On Safari and a 90th birthday party

[Flying mermaid]

As people might have gathered I really love the predators, however Africa has some amazing birds as well. A small number of the many Mr FM photographed.

Photos

Superb Starling
Secretary Bird
?
Male Ostrich
Vulture

 

[Flying mermaid]

When we left Singita (complete with another bottle of Amarula presented to us by our waiter and the food manager the previous night), I felt quite tearful - haven't felt like that in years. We went by small planes to Kilimanjaro and then Nairobi Wilson. After a transfer to Jomo Kenyatta we waited for check in to open. There was an Emirates flight at 16:40 which as it turned out we would have made, but I wasn't inclined to risk it - the small planes don't really have a fixed schedule. Checkin for the 10:50 plane was supposed to open at 7pm, but the guy took pity on the passengers waiting and checked us in around 5:30. Not that there was an Emirates lounge, but there was more seating on the other side and television to watch - I became quite involved in a bridal reality show before switching to reading my book. The gate opened around 8:30 and premium passengers plus status had a separate area to go to. Unlike SAA which was quite basic, Emirates had an array of alcohol, tea, coffee, hot chocolate, hot snacks (well luke warm), plenty of sandwiches and a cake of some sort.

On board there were 12 F seats, but only 4 occupied. Lovely service again and of course Dom and Godiva chocolates - basic food groups

Managed a cat nap on the 5 hour trip to Dubai.

In Dubai we were bused again to terminal C and had to make our way to A. We also needed to get boarding passes for Sydney as we were travelling on QF2 and they couldn't issue them in Nairobi - I really think a Qantas code share gives you the worst of all worlds!

On reaching the F lounge we registered for showers and were told it was really busy and to go and have breakfast and then come back. I had handed over my boarding pass in order to be registered and was surprised that F didn't get priority. However being quite an obedient person I went off to get breakfast. When on return there was still a queue I asked gently if there was any priority system. An older lady was on duty and she said yes but only for F. I said we were and after checking my boarding pass, we then got the next showers. We had been up for over 24 hours by this time, so a shower and a change of clothes was truly wonderful!

Having had my heart won by Emirates, I was a bit regretting using QF2. However the Qantas staff are really beautiful. I know others have had sub optimal experiences, but I have never had bad service in F. Tim was my FA and he did look vaguely familiar, but he immediately said there's a familiar face and pin pointed it to Hong Kong - Sydney in Sep 2013. Seriously - how brilliant is that! He must have seen heaps of people in the last year and I haven't exactly got a memorable face.

I was absolutely exhausted, so had a bowl of soup and then had my bed made up and went to sleep. I woke about 8 hours out of Sydney and was really hungry - after eating a mandarin and some chocolates (which is all I could find in the galley), I eventually found an FA in there and asked if I could get some food. She offered a steak sandwich, but I really don't like them, so asked if I could get some cheese. After a slight pause she said of course and I had a lovely plate of cheese and crackers and some tea. So big tick to Qantas for service, but not so much on food. Emirates will provide their whole menu at any time.

Had a lovely breakfast of scrambled eggs, smoked salmon and avocado! (was really, really hungry).

We were through Quarantine quite quickly, although had to have our shoes washed and then over to domestic for our final flight home.

We are already planning another trip in 2016 - gorillas and back to Singita I hope. (2015 is Gallipoli).

I would really encourage anyone planning a safari to stretch themselves to a private game reserve if possible. Singita is quite expensive, but there are cheaper ones. I guess if you want to just basically see the animals then public ones will give you that, but if you are animal crazy like us, then the private game reserves will give you a much more intense experience.

And please, please do not pat lion cubs if you go to South Africa - whatever the people might say, the vast majority of the lion cubs are as a result of "puppy farms", with lions forced to breed constantly. No Lions are released into the wild in South Africa and the grown up cubs end up shot in a paddock as a part of the canned hunting industry - just heart breaking! There are some wonderful places doing incredible conservation work and then ones claiming to be conservationists while raking in tourist dollars for lion petting...

 

[RB]

Great photos & fantastic write up. Thanks heaps for sharing

 

[drron]

And another couple who fell for Amarula!
Love the photos.

 

[saminkaz]

I went to Uganda and combined it with a migration trip to The Serengeti and then The Masai Mara in January this year. It was a brilliant experience. You should try the andBeyond tented camp Serengeti Under Canvas 2, Ngorongoro Crater Lodge, Klein's Camp and Bateleur Camp. I used Sanctuary's property in Bwindi which was also nice but not as luxurious as I expected for the price, they seemed to be the best of the properties up there.
Gallipoli was also another highlight for ANZAC Day but be prepared for the cold. It is a long night but definitely worth it. I used Istanbul as a base which was fine but make sure your driver gets you there at a good time so you can choose where to sit. The following day's trek up to the Australian service is quite a walk (especially with food poisoning) so make sure you have plenty of water and layer your clothes because it gets quite warm once the sun rises.
If you need any names then just PM me for more info.

 

[Flying mermaid]

I went to Uganda and combined it with a migration trip to The Serengeti and then The Masai Mara in January this year. It was a brilliant experience. You should try the andBeyond tented camp Serengeti Under Canvas 2, Ngorongoro Crater Lodge, Klein's Camp and Bateleur Camp. I used Sanctuary's property in Bwindi which was also nice but not as luxurious as I expected for the price, they seemed to be the best of the properties up there.
Gallipoli was also another highlight for ANZAC Day but be prepared for the cold. It is a long night but definitely worth it. I used Istanbul as a base which was fine but make sure your driver gets you there at a good time so you can choose where to sit. The following day's trek up to the Australian service is quite a walk (especially with food poisoning) so make sure you have plenty of water and layer your clothes because it gets quite warm once the sun rises.
If you need any names then just PM me for more info.

Thanks for that - I was wondering how cold it would be - I will now add gloves, scarf and beanie to the packing list! We actually booked a military history tour about 5 years ago, so will be getting on a boat in Venice, arriving in Cannakale a few days in advance and using the ship as accommodation while doing battlefield tours and Troy and then an unofficial dawn service on the day.

We spent two night at &beyond's Ngorongoro Crater Lodge. The lodge was great and the staff just wonderful and obviously enjoy working for &beyond. I did find the public game reserve a bit unpleasant - just too many vehicles. Private game reserves like Singita only allow a maximum of 3 vehicles at a sighting and most of the time we were on our own. We are looking at &beyond for the Okavango Delta, although haven't done enough research into options yet. I think Africa could become quite addictive

 

[saminkaz]

Thanks for that - I was wondering how cold it would be - I will now add gloves, scarf and beanie to the packing list! We actually booked a military history tour about 5 years ago, so will be getting on a boat in Venice, arriving in Cannakale a few days in advance and using the ship as accommodation while doing battlefield tours and Troy and then an unofficial dawn service on the day.

We spent two night at &beyond's Ngorongoro Crater Lodge. The lodge was great and the staff just wonderful and obviously enjoy working for &beyond. I did find the public game reserve a bit unpleasant - just too many vehicles. Private game reserves like Singita only allow a maximum of 3 vehicles at a sighting and most of the time we were on our own. We are looking at &beyond for the Okavango Delta, although haven't done enough research into options yet. I think Africa could become quite addictive

I started my African obsession in May, 2013 and have been back 3 times since. Now planning a two month odyssey starting in February to include Namibia (5 weeks), South Africa (Garden Route) and then Masai Mara for 10 nights at Governor's Camp to hang out with the Marsh Pride of lions. April/May are spectacular in the Mara because of the low season and the opportunity to be alone for as far as the eye can see.

Completely agree about Ngorongoro Crater. I too prefer private reserves or travelling in low season. I loved staying at andBeyond's Klein's Camp for that exact reason. I actually was the only person at the lodge in January which allowed me amazing sightings for just me. I also used andBeyond's Sandibe Camp and Nxabega in the Okavango which was also brilliant in May. Sandibe shares the area with only one more lodge which once again provides intimate sightings. The camp is more land based compared to Nxabega which is water. Combining the two allowed a very complete experience of the Okavango. I would recommend 4/5 nights at Sandibe for predators and big game and 3 nights at Nxabega to enjoy the water, fishing and mokoro boats. You can check out my videos on Samantha Van Eldik on Vimeo for more information.

 

[Flying mermaid]

I started my African obsession in May, 2013 and have been back 3 times since. Now planning a two month odyssey starting in February to include Namibia (5 weeks), South Africa (Garden Route) and then Masai Mara for 10 nights at Governor's Camp to hang out with the Marsh Pride of lions. April/May are spectacular in the Mara because of the low season and the opportunity to be alone for as far as the eye can see.

Completely agree about Ngorongoro Crater. I too prefer private reserves or travelling in low season. I loved staying at andBeyond's Klein's Camp for that exact reason. I actually was the only person at the lodge in January which allowed me amazing sightings for just me. I also used andBeyond's Sandibe Camp and Nxabega in the Okavango which was also brilliant in May. Sandibe shares the area with only one more lodge which once again provides intimate sightings. The camp is more land based compared to Nxabega which is water. Combining the two allowed a very complete experience of the Okavango. I would recommend 4/5 nights at Sandibe for predators and big game and 3 nights at Nxabega to enjoy the water, fishing and mokoro boats. You can check out my videos on Samantha Van Eldik on Vimeo for more information.

Thanks - seems like we share the same obsession! Will check out the videos!

 

[Flying mermaid]

That zebra crossing was great and just fell in love with the cubs from the Marsh pride - that is what we like to do as well - spent 3 days following a mother cheetah and her baby and watching the interaction - just magic.

 

[saminkaz]

Nothing better than staying with the big cats and seeing what happens. That is why I love Governor's Camp, Masai Mara during the low season because they are very open to helping people achieve their safari goals. This allows people like myself to observe behaviour and get the best photos. Not as luxurious as Singita but I think the fact that Big Cat Diary was filmed there and the guides were the ones doing the scouting for the crews means that they really know the area well and particularly the Marsh Pride. Would highly recommend. Otherwise the awesome Kleins Camp in January (low season) and Serengeti Under Canvas for the migration is also brilliant. More people at SUC because of the park but many are shoot and scoot people that move on and not interested in animal behaviour unless it is happening whilst they are there.

 

[Flying mermaid]

We had the same guide for the whole 9 days we were at Singita, so I can't say what other guides were like, but Jimmy was very knowledgeable about the animals on the property - it is a very big area but he seemed to really know the lion prides and he was very keen to do what we wanted and get the experiences we were interested in. Once he became aware that we were quite happy to spend many hours just watching an animal he went out of his way to make it happen. Apart from spending 3 days following the mother cheetah and her cub, we also followed 3 male lions for some hours in the hope that they would join up with the rest of the pride. I think it is much easier if you are the only people in the vehicle, so there aren't conflicting needs. Because Singita had a lot of cancellations due to the Ebola scare, we had the vehicle to ourselves most of the time and on future trips we will be arranging that in advance (probably an extra cost, but worth it).