We bless the rains down in Africa, gunna take some time...

[bPeteb]

Day 8

Lake Naivasha to Fig Tree Camp, Maasai Mara

The very odd wall safe each of us had in our bedrooms


The lodge’s resident donkeys



Delicious sounding breakfast



we chose the scrambled eggs. Not sure what happened to the bed of toast, chives or butter


One the road


definitely not the route we took at the end. It was over an hour of bone jarring 'short cut' to get us to the camp

Menegai crater



Kenya's Dish(es)




thankfully we're nearly there. Cow's wandering through the local town


not exactly the largest sign


and we've arrived

 

[bPeteb]

We found out on arrival that a large part of the common area of Fig Tree Lodge is still under construction after it, and most of the tents, were severely damaged earlier in the year by floods. They are racing to get everything ready for July when high season begins. The usual open air restaurant and second bar, with reception, were due to open the week after we stayed



we arrived just as a whole lot of other groups did so after a lovely hot towel and welcome drink we were ushered off to lunch. It amazed us that they were able to greet everyone else the same way and escort every person to their rooms/tents.


then we were taken to our rooms.

instruction sheet


One thing that is missing from the safari itinerary is adequate description of what type of room we'll be in at each of the camps/lodges. Fig Tree offers tents on the riverfront and then rooms in bungalows behind them.

We were led back to the carpark where we'd arrived and then into a maze of small bungalows on poorly sign posted paths. bStub went one way and we another. After a very long walk we arrived at a little bungalow that backed onto the worker's cottages

It was very dark and was our first disappointment. Maybe the first stays has given us higher expectations. It is mid-range after-all


look back at reception from the bridge to the Mara


gabian riverbank


tented accommodation


then it was back on the bumpy road through the small nearby town to the entrance gates to the Maasai Mara National Park. There was some drama happening with Jackson. He was on the phone to the office we guess then came to us and said he'd left his payment card behind somewhere and did we hve USD300 to cover the entrance fees. Luckily we had our money with us. How we'd be repaid we had no idea.

Finally in to the Maasai Mara at about 4:30pm and we were greeted with a beautiful double rainbow


animals literally straight away

spotted hyena


topi


pumba





eland




huge herds of zebra and topi

 

[bPeteb]

our first lions on the Mara. Some mums, older siblings and cubs



another hyena


sundowners


just as we were getting back to the park side parking area this was walking along the road!


what a crazy afternoon.

No dinner photos. All food is being served in a large dining room. It's noisy, and even noisier with a couple of large groups of loud American's in them. Food was ok. Our server lovely. bAlt and I stayed in the bar for a couple of local Kenyan gins. bStub made his way to his room that was even further than ours and sounded just weird - no verandah/porch, out on a grassed area that led to the staff quarters.

We got lost on the way back to our oom and found out the next morning that bStub did too. Not happy.

Day 8 done

 

[bPeteb]

Ngorongoro Crater yesterday. View back towards the crater from last night’s digs taken after we arrived
And this morning


The weather gods were looking after us

 

[kookaburra75]

We're really enjoying your photos as always. MrsK and I are thinking about an African safari in a few years, and your trip reports, and the others on AFF are certainly providing a lot of great ideas.

I'm a bit behind with the drinks though, as while I can get an Argentian Malbec, Kenyan beer has proven a bit hard to get. So, I'm making do with local beers.

 

[Seat0B]

Your food pics remind me of home style cooking in Aus circa 1970s. I had this feeling/experience too in Kadavu, Fiji a few years back.

 

[bPeteb]

We

Your food pics remind me of home style cooking in Aus circa 1970s. I had this feeling/experience too in Kadavu, Fiji a few years back.

We're not fancy people. We like nice food and wine but at the same time have no expectations of gourmet dining at the African camps that our budget goes to. The red meat is often tough and Jackson warned us about this right at the start. It's much better in the stews and Indian based curries usually offered.

 

[bPeteb]

Day 9

Full day Maasai (Masai) Mara NP

Up bright and early for 6am breakfast for our 6.30 all day game drive. We didn't need an alarm clock. The rooms on both sides had wake up calls via loud knocking on their doors at 4.30. They must have been doing balloon rides. Half an hour later they were loudly shutting their doors and talking loudly in Hindi as they headed back to reception.

Breakfast buffet was busy. Great omelettes I was told but I had peanut butter on toast


The last tent waiting to be repaired after bveinf ruined by the flood


It was amazing to walk across the bridge from the camp and onto the Maasai Mara. Close to 20 safari vehicles were parked over there.

As we'd been heading off on our intro safari the afternoon before Jackson had asked about our rooms. We both said they were a long way from the restaurant and bar. He was surprised that we weren't in tents.

This morning he asked how we'd slept. Both said 'so so' and commented that we'd gotten lost going back to our rooms the night before. We mentioned the wakeup calls for the rooms either side of us. Stu had been told as he was taken to his room that he'd be moved today so he'd packed his bag. We would have just stayed where we were so our stuff was all over the bungalow but Jackson was having none of that.

Off he went back to reception and five minutes later jumped back in and said you're both being moved. He is a man of action!

Jackson decided to head in the opposite direction to everyone else. That turned out to be both a good and a not so good thing.

Very few vehicles for the majority of the day. Not a huge number of animals either.

We started with zebra


then more of bAlt's new favourite the topi. Love the sheen of their coat and nearly blue haunch colouring


ostritch, the pink necked one in season


elephants


who knew an elephant could actually flex theirs up and down!!



vulture


and the iconic acacia on the horizon, complete with hyena


hartebeest



here's a couple of the balloons and baskets coming back after their morning trips. We came across the loaded trailer later in the day. It had a flat and they'd gone off to get another wheel, leaving four staff out in the hot sun with no water. We gave them a few bottles of ours


then we came across a whole bunch of vehicles looking down a plain. Had to be lions and it was.


Six young lions eyeing off three buffalo. Eventually the hunt was on and it was a miserable failure. The first buffalo chased them instead of the other way around. The second also got through unscathed. The third did end up with a scatch or two but the six juveniles were just not skilled enough.

Once the hunt was over we, and 49 other vehicles, pretty much chased the lions around. It was uncomfortable but we got very close and took some pretty decent photos



we found another male sitting on the top of a hill. Just a couple of cars this time

 

[bPeteb]

We then went across to the Mara River to see the banks that the gnus and zebras of the great migration go down and then come up. You know, that place where the crocs line up?

On the way our first giraffe of the Mara


then the banks themselves. Instinct is a crazy thing. Those banks are steep! We only saw a couple of crocs but there were A LOT of hippos


some more giraffes. These are Masai giraffes. Different to the others due to their random flower shaped patches



then time for our picnic lunch sat on a Masai blanket under an acacia





some crowned cranes


We then drove back out of the national park and headed around to where we'd arrived at Fig Tree the afternoon before. bAlt had noticed a Masai village near the camp and that is where we headed.

We were initially both not keen on the village tour. We've done a number of these things over the years and each time we've felt that not everyone is happy to have random tourists wandering around where they live. We could have pre-booked this at USD25. I'm not going to say we were pressured into it but I think we both felt that we were expected to. What caught us by surprise that it had gone from 25 to USD50.

We were greeted by a couple of community members. The younger had gone to uni and had a degree in finance and banking.


When I asked if he would leave and go make a career his response was no, he intended to live his life out in the community. I suppose if your life is waiting for tourists to turn up and take their money, and as he described it "sit under a tree in the shade the rest of the day, then it's not too hard of a life.

Pretty amazing performance to welcome us


then into the village where there was another welcome by the women who found bStub enthralling


and then the men also put on another show, this time dragging bAlt and me to dance and jump with them. This time it was me who felt like the cast member of a circus.


then we were given a demo of how how they make fire - by rubbing timber together, surprise! (bet they use matches/lighters when not performing for tourists)


and then into a home to see how they live. It had three tiny bedrooms squeezed around a small living room and kitchen.


Again, we felt like we were intruding. There was a young guy sat on the bed of the parent's 'room' that clearly was doing it because he was told to.

the ring of homes



After that it was to the women's market. We had no idea if we were supposed to bargain and Jackson had not given us any indication of what we should do so we accepted the prices for the things we paid and I reckon were completely ripped off. More fool us.

This community has I reckon anything up 10 safari vehicles visit each day, maybe more. If each has on average four people in it that's USD2000 per day, USD1400 per week to be shared amongst the 300 community members. No wonder they had 200 head of cattle! bAlt and I were glad to get out of there.

 

[JohnM]

Those 'village experiences' are totally confected. But, that said, good on them for making some dosh out of it.

 

[bPeteb]

I was glad to get back to camp. If we ended up in teh same room we were ok. If we'd been moved closer in more ok. We were actually both moved to tents! It might seem odd to want to move from a solid structure to a tent, but here is what we moved to



who made these in the 70s?


bStut's tent next door


and what we looked out across


yes those are hippos just along the river from us!


including an albino



impala on the bank opposite


sunset from our verandah to a chorus of baboons playing in the huge tress just along from us on the opposite bank


dinner from the buffet


the wine we drank


the pool

day 9, done

 

[bPeteb]

Day 10

Fig Tree Camp Masai Mara to Enkariri Wilderness Camp (Acacia Central Camp) including crossing into Tanzania

What an f'n long day.

Had a fab sleep in another comfy bed. No knocking, no loud talking, just the rhino coming back down into the pool before 6.

Full moon setting with hippos already in the water


beautiful detail on the shower screen


everything about the tent was 10 steps above the bungalow - the linens, the styling, the bathroom products, the personalised service of a dedicated tent attendant. It was pretty special. I will say to Tapestry when we provide our feedback that rooms types need to be detailed. I'll recommend not to stay at Fig Tree if tents can't be guaranteed, or at the very least bungalows no further than the row behind the tents.

We had to be on the road at 6.30 to get to the border, and our new guide, by 10.30 so breakfast at 6.

As we were waiting by the pool there was a horrible crunch beside us as an older guest fell beside the pool. We all raced over and people tried to help her up. We stopped them and just said to sit her up. She already had a bruise on the side of her head and had cut her hand and was dripping blood on her pants. We eventually helped her onto a pool chair and got her to calm down. She had all feeling and no signs of lack of recognition etc.

Then who we presume to be their tour organiser turned up. The only thing he cared about was where her backpack was. "Back in my tent" she replied. He disappeared and next minute was helping her up and putting the huge backpack on her shoulder. Wtf?? He couldn't carry it on for her. Dumb cough US dick.

breakfast, and the omelette was delicious! Just add fresh chilli


this guy freaked me out each time I entered and left the dining room


on the road out the other side of MM National Park and on our way to Serengeti. The map was very optomistic. We had to use the light blue to start


If we thought the road was ordinary getting to Fig Tree, it had nothing on the road out. It was bloody terrible. At least the scenery was beautiful and the animals kept their end of the deal by appearing at well timed intervals


we counted 15 balloons over the Mara, 13 over one part and two another


just a terrible road, the motorbikes making it even more perilous


we finally ariived at the border town Isebania pretty much 30 minutes behind schedule


we pulled up on the Kenya side of the carpark at the joint border crossing building and were greeted by our new guide Ernest. Saying goodbye to Jackson was all a bit rushed but we'd be seeing him in seven days.

This border crossing is a more recent thing. Once Kenyan guides could drive into Tanzania through a crossing in the park. It was I think Jackson said only 20 km from Fig Tree. Then the Tanzanian's decided to protect their guiding industry by stopping Kenyan guides from coming in, and controlling where the guide swap would occur. For us it potentially added six hours to our day.

First issue was that bStub had not been given the little yellow innoculation book by his Brisbane travel doctor. He just had a print out of what he had and when. No deal said Tanzanian border control. You have to have the book and that will be USD50 for us to issue you one.

Does everyone have the book like us, or is it correct what bStut was told and it's no longer required. I call bs on the latter.

Anyways, through immigration and for some reason I was not required to do the fingerprint thing to enter Tanzania.

Just outside in the hall was a currency exchange. bAlt suggested I change some of my Oz $ for shillings but I said no, there'll be an ATM nearby. Wrong!

Nothing in the town as we drove into Tanzania. We got to another town and tired another ATM. I have a Suncorp Visa Debit and bStub a BoQ VD and HSBC VD. None of them worked.

Without an ATM we have no shillings and we are no longer supposed to be using USD in Tanzania.

Mgumu was our last chance before we went into the Serengeti. We tried another ATM of the bank we first went to. Still no dice. 100m up the road was a CRDB (bank) and bingo, the ATM dispended piles of shillings to us both. Phew! Look for the green logo, not the red.

Back to the road trip into Tanzania

Completely different style of housing and for a country that Jackson kept saying was poorer than Kenya it gives an appearance of being the complete opposite. Loveky and green and prosperous little towns
gold mining. This mine even had it's own very well guarded airstrip inside the huge fenced site


the roads were a mix of ok and really bad as we neared the gates for Serengeti NP. We drove down a couple of roads like this where they had dumped the new 'gravel' to be graded onto the roads before high season begins. Either the vehicle coming towards us, or we, would pull inot the gap between piles. Quite the adventure

 

[bPeteb]

we were about 10 or 15 minutes when the excitement began. Off to the right hand side were literally thousands of gnu and zebra and they had started crossing the road up ahead. The migration was underway!!



then it was into the Serengeti. Another magic moment. It was 4.38pm. The time is important


our camp, Enkirari Wilderness Camp translates to Central Wilderness Camp as it's in the central Serengeti. The central Serengeti was a long way from where we entered and this was Ernest's first time to our camp.

Lots of wildlife as we drove and drove


there's a lion up on those rocks


then the sun began to set


and it went dark, very dark, and there is zero signage in the Serengeti to indicate where a lodge is

 

[bPeteb]

bAlt was using his offline Google maps to try to give us a rough idea the direction to travel in. Ernest had a rough idea but wasn't exactly sure. Google indicated a direction and we drove up to a camp, but it was not the right one. Google could see it was further but in roughly the same direction. Ernest new it was wrong when he saw the safari vehicles there. He asked for directions but they were a bit vague.

Back out onto the road and we stopped a vehicle coming in the opposite direction. His directions were a bit better so we kept going. Finally our quite brightly lit camp appeared up the hill.

We turned into the road up to the camp and this is what we encountered. Incredible!


such a relief to pull up at Enkirari Wilderness Camp, both for us, and very much for Ernest. It had taken about 13 hours.

Incredibly warm welcome by the staff. Dinner was already on but we just wanted to dump our bags and go back in unencumbered. No walking alone after dark. If we want to come to the lodge tents we have to request by walkie talkie someone to come and escort us. Off we went. We were in Duma (cheetah) and bStub in topi (topi).

black ants on the way. Do not stand on them


some very happy campers


what I chose for dinner


looking back at the restaurant tent


and our ginormous tent


day 10, gratefully done