Africa

Nairobi Tented Camp

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Nairobi giraffesThe excitement of landing in Africa wiped out all the stress and pain of the 15-hour flight. Well, most of it. Nairobi Tented Camp was our first stay.  It is part of Nairobi National Park, in the world’s only wildlife capital city, and just minutes from the airport.

We were picked up right outside the terminal and driven through Nariobi, a large city with high-rise buildings, lots of traffic in cars, trucks, buses, on bikes and on foot. We drove through a section called “Karen” with the Karen Blixen Museum (the “Out of Africa” Karen Bixen) and past Kibera, Africa’s largest slum. There are tours available of both; neither was in our plans.
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Satao Elerai Camp in Amboseli

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Our second lodging was in Amboseli National Park, which is close to the border of Tanzania and an extension of the Serengeti. It is sandy and salty – a completely different environment – with swampy areas and Mt. Kilimanjaro, the highest free-standing mountain in the world, looming over us. Our flight from Wilson airport was less than 40 minutes and we were the third stop. A lot of up and down …but a good view of the landscape.  We landed in a clearing designated only by a wind sock. The driver from our camp was waiting for us, a table set up next to his vehicle with water, tea, and cookies. This standard service never failed to impress me.
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Ashnil Mara Camp in the Maasai Mara

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The Maasai Mara National Reserve is the ancestral pastoral home of the Maasai tribe, with open grasslands favored by large cats — lions, cheetahs, leopards — and dotted with trees.   As we drove into the park from the Wilson airport, the very first thing we saw was a leopard in a tree with its impala dinner hanging in the limbs below.  And, we weren’t even on a game drive yet!

Ashnil Mara Camp

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