BHPian jimnylife recently shared this with other enthusiasts: Having grown up watching NatGeo, Discovery and Animal Planet more instead of cartoons, I always had the desire to see those animals in the wild with my own eyes. As luck would have it, I came across a YouTube vlog showing a budget trip to Kenya. I always considered Kenya to be a very expensive destination, but that myth was broken with this trip. Fast forward to Durga Puja time, I saw that taking just 2 leaves would give me a vacation period of 9 days. I contacted the same operator which I saw on the YouTube vlog and got a nice customised quote for an all inclusive package. Ended up negotiating a further 5% discount I looked around in the internet and could not find a matching price, so decided to go with them. Our group consisted of 3 childhood friends, each flying in from separate cities and countries and meeting up in Nairobi. We had a 6N/7D package from Nairobi to Nairobi, with wildlife safaris in Masai Mara NP, Lake Nakuru NP & Amboseli NP. Cameras used: Nikon D5200 with 70-300mm, iPhone 15, iPhone 13 ProDay 1: Nairobi.I flew Delhi-Bahrain-Nairobi in Gulf Air. Pretty okay experience. Food was good, IFE was working and had a good collection of movies and TV shows. Landed in Nairobi on a Saturday morning. Met up with my friend who flew in from DXB and went off to our AirBnb. Pickup from airport was included in package – first ride in Kenya was a Toyota Hiace. The evening traffic in Nairobi reminded me on Delhi/Bangalore peak hour traffic. Almost took 2.5 hours for the 20 odd KM ride. Settled into our stay for the night, went out to explore a bit and then called it a day.Day 2: Nairobi to Masai Mara.We were picked up in a Land Cruiser for our 230 Kms drive to Mara. The LC was heavily modified with thick metal reinforcements, extra seats, etc. It was 8 seater + driver. Our LC was in a pretty dilapidated condition, but thankfully everything worked (or atleast appeared to). It was a full house and we had Chinese, Iranian and Brazilian nationals as our co-travellers. Google showed a time of 5 hours for the trip but we ended up reaching our camp in 8.5 hours, thanks to our rickety LC. The road to Mara has a lot of ascent and descents, and our LC was struggling to climb the ascents with 8 people and their luggage. At one point, it died and just refused to start in the middle of nowhere. Everyone was joking about the next steps until the LC suddenly roared to life. Khatta Meetha moment almost (abhi theek karke deta hun) Anyway we reached our camp – took hot showers. Some of our co-travellers went for a small 2 hour evening safari same day. We had not opted for this and instead opted for 2 full 8-hour safaris as the cost was same. We went to visit a nearby Masai village and learn about them and their way of living. It was a good experience with some dancing and sales pitches included. Not sure if the village was an actual village or just setup for the tourist income. Went for dinner which gets served by 7-30PM. Food was just about edible. Non-vegetarians had bit more choice than vegetarians. This was expected since this was a strictly budget tour.Day 3: Masai Mara full day safariThe day everyone was waiting for. Day started at 4-30am. Breakfast at 5-30am and 6am departure for safari. Breakfast included eggs, bread, sausages, tea/coffee and a couple of more items. It was okay compared to the dinner the previous night. Started for our safari with jokes of being stranded in the Savannah if our LC broke down. It was going to be a long day in the wilderness. Now I will let the pictures do the talking: Big 1/5 Big 2/5 Big 3/5 Day 4: Masai Mara full day safari So the driver and guide we had the previous day had to go with a different group and we were paired with another young chap, with an LC in pretty good condition compared to the previous day. We were happy. We saw so much wildlife on this safari, unimaginable. I would have absolutely regretted had we not done this second safari. We spotted the same leopard both days, which is a elusive hunter. Second day with a kill too. Photos from Day 2: Day 5: Masai Mara to Lake Nakuru National Park It was a 7am departure on this day. We were supposed to visit Lake Naivasha on the way. We did boating in Lake Naivasha in the rain – one of the amazing experiences on this trip. Boating was not included in our package and we were charged 20 USD per person, steep for the 1 hour ride, but worth it. We saw Pelicans, Wildebeest, Zebras, Hippos and many other beautiful birds. We had a packed lunch again today and reach our hotel near Lake Nakuru in late afternoon. Today’s was the best hotel in the whole trip. It was a 3* modern hotel with all facilities. I think they book this hotel intentionally to comfort people after what people go through in terms of food in the stay at Masai Mara. We spent the evening chatting. Dinner buffet was a welcome change and we all devoured all what we had missed the past 3 days. The hotel was mostly filled with Indians, seems like most tour operators choose this hotel for their clients. Lake Naivasha: Check outBHPian commentsfor more insights and information.
