safari

Why Go on a Masai Mara Safari?

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The Masai Mara National Reserve and its neighbouring conservancies form Kenya’s flagship conservation area and one of the top safari destinations in Africa. Its wide-open plains provide a sanctuary for an abundance of animals like elephant, buffalo, zebra, giraffe, hyena and the Mara’s famous big cats: lion, leopard and cheetah. And between about August and November every year, the Mara is a much-welcomed pit stop for unending masses of wildebeest that follow the rains on their death-defying, 2 900-kilometre (1 800-mile) circular journey.

Witness the wildebeest migration in the Masai Mara National Reserve

Thousands of visitors come to the Mara every year to enjoy some of the most authentic safari experiences in Africa. Here are a few reasons why we love a Masai Mara safari:

1. Enjoy Fantastic, Year-round Game Viewing

Game viewing in the Masai Mara is excellent all year round thanks to its varied landscapes, wide open spaces, temperate climate and diverse population of resident game. Its champagne-coloured savannahs are home to safari heavyweights like lion, leopard, elephant and buffalo, plus popular species like zebra, giraffe, hyena, eland and gazelle. Rhino sightings are scarce, but these endangered animals can be spotted – if you’re in luck – in the Mara Triangle.

The Mara is renowned for delivering exceptional big cat (lion, leopard and cheetah) sightings. Cheetahs are particularly well adapted to the region’s flat plains, which makes the Masai Mara one of the best places to see these nimble predators. They often seek vantage points on fallen trees, termite mounds, and even game drive vehicles! It’s a highlight of any Masai Mara safari to watch the world’s fastest land mammal chase down its prey.

  • Rich resident wildlife, temperate climate, diverse landscapes and wide-open spaces make it a terrific year-round safari destination.
  • Incredible big cat sightings – lion, leopard and cheetah.
  • Large concentrations of elephant, buffalo and giraffe.

2. Witness the Great Wildebeest Migration

From about August to November, one of nature’s greatest spectacles reaches the Masai Mara. The sheer number of wildebeest arriving in the area is staggering; the herds are so big they can be observed from space! The Wildebeest Migration is a dramatic mass movement of almost two million wildebeest, zebra and gazelle in a seasonal annual cycle driven by rainfall. To reach the Mara’s fresh grazing from Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park, the wildebeest must make dramatic river crossings, facing enormous crocodiles that lie in wait.

  • Accommodations with easy access to river crossing points.
  • Get a bird’s eye view of the herds on a hot-air balloon safari.
  • Stay in a private conservancy to escape the crowds and enjoy activities not permitted in the national reserve like going off-road, night drives and nature walks.

Note: availability of well-located safari camps in high season (June to October) is limited. If you want front-row seats to the Wildebeest Migration, you should book your Masai Mara safari at least a year in advance.

3. Experience a Hot-air Balloon Safari

You can combine thrilling land-based game viewing in 4×4 vehicles with Maasai-guided nature walks, and crown your Masai Mara safari with an unsurpassable hot-air balloon experience. The best flight paths follow the course of the Mara River, allowing you to peek down into the forests, float past vultures’ nests and observe the early-morning routines of boisterous hippos. After touching down onto the plains, you’ll be treated with a delicious bush breakfast with champagne.

  • Get a bird’s-eye view of the Mara’s breath-taking landscape and even spot wildlife.
  • Watch the sunrise unfurl across the boundless plains.
  • Enjoy a champagne bush breakfast after landing.
  • The perfect safari experience for a honeymoon or anniversary.

4. Meet the Maasai People

The Maasai are a semi-nomadic ethnic group who inhabit most of Kenya and northern Tanzania, and are well-known by travellers for their distinctive customs and dress. Although cattle ownership is still a central aspect of their culture, increased safari tourism has led many Maasai to become expert safari guides and camp managers. While on a Masai Mara safari, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to interact with Maasai guides and camp staff, plus get the chance to visit local villages for a fascinating glimpse of traditional Maasai culture, lifestyle and traditions.

  • Visit local villages to experience traditional Maasai culture.
  • Many safari camps give back to local communities.

5. Stay in a Private Conservancy

A conservancy is a very specific type of land and wildlife conservation area. Landowners enter into contracts with safari operators in return for monetary compensation and other assistance. This could include anything from educational and healthcare programmes to livestock and grazing management. The Masai Mara National Reserve can get crowded during safari high season (about June to October), which is why we recommend staying in one of the neighbouring private conservancies.

  • Enjoy superb, crowd-free game viewing.
  • Have easy access to the national reserve for Wildebeest Migration scenes.
  • Go off-road game viewing, night drives and guided nature walks – not permitted in the national reserve.
  • Contribute directly to local communities and conservation.

source: https://www.go2africa.com

Amboseli national park, a safari heaven

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Amboseli National Park, formerly Maasai Amboseli Game Reserve, is a national park in Kajiado South Constituency in Kajiado County, Kenya. A scenic park in its own right, Amboseli is synonymous with two particular things – majestic herds of elephant and glorious views of Mount Kilimanjaro in neighbouring Tanzania.

Kenya’s second most popular national park after the Masai Mara National Reserve, Amboseli was declared a UNESCO-Mab Biosphere Reserve in 1991.

Ol Donyo lodge in Amboseli national park

During heavy rains, the basin at the centre of the park floods, attracting hordes of wildlife. The reserve is an excellent place to view the Big Five, as well as lesser known and rarer wildlife species.

The park is famous for being the best place in the world to get close to free-ranging elephants. Other attractions of the park include opportunities to meet Maasai and visit a Maasai village. The park also has views of Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest free-standing mountain in the world.

The park is 39,206 hectares (392 km2; 151 sq mi) in size at the core of an 8,000 km2 (3,100 sq mi) ecosystem that spreads across the Kenya-Tanzania border. The local people are mainly Maasai, but people from other parts of the country have settled there attracted by the successful tourist-driven economy and intensive agriculture along the system of swamps that makes this low-rainfall area, average 350 mm (14 in), one of the best wildlife-viewing experiences in the world with 400 species of birds including water birds like pelicans, kingfishers, crakes, hamerkop and 47 raptor species.

Free-range Elephants roaming in the park

The park protects two of the five main swamps, and includes a dried-up Pleistocene lake and semiarid vegetation.

About 240 km (150 mi) southeast of Nairobi, Amboseli National Park is the second-most popular national park in Kenya after Maasai Mara National Reserve.

The park is famous for being the best place in the world to get close to free-ranging elephants. Other attractions of the park include opportunities to meet Maasai and visit a Maasai village. The park also has views of Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest free-standing mountain in the world.

Amboseli was home to Echo, perhaps the most researched elephant in the world, and the subject of many books and documentaries, followed for almost four decades by American conservationist Dr. Cynthia Moss. Echo died in 2009 when she was about 60 years old.

Dr. Cynthia Moss in the park

Amboseli National Park offers some of the best opportunities to see African wildlife because the vegetation is sparse due to the long, dry months. The protected area is home to African bush elephant, Cape buffalo, impala, lion, cheetah, spotted hyena, Masai giraffe, Grant’s zebra, and blue wildebeest. A host of large and small birds occur too.

The park has several rules to protect the wildlife: Never leave the vehicle, except at designated spots; do not harass the animals in any way; always keep to the tracks; no off-road driving; and always give the animals the right of way. The roads in Amboseli have a loose surface of volcanic soil that is dusty in the dry season and impassable in the wet season.

history

In 1883, Jeremy Thompson was the first European to penetrate the feared Maasai region known as Empusel (meaning ‘salty, dusty place’ in Maa). He, too, was astonished by the fantastic array of wildlife and the contrast between the arid areas of the dry lake bed and the oasis of the swamps, a contrast that persists today.

Amboseli was set aside as the Southern Reserve for the Maasai in 1906, but returned to local control as a game reserve in 1948. Gazetted a national park in 1974 to protect the core of this unique ecosystem, it was declared a UNESCO site in 1991. The park earned $3.5 m (€2.9 m) in 2005. On 29 September 2005, former Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki declared that control of the park should pass from the Kenya Wildlife Service to the Olkejuado County Council and the Maasai tribe. Some observers saw this as a political favour in advance of a vote on a new Kenyan constitution; legal challenges are currently in court. The degazetting would divert park admission fees directly to the county council with shared benefits to the Maasai immediately surrounding the park.

OL Donyo in Amboseli national park

Things to enjoy in the park

1 .Wildlife Viewing

The landscape of the Amboseli National Park offers the most scenic views of wildlife.  The Amboseli is like a gigantic bowl of vast vegetation cover and numerous swamps that harbor wild animals of disparate species from the Big Five to unique birds such as, peacocks and spotty zebras.

2. A cultural visit to the local villages

The local communities living around the Amboseli national park are a unique ethnic group in East Africa. The Maasai community is known for its traditional culture that has not been affected by modernization of the African continent. They lead a tribal way of life, which is worth exploring especially their traditional dances and clothing.

3. Go on an epic Game Drive

Going on a game drive in the Amboseli is more than just landscape viewing and encountering animals. The Amboseli is a unique formation of nature that is most dry and covered by dust from recurrent winds, which create a “dust devil” phenomenon. This happens from time to time depending on the changes in atmospheric pressure to build a mini-twister like impression in the air.

However, as much it is enjoyable to watch, keep safe distance from it since it uncomfortable on the skin.

Game drives in the Amboseli also provide a truly refreshing encounter of watching the sunrise and sunset in exceptional hues of color change over the horizons.

evening drives

4. Nature photography

The Amboseli National Park is probably Africa’s irrefutable background of scenic brilliance. The beautiful scene of the ice-capped Mount Kilimanjaro; which is the highest mountain in the African continent- provides the perfect backdrop for nature photography.

Make sure you carry a standard camera and back up storage cards to capture the beauty of nature and carry those moments with you! The Amboseli is absolutely the embodiment of the African jungle which can be compared to the prairies of the Americas.

Accommodation in the park

The Amboseli National Park is definitely worth visiting. It has some of the same attractions as some of the other popular national parks in Kenya but its unique safari experience and great diversity make Amboseli a National Park in Kenya that is absolutely worth visiting.

Source: https://www.andbeyond.com and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

Tree Top Hotel Kenya: A remote paradise where princess Elizabeth learned she will soon be queen of England

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Treetops Hotel is a hotel in Aberdare National Park in Kenya near the township of Nyeri, 1,966 m (6,450 ft) above sea level on the Aberdare Range and in sight of Mount Kenya. First opened in 1932 by Eric Sherbrooke Walker, it was built into the tops of the trees of Aberdare National Park as a treehouse, offering the guests a close view of the local wildlife. The idea was to provide a machan (hunting platform on a tree during shikar in India) experience in relative safety and comfort.

From the original modest two-room tree house, it has grown into a 35-room hotel. The original structure was burned down by The Kenya Land and Freedom Army (KLFA) during the 1954 Mau Mau Uprising, but the hotel was rebuilt near the same waterhole and has become fashionable for many of the rich and famous. It includes observation lounges and ground-level photographic hides from which guests can observe the local wildlife which comes to the nearby waterholes.

The hotel is the location where Princess Elizabeth was staying in 1952 when she acceded to the thrones of the United Kingdom, and the other Commonwealth realms, upon the death of her father, King George VI.

The initial idea of Major Eric Sherbrooke Walker, who owned land in the Aberdare Range, was to build a treehouse for his wife Lady Bettie. The idea grew, and in 1932 the couple oversaw the construction of a two-room treehouse in a huge 300-year-old fig tree as an adjunct facility to the Outspan Hotel in Nyeri, which they also built and owned. Initial construction was hampered by the presence of wild animals, as the treehouse was purposely built beside animal trails leading to a nearby waterhole. Labourers and supervisors were often chased away by wild animals, which led to increased labour costs.


Treetops Hotel could tell a story or two. Built in 1932 on an ancient elephant migratory route through Aberdare NP, this is the lodge where Queen Elizabeth II visited as a princess and left as queen. Since those days, however, Treetops has grown from a rustic platform in the branches of an ancient tree to a large stilted lodge, with 36 rooms – without losing the essence of that original treehouse style. In front of the lodge is a permanent waterhole and natural salt lick that are floodlit at night, attracting an incredible diversity of wildlife day and night.


Treetops is as much a part of nature as it has an ancient tree growing right through the hotel, with the lodge being built around it. It is the perfect fusion of nature and comfort sporting a rustic look that fits right into the Aberdares.

Accommodation

Step into any of our rooms and enter into a rustic world which fuses class and comfort. Our suites offer you the best relaxing atmosphere that strikes a balance between comfort and style making it the perfect home away from home in Nyeri. Treetops Lodge Nyeri has 32 standard rooms and 3 suites which make it one of the best accommodation lodges Nyeri has to offer. It also has a family room for our guests who would like to spend some time watching television.

Accommodation in Treetops Lodge Nyeri is a departure from the busy city life allowing you to unwind and truly enjoy the rustic scenery from the cosy rooms at the hotel

DINING AT TREETOPS

Experience fine dining Treetops has to offer with an intimate set up designed to help you savour the scenic views while enjoying sumptuous meals. Mini-chandeliers illuminate all the tables and restaurant furniture making mealtimes a truly unforgettable affair.

Meals are prepared with world-class precision by our experienced chefs who have mastered International recipes. All Meals (Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner) are served at the Lodge except the first day’s lunch which is served at the Outspan Hotel after Check-in.

BAR & LOUNGE

Treetops Lodge has an exquisite bar stocked with a fine array of cold and hot beverages. It is refreshing to view game over a glass of wine or beer at the lounge. Coffee lovers can enjoy a cup of specialty coffee while reading the animal sighting books (since the 1940’s) that are available at the Lounge Library.

Treetops lodge activities

Self drive to Treetops
Learn about the birds on Nature walk at the Jungle forest. With our Resident Naturalist .(Don’t forget your binoculars)
Tree planting at the Jubilee forest
Happy hour at the jungle bar around a bone fire
Game drive at Solio Rhino Sanctuary

Animal Waterhole.

This famous tree lodge has maintained its original charm and character. It overlooks a rehabilitated waterhole and salt lick, providing guests with un-hindered and close-up views of the wild animals.
Treetops became famous around the world when Princess Elizabeth, as she then was, stayed there at the time of the death of her father, King George VI. This occurred on the night of 5–6 February 1952. She learned of the king’s death, however, after having departed, while the couple were at Sagana Lodge. She was the first British monarch since King George I to be outside the country at the moment of succession, and also the first in modern times not to know the exact time of her accession because her father had died in his sleep at an unknown time. On the night her father died, before the event was known, Sir Horace Hearne, then Chief Justice of Kenya, had escorted the princess and her husband, Prince Philip, to a state dinner at the Treetops Hotel. After word of George VI’s death reached the new Queen the following day, she returned immediately to Britain.[2]

The famous hunter Jim Corbett, who was invited by the princess to accompany them during their stay there, wrote in the visitors’ log book:

“For the first time in the history of the world, a young girl climbed into a tree one day a Princess and after having what she described as her most thrilling experience she climbed down from the tree next day a Queen – God bless her.”

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ and https://www.timbuktutravel.com