Kenya & Tanzania

INTRODUCTION

My trip to Kenya and Tanzania was taken in the October of 2016 with my parents. The trip was of 10 days with 5 destinations. I had heard and read a lot about the Great Migration of Masai Mara & Serengeti that happens every year between August and October and this was my opportunity to experience it first hand.

Before I begin, I want to recommend a few necessary items to pack based on the basis of my experiences from this trip.

• Powerful Binoculars
• Camera with good lens
• The days are warm and the evenings are pleasant; so you should carry shorts, t-shirts, hats and sunglasses for the day and a light jacket and full trousers for the evenings.
• A pair or costume is an absolute MUST every trip :).
• Some preferred snacks to munch on during game drives.

MASAI MARA

We took a midnight flight from Mumbai to Nairobi with Kenya Airways. We arrived in Nairobi early morning. From here onwards, we were in-charge of our tour company for our various wildlife experiences. They had pre-booked a car for us with a detailed itinerary for reference. We cleared immigration (they check for yellow fever and polio vaccination) and drove to Wilson airport, which was an hour drive from the international airport. The driver also gave us food packets to snack on during this drive. From there, we boarded our flight to Masai Mara, which was just a 12-seater flight. When we were about to land, we were told to fasten our seat belts: but to my surprise, I could not see any airport below! We literally landed on an airstrip (Olkiombo airstrip), which is just a long clear gravel path. No security, no baggage claim, nothing. It was my first time in this continent, and I got surprised at every step.

We chose to stay at Mara Explorer Camp, which is a luxury camp hotel. Right next to our hotel was the famous Intrepids hotel (a sister hotel of Mara Explorer Camp), but our camp was much better which I shall explain later in my narrative. Firstly, this was an unfenced property in the middle of the wilderness. We were told that we should not move around freely everywhere and need to be accompanied by armed escorts. Secondly, we were given tent no. 4 which was awesome and unique! It was the only tent situated on the bend of the river with awesome views of hippos coming out every noon to sunbathe. Finally, there was no television, no AC and the best part was that there was no telephone connection either. We were given walkie-talkies to interact with the staff. The tent also had an open-air bathtub overlooking the river. Staying in this hotel is another experience in itself; it feels like you are in midst of natural wildlife.

The two game drives (safaris) in our itinerary every day were a part of our package. As soon as we reached, we went for our first safari. We left in an open jeep with our fantastic driver. We spotted a giraffe in the first 5 minutes of the safari feeding on tall trees. We also spotted hippos in a small pond and elephants making noises with their trunk. Just after a few minutes, a spectacular sight was seen; we saw a lioness literally giving birth to her 5th cub. I don’t think I have seen something as good as this ever in my life! We also spotted groups of gazelles, deers and buffaloes. We also saw different species of birds habiting the African continent. The experience was surreal. In the evening, we went for our second game drive. After the game drive, we were invited by the staff of our hotel for a Maasai tribal dance (ritual). We seated ourselves next to a fire pit and saw the dance. Actually, a fun thing I learnt was that whichever male jumps the highest in this dance form gets to marry the most beautiful girl of the village!

The next morning, we woke up and went for an early game drive at 7am, which was a special one as we went to see the famous Mara river crossing. As we reached the spot, we saw herds of wildebeests and zebras crossing the river. It was mind-boggling! During the massive stampede, the beasts of the river (mostly Alligators) catch their prey for the day. It is an experience of a lifetime! After this game drive, we went to have a buffet lunch in Intrepids. Following lunch, we roamed around the property, buying a few souvenirs and playing in the park and the hanging bridge. When we finished exploring the property, we immediately went for our second safari of that day where we witnessed an unending queue of wildebeests and zebras migrating to Serengeti, which is an iconic postcard image. Then to my utter surprise, the driver pulled up to a location with just one tree surrounded by acres of savanna. We were told to get off, in the middle of the jungle. It was a surprise sundowner! They had a whole setup with drinks and snacks in the middle of Masai Mara. We sat there taking in the views and being reminded of the experiences we had here. After the second game drive, we dressed up nicely and went for our special bush dinner, which as the name suggests, was a dinner in the bushes. Surrounded by candles and bushes with authentic local flavours, it was a unique experience!

I was a bit low the next day as we had to leave Mara. We ended our stay in Mara by a breakfast on the dunes, which was a farewell to our awesome stay. I feel the experience we got in Mara Explorer Camp and the direct connect with nature cannot be obtained at any closed hotel like Intrepids or rather any other hotel in Masai Mara.

SERENGETI

After breakfast, we went to the Olkiombo airstrip for our flight to the border of Tanzania. At the border, we crossed over by foot, cleared immigration and drove to the Tanzanian airstrip to go to Serengeti. When we landed in Serengeti, we went to our hotel Mbuzi Mawe. This hotel was also a camp with nice big luxury tents. All the electricity in this hotel is solar powered. Unlike Mara, this camp was equipped with a television and a telephone connection. We rested for that day and had dinner in the hotel itself. While having dinner, we were given forms to choose what we wanted in our lunch boxes the next day during our game drive.

We woke up early to witness sunrise with a warm cup of coffee in our hands. Viewing the jungles with the glorious sunrise from the deck of our tent was a magnificent feeling. Immediately after the break of dawn, we left for our full day safari, where we got some really interesting sightings. As we began, we saw a group of giraffes fighting each other with their long beautiful necks. The guide told us it was extremely dangerous to fight that way because if the neck got damaged, the giraffe’s life is useless. (Fun fact: giraffes have a blue tongue). After a while, we spotted the rare and unique view – We saw a leopard sitting on a treetop, a lion at the base of the tree, a small herd of elephants behind that tree drinking water from a pond, and a few wildebeests roaming around here and there. This scene was spectacular – 4 species of wildlife co-existing in a radius of 50 metres! We were hungry so we opened our boxes, which looked delicious and had plenty of food in them. It consisted of an apple, yoghurt, a chocolate bar, a fresh juice, crackers and some cheese. Moving on, we saw another strange thing – a herd of baboons chasing a leopard! The baboons chased the leopard only to decrease their number and make them extinct, not to eat their flesh. It was a lucky day for the leopard as there was a bush right in front of it. He soared into the bush and the group of baboons surrounded it. After hunting around for ten minutes, the baboons eventually left and the leopard came out of the bush. It was dreamlike to see something like this. Another interesting thing we saw was a group of lions eating a wildebeest. It was a kill that had probably happened a few minutes back, which is usually very hard to catch in action as told by our guide. It looked a bit scary, as there was blood all over the lion’s face. It had started getting dark by now, so we turned back and went to the hotel. The main difference between Serengeti and Mara is that we must follow a fixed path in the Serengeti savannah, while we are free to roam around anywhere in Mara in the jeep. This meant that in Mara, we could go as close to wildlife as possible. Both are unique in their own way and different experiences.

NGORONGORO

From Serengeti, we headed for Ngorongoro in our private car. On route and just across a check point, we went for a short trail walk which promised amazing views of the sprawling African savannah from the top. Just to mention, there were a lot of creepy crawlies like lizards in the trail walk, but we enjoyed it nonetheless; more so because we hardly got any opportunity to walk around anywhere till now. The uniqueness of Ngorongoro is that it is a National park reserve inside a crater with all sorts of wildlife inside it. The density of wildlife inside this crater is very high due to smaller area and huge source of water in the peak season when the lakes are full. Our choice of hotel over there was Serena Safari Lodge. The hotel was carved with rocks on the top edge of the crater overlooking the lake, which made it more interesting. That day, we checked in and went to the observation deck to take in the sight, sound and smell of Ngorongoro. At night, we went to their hall-cum-bar where there was a small display of African talent. The show began with an authentic tribal dance. After the dance, there was a stunt show where a group of 5 men performed high intensity acrobats. The grand show followed by the huge spread of buffet dinner was fantastic, and we got to sample some Indian food also after a long time.

Ngorongoro is believed to have formed 2.5 million years ago when a large active volcano in the rift valley of northern Tanzania erupted whose cone collapsed inward after a major eruption. Today was our day to explore the crater! A half an hour descend had us inside the crater. The good thing about Ngorongoro is that not many creatures can move in and out of this area, so there is similar wildlife all year round inside it. In a matter of seconds, we spotted a group of hyenas sipping water by the lake. Hyenas are the most dangerous animals of them all as they eat the animals alive before killing them fully. We also saw wildebeests, zebras, lions, cheetahs, buffaloes and leopards on the way. Another interesting thing we saw was a rhino. After seeing it, we had finally spotted the big 5 as they call it (lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and buffalo), which are the main animals of Kenya and Tanzania. We had our lunchboxes as usual and after few more hours of exploring, we ascended back to our hotel.

We left Ngorongoro early the next morning to head towards Tarangire National Park via lake Manyara National Park. It was going to be a long drive and all our wildlife game drives were expected to happen on way. Upon reaching Lake Manyara, we decided to have a short safari. We spotted an ostrich (flightless bird) shaking its head vigorously to scratch its body. Drinking water by the river, we saw hundreds or maybe thousands of birds. As we proceeded with our safari, we saw a family of 5 leopards next to a pack of wildebeests and zebras. We were eager and enthusiastic as our guide told us that there was a very good possibility for a kill. We saw the leopards inching slowly towards the herd of wildebeests with the father leopard leading and the mother following closely with the 3 children. After about 2 hours of slow pursuit, we saw no attack happening as the leopards were not in striking distance. It is necessary for the predator to come at a distance close to about 100m to its prey before going for the kill, as they generally have less stamina than the victim and have to outrun them in the chase. Since we had waited enough and had to reach Tarangire before sunset, we abandoned our desire to catch a kill in action and moved ahead for Tarangire (I’m sure the kill must have happened as the leopards were determined!).

TARANGIRE

As we entered Tarangire, we were hailed by a herd of elephants, the animal for which this place is most revered. Our hotel Treetops Elewana was a short drive into the jungle leading through a narrow road drive. They welcomed us with a cold towel and a traditional tribal people who are about 6 to 7 feet tall. Hiring unemployed tribal people was a great initiative by the hotel. The hotel had an infinity pool, and a very nice deck with views of the jungle. We were escorted to our room, which was a large tree house. On way, a huge elephant came by and we had to divert from our route to reach our room! The room was really huge and the amenities were luxuriously outstanding. I immediately changed into my costumes and was in the swimming pool in no time! After about half an hour, I saw an elephant approaching the pool! I got really scared initially, but actually the elephant did not hurt us in any way. It literally started drinking water from the swimming pool. It was a fun and irreplaceable experience. At sunset, I sat in the balcony of our treehouse with a book in my hand, hearing some soft music and sipping a cup of warm tea with my parents. It was the perfect way to unwind after a long day. For dinner, we were invited for a delicious bush dinner at an interesting location in the property itself.

The next morning, our jeep was ready at 7:30am for our safari. We moved on and saw herds and herds of elephants in every corner we looked, bathing in the river, plucking on trees, splashing water from lakes, walking in long trails and so on. Tarangire is simply packed with elephants.  We also managed to spot a few other animals like wildebeests, zebras and a variety of birds. At the end of it all and after 7 long days of safari visits, all the experiences and sights I saw were amazing and unreal. We thanked our guide for all the amazing sights he showed us in these past few days and bid him farewell. Finally, it was time to relax and rejuvenate a bit, so we decided to end the trip with a short beachside stay at Zanzibar.

ZANZIBAR

To reach Zanzibar, we drove from Tarangire to Arusha, from where we took an Air Excel flight to Zanzibar. We had a lady pilot for the first time, and we were flying over the ocean to the island of Zanzibar. We picked our luggage and drove to our hotel, White Sands Luxury Resort & Spa. As we checked in, we were told that we were being upgraded to the most premium villa of the property. I could not hide my excitement! The staff was extremely welcoming and the resort was huge. We were taken to our villa and shown around – it had two mini thatched cottages (one was the bedroom, and the other was the living room); the bedroom had a terrace access with a bed set up there as well with direct view of the sea. Our villa also had its private pool, a hammock, an outdoor bath tub and shower, a bar area and a completely private beach with one butler to ourselves! I was astounded when I saw the room. It was the ultimate place I have ever stayed at. We needed one day just to enjoy the villa itself, so we enjoyed a day in the property itself. For dinner, we had a barbecue next to the beach with live music. After 7 days of active safari, witnessing this king of luxury made it seem like bliss.

The next day, we decided to spend exploring the city side of Zanzibar. We first went to the stone town and visited Tippu Tip house, the House of Wonders and the Slave market. The Stone Town was host to one of the world’s last open slave markets, presided over by Arab traders until it was shut down by the British in 1873. We indulged in “Zanzibar pizza” which is more like a savory crepe than a pizza (a Zanzibar pizza begins as a small ball of dough that is thinned and piled with your choice of ingredients, topped with cheese, egg, mayonnaise and chili sauce, which is grilled on a tawa). After some sight seeing and a hearty meal, we shopped at local shops selling handicrafts and traditional stuff. This was the first bit of shopping we did after 8 days! Zanzibar is also famous for its fruits, so make sure to get your hands on some. After a fun filled day, we went back to our hotel and had a nice buffet dinner, listening along the tunes of African instruments. Zanzibar truly has a rich culture, beautiful beaches and superb nature.

Early morning the next day, I had a swim in the beach. The beach was true to its name  and had soft white sand. When people think of beaches, they think of Rio, Gold Coast and Miami, but in reality the beaches of Zanzibar are equally good. After a swim, I had mushrooms on toast that was the most unctuous and cheesiest thing I had ever eaten. I bathed in the outdoor bathtub and later rented a bicycle for the day travelling around the entire property. In the evening, we all sat by the beach reminiscing on the most fabulous experiences we all had ever in any of our vacations!

KENYA & TANZANIA IS WILDLIFE AT ITS GLORIOUS BEST. WATCHING THE GREAT MIGRATION IS AN EXPERIENCE OF A LIFETIME AND SHOULD BE HIGH UP ON EVERYONE’S BUCKET LIST.