Satao Elerai Camp in Amboseli

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

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!

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