western Corridor.

  We drove slowly to the Western Corridor the next day, and for three days we observed a portion of one of the most unsurpassable spectacles in the world: the migration of over a million wildebeests, zebras, Thomson’s gazelle and elands from the plains of the Serengeti into the Maasai Mara in Kenya and back. We were lucky to see hundreds of thousands moving across the plains, the rows of migrants often extending for 20 kilometers.

On one occasion we sat on a road for over an hour as an endless stream of grunting wildebeests and zebras raced past our Land Rover. Neither words nor pictures can capture the immensity of the migration.

We made frequent stops at the Grumeti River, where crocodiles waited for the wildebeests to cross, hoping to catch one in their gaping mouths. We talked to a crew that was filming a documentary on the migration and they reported that the crocs had taken four wildebeests the day before and that it was “not a pretty sight.” I’m glad we missed the carnage.

We stayed at the Ndabaka Lodge (phone +255 757 550055), an absolutely wonderful place located just outside the Ndabaka Gate of the Serengeti. We stayed in immaculate and well-furnished bandas (luxury tents), at the time priced $120-$190 for a double, depending on the season and number of included meals. 

The lobby and dining areas were located in a separate building, with friendly staff and excellent meals. The swimming pool was refreshing after a long day of chasing wildebeests. I highly recommend this hotel.

The following day, heading toward Ngorongoro Crater, we drove east through the Serengeti, exiting the park at the Nabi Hill Gate. We stayed at the Rhino Lodge (phone +255 [0] 785 500 005). It was cold, and staff built a fire in our room (currently $150 for a single, full board [$135, half board], or $135 double, full board [$120, half]). Cape buffalo could be heard munching on the grass near our balcony during the night.

Arriving at the crater in the morning, we immediately spotted a rhino walking past Lake Magadi, which was filled with pink flamingos. Later we saw a mother rhino and baby from a distance — the only rhino sightings of our trip.

We left Tanzania on July 1 to head for Uganda. Anyone with questions may contact me c/o ITN.

LYNDA HOWLAND

Pittsford, NY