2018 Travels
Kenya
September 11th to 21st, 2018
Kenya is the most amazing, awe-inspiring country we've ever visited. We spent seven days on safari living amongst the animals. We estimate that we saw over 8,000 game animals, 2,000 flamingos and 100 primates. The experience was incredible.
Our first safari was in the Masai Mara where we stayed in a tent camp for four days. Lions, zebras, elephants, giraffes and crocodiles surrounded our camp. Warthogs and mongoose walked right up to our tent. Through the night we could hear elephants trumpeting, hippos snorting and baboons screeching; it was fantastic. Our camp did not have a protective fence so guests were not permitted to leave their tent at night without an armed-guard escort. Since dinner was served after dark, we had to be escorted every night. During the day a guide drove us around in a safari Jeep to see the wildlife up close.
Our second safari was in Amboseli National Park for three days. Huge herds of elephants, zebras and wildebeest could be seen from our lodge, and monkeys played outside our room. We watched cheetah prowling after zebra, lion cubs playing, and one day an elephant and a hyena walked right through the lodge grounds.
Our experience far exceeded our expectations.
Below: Bill's favorite animal was the zebra. We saw over 1,000 of them; sometimes only fifteen feet from our jeep.
Below: Jamie's favorite animal was the giraffe. These majestic animals were a delight to see up close.
Below: Lions are king of the jungle. We got really close and watched them prowling, mating, eating and roaring. Fortunately they were not interested in us at all.
Below: This lion and her two cubs were chowing down on a Topi they just caught. We were so close we could hear the bones crunching!
Below: It was wonderful to see large herds of elephants up close; breathtaking actually. We saw hundreds of elephants.
Below: Granddaddy elephant with Mt. Kilimanjaro in the background.
Below: Hippopotamus just made us laugh. We saw about forty of them; including some swimming in the river in front of our tent. They are very noisy creatures; frequently snorting and grunting ... really loud ... all night long. They are also very dangerous. There were several armed guards patrolling our campground - day and night - to keep the elephants, buffalo and hippos from getting near the tents.
Below: We saw a leopard with an impala he just killed.
Below: Three cheetahs were prowling on the savannah, scaring the zebra. Another was walking along the road near us.
Below: We got up early one morning to watch the sunrise.
Below: The cape buffalo is a common animal in Masai Mara. They can weigh up to 1,900 pounds and they graze in large herds. We saw over 1,000 of them.
Below: Topi are also common animals in Kenya. In each herd there is usually a 'spotter' who stands on a high point and watches for predators.
Below: Crocodiles live in the Mara River and prey on animals trying to cross. The crocodile below, which we could see from our tent, hung out on the river bank across from us. He seemed friendly.
Below: We saw a lot of ostriches. Boy are they big birds!
Below: There were thousands of flamingos in the lakes; both greater flamingos and lesser (pink) flamingos.
Below: This hyena was not laughing. It looks like he just lost a fight.
Below: There were dozens of mongoose zipping around our camp.
Below: Thomson's gazelle.
Below: Grant's gazelle.
Below: Impala.
Below: Hartebeest.
Below: Two jackals were chasing a group of gazelles but they were not able to catch them.
Below: Wildebeest.
Below: Vervet Monkeys.
Below: Olive Baboons.
Below: Yellow Baboons.
Below: Waterbuck.
Below: Warthogs zip around all over the place including in front of our tent and the breakfast tables. They have a face only a mother could love.
Below: Orange-headed agama lizard.
Below: The locals gave us a little musical performance.
Below: Sunset on the savannah.
Seeing all these animals in their natural habitat was breathtaking, but Kenya offers a lot more than wildlife. We would have to make a whole new page to describe our cultural experience. If you plan to go on an African safari, we would be happy to share some travel tips that we learned along the way. Click here to see our tips, or feel free to contact us.
By coincidence, the California marine painter Wyland went on a safari on the same plane as us. We shared travel stories along the way. Below: Jamie and Wyland.
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